It is notably spring now as warm breeze and sprouting flowers have arrived. Today I'd like to begin by sharing with you an impressive book that I read on the plane for a recent business trip. The book was about the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. Back in my school days, I had always wanted to read his novels, but I couldn’t so, I was glad for the chance to read about his life during my flight.

Born into a noble but poor family, Dostoevsky frittered money away whenever he got it. Such wild spending made him cash-strapped throughout his life. Because of his desperate financial situation, he beseeched publishers to give him money up front and even signed contracts to sell his works for a mere song. He threw away his money on gambling and even, borrowed money from others to buy expensive gifts for the women he fell in love with. When his brother died, his debts passed to Dostoevsky. He had been pinched with poverty during his whole life and the debt was an everyday reality for him. Perhaps this is the reason that his works always talk about money.

And yet, when we look closer at Dostoevsky’s life, we see that, though he always lacked money, he was never of a slave to it. Though his extravagant spending habits meant that he would work all his life trying to pay off some debts, it does not mean that he had a miserable life. Rather, the understanding of the nuanced nature of money that he built up in the course of his life helped him create such profound literary works on the combined themes of money, religion and philosophy. It is arguable that, if he had always been rich, and therefore had never known poverty, his masterpieces would not have the same authentic profundity that we recognize in them. This is because he was able to write about the essential truths of the human condition. For evidence, he once noted that a man enslaves himself to wealth the moment he earns freedom from it. For Dostoevsky, money is not the yardstick of happiness but, neither is the absence of money.

And it’s this notion of freedom which particularly struck me while I was reading about Dostoevsky. As I ran through my head with his stories and the way they are illustrated by questions of freedom, wealth and humanity, I found myself asking – what, ultimately, is freedom? All men are born free. And yet, all men end up pursuing freedom in different ways. I do and so do you. In a sense, Korean society was able to grow into what it is today because all members of our society had a strong aspiration for freedom. Our forefathers toiled to earn their freedom.

I think that true freedom is earned primarily through confession. When we do something bad to others, we feel guilty. Our troubled conscience isolates us from the world. It fetters us in chains and revokes our freedom. Having the humility to repent our wrongdoing is the first step to setting ourselves free. The second way we can earn our freedom is through restoring our relations. We break through our isolation and feel free when we establish relations with others by sharing materials, time and emotions. The third way is by giving ourselves time. We experience freedom when we practice mindfulness: when we stop feeling rushed and slow ourselves down, which helps to restore a breadth of mind. The last step to earning freedom is true love. Look into yourself and ask whether you love your family enough. If you feel a sense of division from your family, rebuild the bridges that need rebuilding with family members. We also have to love ourselves. Never abuse yourself. Remember that loving yourself is different from selfishness.

And these are the reflections that I'd like to share with you on this fine spring day. I hope that you all enjoy and cherish true freedom through practicing humility, peace of mind and love, rather than seeking material happiness.

Dear Asian Beauty Creators,

The era of One Asia is now upon us. Big societal changes are not fast to appear, but their effects tend to last for a long time. Since the very start of that change, about ten years have passed and we now see that the era of One Asia has dawned. In order to come to grips with the opportunities and the challenges of One Asia, we must first realize that we all are Asian. Though we were born in different countries, we are all Asian and we deliver Asian Beauty. We must understand that, by doing so, we can take our rightful place on the global stage. If we are to become the leaders of Asia, we must first have the right leadership competencies. I believe that we will be leading the era of One Asia when we succeed on these two points: strengthening our leadership and celebrating our shared Asian identity.

Then, what are the right leadership competencies for us to develop? And how is AMOREPACIFIC Group going to prepare for the challenges ahead? The most important competence for a business such as ours is, inevitably, retail power. We must strengthen our retail power, as stated in our 2015 management policy. The mainstream of our business has shifted from manufacturing to manufacturing/retail. Such change is what our time calls for as well as our corporate mission. Brands such as UNICLO, ZARA and H&M are prominent examples of those who are both manufacturers and retailers. While it is important to have products that capture the hearts of customers, it is more important to perfect the whole process of the customer’s purchase experience that leads to the final purchase. Imagine that you yourself are thinking of purchasing a product. From the viewpoint of product, a question you would ask yourself is why you want to buy it. It may be its good quality or the good image you have of it. It may be that you think it gives good value for its price. If we then take it one layer back and try to look at it from the viewpoint of purchase experience in order to strengthen our retail power, the question becomes: how do you buy it? Products and purchase experiences may sound alike, but there is in fact a subtle, but important distinction between them. When it comes to a product, the person who makes a purchase is called consumer because she or he consumes the product. But, when it comes to the purchase experience, the person making a purchase is called a shopper as well as a purchaser. While consumer and purchaser may sound the same to some who is not in retail industry, the difference between them is critically important to us.

We are now very familiar with the question of why and, indeed, have been largely successful in addressing it. But, we are new to the question of how. This must be our priority from now on. Concretely, we need to offer customers a satisfactory purchasing experience through strengthening our retail power.

There are several elements that shape how customers view the question of how. First, location has a big impact. Proximity and the route to the destination are two important factors. We can easily see that some outdated-looking department stores doing its business well because they are well-located, while the exact opposite also happens as well. Second, the arrangement and display of products are important. Good MD (Merchandising) plays an important role in drawing customers’ attention. The purchasing experience is affected by how and how often sales promotions are offered, and how customers are managed. When we look at what customer service is, it is only ever understood in terms of the service that people provide. As such, people are hugely important to good customer service. This is the fundamental difference between manufacturing/retail and manufacturing. We have to operate stores well, not to mention providing a service that’s kind and helpful. Putting products in the right place at right time to help customers find what they want anytime they want is the very basic of business management.

Likewise, we have to think about many things and work together to address them in order to strengthen our retail power. And these all represent new disciplines that we must explore and implement. On March 30 and 31, we held a workshop for team managers to build Test & Learn and I was surprised at the final presentation. Not only was it full of good material, but it showed me clearly that their way of thinking has changed from the year before. I hope you successfully complete all those 23 tasks. These tasks will never fail because Test & Learn is, quite literally, testing and learning. If things don’t work well during the test, we can always change our direction and try again. Likewise, if things do go well, all we have to do is spread and share them.

Dear Asian Beauty Creators,

We are at the start of our great journey to becoming a Great Global Brand Company. And we have to change our 20th-century thinking. We must think in 21st century ways and a key part of that is Test & Learn. Many have remarked that they could not implement it because it was at times difficult to make measurements for Testing. But the changing of the times has facilitated measurement. With smartphones becoming ubiquitous in the mobile age, people are now staying online all day long. Whenever a customer expresses an opinion or preference online, it leaves a trace. This means that it has become easier than ever before to gauge customer preferences and keep up with current trends. We can start small and work upward by monitoring their response. Within the last five years, the smartphone has seeped into every corner of our society and has allowed us to do things that were impossible 50 years ago. Last century, theorists talked about the importance of Test & Learn. Today, it’s become an achievable reality. Through Test & Learn, we can take a path that’s never been travelled before.

I will give you one example that succeeded through Test & Learn. When it comes down to web search sites, Korea has Naver and China has Baidu. But the best known web search site in the world is Google. What do you think made Google so big? Did the Internet era bring Google to where it is today? A little time back, Google was a latecomer while Yahoo was No.1 worldwide. To put it in Korean terms, Yahoo was like Chollian, which had existed long before Naver came along. What made Google and Naver special was that they did Test & Learn. They continued with a series of tests to improve the search rate. They even tracked the eye gaze of users looking at the screen to optimize the location of the search window. Likewise, they tested and learned how they should display search results. And this is the reason that both were able to expand their business through their search service. Not many expected them to be successful, but their efforts propelled them higher. Google continues to push ahead with Test & Learn and it is hard not to be surprised at the 235,000 tests that Google conducted last year.

Life is a series of opportunities, but it’s all too easy to let them slip away. Success depends on grabbing the opportunity when it presents itself. We must seize the opportunity and make the most of it whenever we see it. One Asia is now right at our door and we must not waste this opportunity due to inadequate competencies. This is the reason we have to focus on how we should strengthen our retail power, conduct Test & Learn and expand its scope. We can seize on the opportunity. All it takes is our will.

Dear Asian Beauty Creators,

Last month saw the successful launch of our brand AMOREPACIFIC in Hong Kong. Thank you all for the hard work that went into that. Sulwhasoo is putting up a good show through its FSS (Free Standing Store) in Nanjing, China. Mamonde, for its part, is showing its commitment to the growth agenda with the opening of a store in Beijing. Though it has adjusted the number of its stores, it is still doing great. LANEIGE and innisfree are much loved by global customers and ETUDE HOUSE is gearing up to be loved more. I believe that more good news will come when we all do our best to strengthen our competencies and retail power.

Soon, the groupware EP (Enterprise Portal) will change itself to AP-ON. Its exterior and functions will be changed to become more diverse. I hope that everyone makes good use of it as that is precisely what it’s designed for: close cooperation and collaboration between AMOREPACIFIC Group members within a single, shared network.

I’d like to conclude with one more thing: we are doing great in the era of One Asia. And I hope that you can remain grounded at a time like this. Mature, free people stay humble in the good times, just as the boughs that bear the most fruit hang lowest. A modest attitude is a breath of fresh air that allows us to look out of the window. In good times, we must stay mindful of all the people who have helped us and build good relations with those around us. And in bad times, we have to look into the mirror, sort ourselves out and search for what we must address if we are to recover. Now, in these goods times, we must remember to look out of the window, lower ourselves and maintain a modest attitude. And this modest attitude will set us free.

To borrow a baseball analogy, you are currently batting .28. Though you’re batting well now, if you fully adapt to the 21st century way of thinking through strengthening our retail power and implementing Test & Learn, you will all become a better hitter, boasting of a .300 batting average. Let’s grow as great, rather than merely good, leaders. Thank you all for your work in the 1st quarter. I wish you good health this spring. Thank you.

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