[Distribution Hot People] Flood of PBs, Design as a Competitive Edge... Capturing Customer Sympathy Boosts Sales

Yang Chang-yoon GS Retail Design Team Leader

Fresh Food Integration 'Sinsun Special City'
Red Dot Design Award Winner
Employee Count Doubled Including Copywriter Recruitment

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] "I didn't want to stop at creating logos and packaging that anyone could think of."

Yang Chang-yoon, team leader of the GS Retail Design Team, expressed this philosophy about design in an interview with Asia Economy on the 10th. For him, design is not simply about decorating products beautifully but is the most important means to evoke empathy with customers.

Yang’s philosophy led to the honor of winning at the Red Dot Design Award, one of the world's top three design awards. In July, GS Retail’s fresh food integrated brand 'Sinsun Teukbyeolsi' (Fresh Special City) won in the 'Brand & Communication' category. Yang also led the award-winning design of GS Retail’s private brand (PB) product 'YOU US' ice beverage pouch package in 2018.

Yang explained, "GS Retail has outstanding excellence in four sectors: livestock, seafood, fruit, and vegetables, but there was no element to unify and communicate this to customers. After exploring ways for customers to empathize with our products, we devised the integrated brand name 'Sinsun Teukbyeolsi,' meaning 'the place where the most special freshness gathers.'"

GS Retail is significantly strengthening its design capabilities. In the flood of hundreds to thousands of products released daily, the influence of design is growing. Recently, GS Retail doubled the number of design team members, including hiring copywriters to enhance not only visual but also verbal expression. Currently, the team consists of 13 members, making it one of the larger departments.

Regarding this, Yang said, "In food products, competitiveness is determined by taste, price, and marketing, but taste and price competitiveness have largely leveled. Ultimately, gaining empathy from customers who intend to purchase the product is most important, and design is considered the most effective and differentiated strategy in today's era."

GS The Fresh’s 'Real Price' is also a good example of eliciting customer empathy through design. Since 2017, Real Price has been a win-win PB brand where GS The Fresh partners with excellent small and medium enterprises, displaying the producer’s name on the front of the product and selling at 70% to 80% of the price of regular products.

Yang said, "It was necessary to inform customers of Real Price’s purpose of mutual growth, so we decided to prominently display the producer’s name on the product front, which proved effective. Recently, the phrase 'Life is tough, so we sharply lowered the prices' has greatly resonated with customers," he added.

In fact, Real Price’s sales from January to July this year increased by 36.5% compared to the same period last year. The number of small and medium enterprises wishing to participate in Real Price has surged, growing from 21 companies with 35 products at launch in 2017 to 93 companies with 317 products as of the end of July this year.

Yang’s next goal is to enhance consumer perception of GS Retail through design. He stated, "Winning a global design award for PB products proves GS Retail’s design competitiveness. From a long-term perspective, our goal is to solidify GS Retail’s brand competitiveness, and we will strive to create images that resonate with customers’ hearts."