Building an Image for Foreign Countries and Companies in Korea

1
Building an Image for Foreign Countries and
Companies in Korea
Edelman in Asia Pacific
Robert Pickard2003.09.17
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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE SITUATION ANALYSIS
• An honest and objective self-analysis of your
  current Korean communications situation the
  objective realization of your present image in
  Korea
• What you have communicated -- and how you have
  communicated -- to Koreans in past
• What different stakeholder groups know about us
  and think about us today
• Famous or unknown known for X or known for
  Y good for Korea or bad for Korea?
• What do Koreans think about when they think
  about us what is their emotive top-of-mind
  reaction?

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• CANADA SITUATION
• High pre-existing fuzzily favourable awareness
  for certain soft positives (e.g. natural beauty,
  tourism appeal, etc.)
• Low awareness of big specific strengths such as
  economic accomplishments, culture, IT prowess
• Korean public mind open to more education
• NORTHWEST SITUATION
• High awareness as an American carrier during
  anti-US times
• Post 9/11, suffering from a general sense that US
  carriers are financially troubled and not as
  safe owing to perceived terrorism threat
• Reassuringly familiar domestic carriers loom
  large with foreign NWA looking smaller

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE OBJECTIVES
• What do we want Koreans to think about us?
• Where do we want to be what do we want to
  achieve?
• Two kinds of objectives communications
  business
• If you determine via situation analysis that you
  are largely unknown today, then being well-known
  is a communications objective.
• If you conclude that you have a reputation for
  X instead of a reputation for Y, then being
  known for Y is another communications objective
• These kinds of communications objectives should
  all be geared towards your achievement of
  business objectives -- what we tangibly get as a
  result of our communications plan (OR the things
  we do not have before executing a PR plan)

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• CANADA OBJECTIVES
• Widespread recognition of the importance of the
  Canada-Korea relationship
• High public profile for a full range of Canadian
  positives economic, cultural, political, etc.
• Canada seen as a good country to invest, live,
  visit, learn, etc. and motivation of such
  behaviors
• NORTHWEST OBJECTIVES
• Appreciation for the fact that Northwest and
  Korea have a long history and bright future
  together
• Confidence that flights and reservations are safe
• Profile for the size and strength of NWA
• Increased bookings

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE TARGET AUDIENCES
• The people whose opinions and actions are key to
  helping achieve your objectives
• What different Koreans think of you determines
  the speed and extent of your communications
  success
• Includes media, customers, prospects, employees,
  investors, government, etc.

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• CANADA AUDIENCES
• Mainstream media, primarily TV, newspapers and
  magazines
• Vertical publications
• Prospective investors, tourists, students,
  immigrants, etc.
• NORTHWEST AUDIENCES
• Mainstream media, primarily newspapers
• Travel trade media
• Prospective passengers

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
• Unique PR approaches designed to cut through the
  communications clutter in Korea and make my
  organization stand out from the crowd and make
  Koreans remember us
• Ask what is distinct or special about your
  organization, then play to those strengths
• Tone, focus, issue selection and theme
• A deliberate decision to emphasize some things
  and not other things

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• CANADA STRATEGY
• 30-40-50 Leverage Celebration 2003 as a
  publicity platform
• Put the PR spotlight on a series of signature
  events to drive media coverage across audiences
• Maintain interest by issuing a regular flow of
  Canada news
• Foreign Ambassador with Korean spokesperson
• NORTHWEST STRATEGY
• Re-introduce NWA to Korean media in an open,
  optimistic and organized manner
• Educate stakeholders about NWAs strong business
  performance (relative to major US competitors)
• Highlight senior executive visits to underline
  financial confidence and foster credibility for
  overall corporate strategy Korea MDs
  visibility here to cement successful message

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE KEY MESSAGES
• All of your organizations strengths and positive
  points should be simplified into a few
  easy-to-remember, easy-to-communicate statements
  that resonate with Korean sensibilities
• These are lines that through relentless
  repetition will be remembered by Koreans
• Think of key messages as an expansion of the tag
  line or slogan in corporate branding
• Key messages are the lyrics to your
  organizations song

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• CANADA MESSAGES
• Canada -- a G7 country -- is one of the worlds
  largest, strongest and most successful economies
• Canada is an advanced technology country, a
  leader in information technology and
  biotechnology
• Korea is one of Canadas largest trading partners
• Canada is one of the most popular travel
  destinations for Koreans and Koreans are the
  single largest foreign student group in Canada
• Canada is a multicultural society with a very
  high quality of life a welcoming and friendly
  attitude towards newcomers
• Canada was the third-largest contributor of
  troops to the United Nations during the Korean
  War
• Canadas arts and culture are among the most
  sophisticated and renowned in the world

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• NORTHWEST MESSAGES
• Travelers reservations, tickets and frequent
  flier miles are safe with Northwest
• Northwest is the worlds 4th largest airline
• Northwest serves more destinations in Asia and
  Korea than any other US airline
• Northwest has been serving Asia more than 50
  years, longer than any other airline
• Northwest is leveraging the power of technology
  to streamline the airport experience with more
  self-service check-in options than any other
  airline
• Northwest offers daily service from Seoul and
  Busan to its hub at Tokyo Narita, providing its
  customers with convenient connecting service to
  seven US cities
• readers of TIME Asia recently rated Northwests
  WorldPerks frequent flier program higher than any
  of its US competitors programs

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE TACTICS
• Guided by the strategy, tactics are the PR things
  you actually spend your time doing to deliver
  your key messages to educate and persuade the
  target audiences so you can achieve your
  objectives
• Publicity news releases, interviews, story
  pitching and placement, etc.
• Media and crisis communications training
• Issues management
• Event platforms
• Product launch PR
• Relationship networking
• Online communications
• Government relations
• etc. (there are hundreds to choose from)

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE RESULTS

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Build a winning Korean PRogram

• THE RESULTS

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• LACK OF RESPECT FOR KOREA
• Dwelling on the negative nuclear North, anti-US
  sentiment, labour strife, corruption and scandal
• Scant knowledge of Korean positives such as
  economic accomplishments, IT prowess and
  marketplace dynamics (e.g. what brands are famous
  here)
• Failure to distinguish between Korean and other
  Asian cultures
• Viewing Korea as a PR add-on market (a nice
  extra to China and Japan if budget permits)
• Poor intelligence-gathering through poor
  communication with the Korean subsidiary
• Headquarters telling a Korean sub what to say or
  do without first listening by asking what should
  be said or done

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• IT WORKS IN THE USAIT WILL WORK HERE
• It might, but it might not
• Square PR peg cannot be made to fit in a round
  hole
• Western PR is different than Eastern PR
• Cultural ignorance and corporate arrogance are a
  one-way ticket to PR disaster
• Consultation and research -- solicitation of the
  Korean point of view -- is needed to test
  assumptions before mistakes are made

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes
CULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS DIFFERENCES

• NORTH ASIA
• Process orientation communication is perceived
  as a process of infinite interpretation
• Different linguistics codes are used depending
  upon persons involved and situations
• Indirect communication emphasis the use of
  indirect communication is prevalent and accepted
  as normative
• Receiver-centered meaning is in the
  interpretation / emphasis in on listening,
  sensitivity, and removal of pre-conception

• NORTH AMERICA
• Outcome orientation communication is perceived
  as the transference of concrete information
• Linguistic codes are not as extensively
  differentiated among persons and across
  situations
• Direct communication emphasis direct
  communication is a norm despite the extensive use
  of indirect communication
• Sender-centered meaning is in the information
  created and conveyed by the sender

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• ENGLISH IS FINE
• At best, a lack of respect
• At worst, an insult collectively and
  individually
• Not all Korean journalists read English
• Even if they do, precision and the real meaning
  may be lost in translation
• Korean PR writing is different than English PR
  writing
• News releases etc. should be written in Korean

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• According to the 1998 Korean Public Official
  Census study (reported in Chosun Ilbo), among
  82,564 Korean government officials
• Only 17.8 (14,680) replied that they have high
  confidence in their English reading ability
• Only 0.9 (779) replied that they can have
  a discussion in the English language freely
• Even among Korean diplomats, only 10 responded
  that they can fluently communicate and negotiate
  with international parties in English
• -- Chosun Ilbo, 1998.09.29

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• In May 1997, the Korean Minister of MOCIE high
  ranking Korean public officials met the Chairman
  of Volvo Group
• The Volvo Chairman said Investment of 5 billion
  dollars has to be made to improve infrastructure
  by the Korean government
• But the Minister announced that Volvo Group
  announced that it will invest 5 billion dollars
  in Korea
• Volvo denied this, but the MOCIE said that we
  were correct. I think Volvo is changing their
  words since they dont want to release their
  long-term investment plan...
• -- Chosun Ilbo, 1998.09.29

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• TRANSLATION IS THE ANSWER
• English Korean translation is better than
  English only
• But much meaning is lost in translation
• Pigeon Korean looks unprofessional
• Tells the media the Korean sub is just following
  instructions and not a real player
• Ground-up writing in Korean first ensures the
  best PR results

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• NOT USING A KOREAN MEDIA SPOKESPERSON
• Lack of Korean spokesperson telegraphs a lack of
  engagement with the Korean market
• Theres a much higher chance of misquoting from
  interviews conducted in English by Korean
  journalists
• With so many issues seen through a monochromatic
  pro-Korean or anti-Korean lens, the Korean
  spokesperson is more credible and authentic
• The chances of a long-term positive relationship
  between an organization and a media outlet is
  much higher with a Korean spokesperson

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• BAD MEDIA RESEARCH
• Importance of different kinds of media --
  newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, and online?
• Whats the worlds most vibrant newspaper media
  market?
• Different kinds of newspapers catering to
  different business audiences
• Coverage in English language dailies looks good
  back home at head office, but does not reach most
  Koreans
• Before communicating with Korean media,
  understanding the media business is essential

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• IGNORANCE OF KOREAN MEDIA STYLE
• New Korean media vs. the old 1992 vs. 2003
• Telephone vs. face-to-face
• The nature of storytelling is different here
• Essential need to know personal facts
• Media ownership matters
• Journalists have a point of view good for
  Korea or bad for Korea
• Good news for the media is not always good news
  for your organization
• Before communicating with Korean media,
  understanding Korean media sensibilities is
  crucial

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Foreign corporate PR mistakes

• TIME IS NOT UNIVERSAL
• Time zone chauvinism runs rampant, especially
  for North American companies (for which EST and
  PST are the senior time zones)
• Some organizations insist on sending out all news
  releases at one master global time that usually
  misses Korean media deadlines
• Western media can be scheduled well in advance
  Korean media scheduling is far more immediate
• Many companies fail to check the Korean calendar
  we are expected to understand the Labour Day
  holiday in the USA and to work on Chusok as usual
• Understanding the time needs of Korean media is a
  prerequisite to PR success

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Keys to PR success in Korea

• Thorough Korea and Korean market and media
  research beforehand (dynamic and style)
• Everything written and said in Korean (releases
  and source)
• Having good Korea-friendly and media-friendly
  timing
• Showing real benefits to Korea, not just
  shareholder value
• Proper introduction with a relationship rationale
• Relationships mean more in Korea they evolve
  gradually relationship foundations of trust,
  confidence and loyalty must be built to foster
  corporate reputation
• Continuous communication -- multiple exposures to
  the same messages to earn target audience trust
• Build multiple channels of stakeholder engagement
  via meaningful and lasting relationships to
  provide
• Sources of credibility
• Methods of feedback
• Chances for dialogue

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Keys to PR success in Korea

• Listening to the Korean point of view before
  speaking the foreign point of view
• Constant management of issues to keep consumers
  apprised of each development, positive or
  negative
• Better off releasing negative information
  explaining the context, than to be outed with
  the risk of falsehoods being accepted as truths
• Societal alignment through well-managed CSR
  programs involving Korean third-parties
• Media training to ensure competent and confident
  key message delivery through effective interview
  performance
• PR viewed as a key function at the most senior
  level
• Understand that you are not doing the Korean
  media a favour by talking with them they are
  doing you a favour by listening

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Thank You!
www.edelman.co.kr

• 2003.03.07