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| Korean football star Son Heung-min in a commercial for CU convenience store / Courtesy of BGF Retail |
By Kim Jae-heun
Local retailers are going all out to cast Tottenham Hotspur forward and national team captain Son Heung-min in their commercials ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup starting on Nov. 21, according to industry officials Friday. They say the more competitive the market, the more effective Son's endorsement will be.
CU, one of the country's largest convenience store chains, has already selected Son as its brand model as of Thursday. It plans to hold a promotional event later in support of the national team by giving away gifts and tickets to watch Son's football matches in England. During the World Cup period, the retailer will also offer discounts on beer, snacks and convenience food at its stores.
GS25, another convenience store company, signed an official license agreement in August with Tottenham to use its brand for marketing. It will sell various World Cup- and Son-related items at its stores to attract customers, based on their market analysis that sales of fried chicken and alcohol beverages double on the days of World Cup football matches, compared to normal days.
"Many convenience store firms have reportedly been contacting Son over the past several months to star in their commercials. CU, which owns the largest number of convenience stores in the country, has appealed this strength to cast him and it turned out successful at the last minute," a local convenience store firm official said.
The domestic convenience store market is considered particularly competitive. CU has the largest number of stores but GS25 showed the higher sales as of the third quarter of this year. GS25 and CU marked sales of 2.08 trillion won ($1.56 billion) and 2.05 trillion won, respectively, during the period.
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| Son Heung-min appears in promotions for Lotteria's newly introduced Super Sonny Pack meal. / Courtesy of Lotte GRS |
Son is also a spokesmodel for Nongshim, the country's largest instant noodle maker. The food giant reselected the Korean football star as its advertising model in September, following earlier contracts signed in 2019 and 2020.
"We plan to strengthen our brand power of steady-selling Shin Ramyun with Son, a world-class football star that represents Korea," a Nongshim official said.
Lotteria, a fast food restaurant chain operated by Lotte GRS, introduced its Super Sonny Pack meal to compete with newly emerging burger brands such as Super Duper and Five Guys coming to Korea early next year.
The domestic burger market grew from 1.9 trillion won in 2013 to 4 trillion won last year. It is expected to grow to 5 trillion won next year.
