[Convenience Store Empire] Son Heung-min, Kim Hye-ja, Joo Hyun-young... Ads Captivating the MZ Generation

⑫History of Convenience Store Advertisements

Popular Athletes and Celebrities Selected
From Products to ESG Promotion
From Offline to Online

Convenience stores are putting popular athletes and celebrities at the forefront as advertising models to target the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z). While the focus used to be solely on products, advertising content has now expanded to include brands and ESG (environment, social, and governance) aspects. Advertising formats have also shifted from offline to online in line with current trends.

Selected as Models of the Era's Hot People

According to the industry on the 3rd, CU has had Son Heung-min as its advertising model since November last year. Son Heung-min can be seen across online and offline channels such as the membership application Pocket CU, outdoor advertisements, and store promotional materials. The selection of this model was effective due to the positive influence that could be exerted through convenience stores. CU proposed Son Heung-min as the model for ‘iCU,’ a program for preventing child abduction and abuse using the nation’s largest offline network, and the campaign was actually carried out in over 20 major subway stations in Seoul.

GS25 has had major models including actress Kim Hye-ja (2011), broadcaster Shin Dong-yup (2014), broadcaster Hong Seok-cheon (2015), athlete Park Chan-ho (2019), and singer Lee Chan-won (2021). This year, they have reunited with actress Kim Hye-ja to present the lunchbox series “Hyeja-roun Jib-bap.” Kim Hye-ja accepted the model offer, highly appreciating GS25’s long-term support for child meal cards in collaboration with local governments and financial institutions, especially given the restrictions on World Vision overseas volunteer activities due to COVID-19.

Seven Eleven has worked with singer Hyeri (2015), actor Park Hae-jin (2016), singer Tony An (2018), actress Kim Soo-mi (2020), and actress Joo Hyun-young (2023). To approach customers more familiarly, they actively utilized popular celebrities as food product models. The Hyeri lunchbox, Tony An lunchbox, and Kim Soo-mi lunchbox have released a total of 40 varieties, with cumulative sales reaching 300 million units. This year’s model, Joo Hyun-young, is a representative icon symbolizing the MZ generation and is very popular. As a result, two types of Joo Hyun-young bibimbap lunchboxes sold 600,000 units within six days of release.

Emart24 produced its first brand advertisement video last November to coincide with the launch of a game-concept mobile app. Rapper Raewon was selected as the model and also participated in the background music production. The video features fast and lively rhythms tailored to the MZ generation’s sensibilities, with repeated lyrics “FUN’s Convenience Store (FUN+편의점),” meaning a fun convenience store. It conveys that users can enjoy games on the Emart24 app and have a pleasant shopping experience with delicious food and products at the store, receiving positive responses.

Characters of CU's 'CU Friends' and GS25's 'Samgimi and Friends'. [Photo by BGF Retail, GS Retail]

Developing Each Company’s Brand Characters

Convenience stores have their own promotional platforms through social networking service (SNS) channels such as YouTube and Instagram. CU’s ‘CUtube’ has 863,000 subscribers, GS25’s ‘Ireonora’ has 1.05 million, Seven Eleven’s ‘Boksepyense’ has 260,000, and Emart24’s ‘Living with Emart24’ has 19,600. CU has signed a business agreement with Playlist to focus on enhancing the value of online and offline content experiences through drama-based content production and marketing collaboration. GS25 operates a studio-type YouTube channel rather than producing short-term content solely for product promotion. Seven Eleven offers ‘Seven Stage’ as its representative content, averaging 700,000 views. Emart24 is building a worldview for its brand characters through YouTube.

Each company is also nurturing its own brand characters. CU’s ‘CU Friends’ consist of Haru, a friendly and energetic part-timer; Shyru, the closest friend and pet box; and Kayru, a reliable helper and spy uncovering CU’s secrets. GS25 operates ‘Samgimi and Friends,’ turning convenience store foods into characters such as Samgimi (triangle kimbap), Hotppa Halbae (hot bar), Banseok (roasted egg), and Ramen (ramen). Seven Eleven has the ‘Buni Family,’ with the main character Buni being a baby polar bear who is the youngest store manager at Seven Eleven. Emart24’s ‘Wondungi’ is based on a story of having successfully run the Hwaseong branch and coming to experience convenience stores on Earth.

An industry insider from the convenience store sector said, “To target the main customer base, the MZ generation, we are strengthening trendy promotional and marketing activities,” adding, “Through O4O (Online for Offline) linked marketing, we plan to provide differentiated customer experiences that bridge offline and online stores.”