'Jayrilla' Takes the Baseball Field, Breaking Boundaries with 'Yongjin Hyung'

Attention on Shinsegae Characters and Pro Baseball Opening Game
'Landers Day' Sales Surge Over Two Days
Loyal Customer Base Needed for Survival
Expanding Boundaries Through Products, Distribution, and Sports

The character 'JRILLA,' developed by Shinsegae Food, is taking a photo with Vice Chairman Jeong Yong-jin. Photo by JRILLA Instagram.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] The movement of Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, to secure a fan base by expanding boundaries across products, distribution, and sports has begun in earnest.

◆ Chung Yong-jin Accompanies 'JRILLA'

On the 4th, Vice Chairman Chung accompanied a character modeled after himself named 'JRILLA' at the opening game of the '2021 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League' between the Lotte Giants and SSG Landers held at Incheon SSG Landers Field. The character, wearing a spacesuit adorned with the name tag 'JRILLA' and the SSG Landers team logo, attracted the attention of sports fans at the opening game by performing with Vice Chairman Chung and taking photos together.

JRILLA is a Shinsegae Group character for which E-Mart registered the trademark last September. At the end of last year, Shinsegae Food acquired the JRILLA trademark from E-Mart and upgraded the character. Earlier this year, Vice Chairman Chung introduced the JRILLA character through his Instagram account. JRILLA, a portmanteau of the letter J and gorilla, appears to be a character modeled after Vice Chairman Chung, but at the time, his comments such as "It doesn't look like me at all" sparked reactions from his followers. Shinsegae Food plans to establish JRILLA as its representative character and develop it beyond food and dining businesses into a creator handling food content.

On the 2nd, the official JRILLA Instagram account was also launched. The setting is that JRILLA, a 'yorin-i' (a term referring to a cooking beginner or child chef) born on Mars, crash-landed on Earth at a baseball stadium. Referring to the opening game being postponed by a day due to rain, it was said that the crash landing at the stadium was delayed by a day, and a photo taken with Vice Chairman Chung was posted, saying "I found my look-alike." This cleverly mixes the recently rising 'metaverse' (meta universe, a three-dimensional virtual world) with reality.

◆ Shinsegae Moves to Secure Loyal Customers

On the same day, Vice Chairman Chung drank Starbucks coffee operated by Shinsegae and also exposed the PLCC (Private Label Credit Card) 'Starbucks Hyundai Card' launched by Starbucks and Hyundai Card.

In the distribution industry, which is undergoing a period of upheaval with the boundaries between online and offline collapsing, the common view in the industry is that 'loyal customers' are essential to survive as a winner. A marketing industry official said, "The ultimate goal of Vice Chairman Chung's recent moves such as acquiring a baseball team, exchanging shares with Naver, and character marketing is to expand the fan base that voluntarily enters and willingly consumes through Shinsegae channels," adding, "In a time of upheaval in the distribution industry, preemptive moves to take the initiative are more important than ever, so Shinsegae's future moves are worth watching."

In fact, the 'Landers Day' event held by E-Mart over two days on the 3rd and 4th to commemorate the founding and opening game of the SSG Landers saw sales increase significantly compared to usual weekends, receiving positive responses from consumers. During this period, all Korean beef products were sold at a 40% discount, boosting meat sales by 56.7% compared to the first weekend of April last year, and egg sales, discounted by 30% compared to market prices, increased by 114.3%. Sales of fruits rose by 24.2%, vegetables by 51.1%, wine by 166.7%, snacks by 40.9%, and TVs by 125%, all showing significant improvement. An E-Mart official said, "Through Landers Day, we were able to confirm the synergy between sports and distribution," and added, "We plan to continuously introduce various events linked to the baseball team in the future."