Pigeon, Advertising Model 'Tak' After 7 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Jo] Pigeon has strengthened its marketing efforts by hiring an advertising model for the first time in seven years. This move is interpreted as an effort to expand market share as the detergent business experienced a boom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to industry sources on the 1st, Pigeon recently signed an exclusive model contract with Youngtak. Youngtak is a trot singer-songwriter who rose as a blue chip in the advertising world by forming a strong fandom across all age groups after appearing on the TV program "Tomorrow's Mr. Trot." It is the first time in 7 to 8 years since actor Kim Soo-hyun in 2012 that Pigeon has hired an advertising model. A Pigeon official said, "We plan to actively market mainly through digital media by hiring Youngtak as an advertising model," adding, "The first advertisement video will be released on YouTube around mid-this month at the earliest."

Pigeon introduced the first fabric softener in Korea in 1978 and established itself as a synonym for fabric softeners with the advertising phrase "Pigeon for laundry." However, it lost first place to LG Household & Health Care's Safran in 2011, and sales plummeted due to internal and external setbacks such as the harmful substance (PHMG) controversy. Pigeon's performance rebounded after being finally cleared of charges related to the harmful substance controversy last year. This year, interest in hygiene increased due to COVID-19, and detergent sales also increased, leading to an unexpected boom.

A Pigeon official said, "Sales have been strong overall across major channels since the beginning of this year," adding, "There has also been a slight increase in the fabric softener sector since February." He continued, "In the detergent sector, sales increased by 50% year-on-year and about 5% month-on-month in February when COVID-19 began, and double-digit growth continued in March." According to major domestic online malls, Pigeon's representative products, the sterilizing cleaner Mugunmuttae and the laundry detergent Acts, recorded double-digit sales growth rates in the first half of this year (January to June).