Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

The Travel Library, Hyundai Card’s new brand experience, was at the top of my “to do” list as I ventured from the hotel to explore Seoul during my most recent trip to Korea. An affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Card offers a number of exclusive benefits to their cardholders—most often with breakthrough creativity to raise brand awareness. For example, in 2006, Hyundai Card unveiled PRIVIA, a web-based shopping mall, which offers various products and services exclusively to members. The company also in past years sponsored a Lady Gaga performance and they continue to promote regular summer concert series headlined by rock legends, including Metallica, Iggy Pop and Ozzie Osborne. Similar to their Design Library, which showcases design culture from around the world, the Travel Library is now home to 94,324 books and 14,700 volumes of publications with a focus on the Arts, Architecture, Adventure and Travel Photography. Store Front Re-confirming t...

Located near a number of impressive high prestige car dealerships such as BMW and Audi, the Hyundai MotorStudio stands at a major intersection of Seoul’s style and fashion Gangnam district.  However, the MotorStudio differs from the competition in that its purpose is to share the Hyundai brand direction of “modern premium”. I have come to understand this to be a set of values less about luxury cars but more of striving to go beyond what customers expect in merging performance with reasonable pricing and fluid style. Photo Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Company Having also supported the Group’s manufacturing plants, my first impression as I explored the building’s galleries was that the industrial metallic décor of steel pipes and anodized steel panels reflects the brand’s solid auto production roots. That said, after sipping a latte in its trendy Paul Bassett café overlooking sculptures by global media artist group United Visual Artists, my impressions softened and shifted to one ...