Since assuming office at the end of 2021, LG CEO William Cho has actively engaged with company employees through the ‘CEO F.U.N. Talk’ program. The 9th session of this program was held on December 7 at the LG Twin Tower in Yeouido, Seoul, providing a reflective overview of the year and expressing determination to accelerate the achievement of Future Vision 2030 in a meaningful and enjoyable communication session.

Mr. Cho commenced by acknowledging everyone’s dedication and efforts throughout the challenging environment of the past year. He highlighted the declaration of Future Vision 2030 as one of the most memorable events. “It was the result of collective efforts and thoughtful considerations,” stated CEO Cho. “Together with all of you, I will strive to fulfill our commitment towards achieving this vision, engaging in brave new challenges, and developing exciting new journeys.”

The vision outlines the company’s transformation into a Smart Life Solution Company, going beyond home appliances and connecting and expanding various experiences in all spaces within customers’ lives.

In addition to regular F.U.N. Talk sessions throughout the year, CEO Cho mentioned the participation of top executives such as CFO, CSO and CTO in fostering a culture of close communication between the leadership team and employees.

During the event, CEO Cho discussed strategic directions for 2024, including portfolio enhancement, performance creation through the integration of Customer Experience and Digital Transformation, and reinforcement of future preparations. He highlighted the roles each organization should focus on to accelerate the achievement of Future Vision 2030.

“Home Appliance & Air Solution Company must strengthen future preparation capabilities including smart home appliances, while Home Entertainment Company should focus on accelerating the growth of its platform business to become a true media and entertainment company,” said CEO Cho. “Vehicle component Solutions Company should further enhance capabilities to respond proactively to trend changes in software-defined vehicles, and Business Solutions Company must grow into a B2B specialist by expanding its vertical solution businesses.”

CEO Cho also recognized the winners of the LG Electronics Innovation Awards for their exceptional contribution to creating unique customer value. Four teams were selected as this year’s award winners: the Development team of the world’s first 4K/120Hz wireless transmission solution for OLED TVs, the Task team that transformed the paradigm of smart home solution subscription services, the team that enhanced customer convenience through the establishment of an integrated customer call system and the Task team for ocean freight advancement.

He expressed his commitment to continuing the Awards. “This award will continue to operate in a direction that shines a light on the efforts of all LG Electronics members who work diligently and receive recognition for their achievements,” mentioned CEO Cho, “Everyone who has constantly strived and made efforts to create customer value in their respective roles is already today’s hero.”

As the final ‘CEO F.U.N. Talk’ of the year, the event garnered enthusiastic responses from employees. Over 10,000 members participated in the event, and prior to it, they shared various opinions in the online comment section in response to the question, “What is the most memorable achievement of LG Electronics this year?”

Thousands of comments were posted, including sentiments like, “Everyone who has shown outstanding performance even during the challenging circumstances has made an achievement,” “It was memorable to see LG gradually change with its steady brand REINVENT activities, and it made me look forward to the next year,” and “Along with the release of innovative products, the communication between the management and employees was impressive, such as CEO F.U.N. Talk, where achievements are shared quarterly and time is spent to understand each other.”

During the event, Mr. Cho engaged in candid Q&A with employees. He particularly emphasized the question from an employee about the company’s vision for the coming year. “I want to create an organization that everyone wants to be a part of – a joyful workplace that fosters horizontal communication across hierarchies, and more importantly, an organization that consistently achieves high performance,” said CEO Cho. “To accomplish this, we need to intricately connect our mission, vision and goals and have a relentless focus on execution.”

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Have you ever been frustrated trying to find the best location for your TV in your living room? Should it be on this side of the wall or the other? In heavily populated cities like Seoul, South Korea, where many live in apartments, it’s very often the case that a TV is placed on a media console in front of a living room wall to free up more space. This, however, can be an eyesore to those who want to decorate their room differently or just simply dislike having a black screen and cable clutter all open to view. These were some of the annoyances and inconveniences LG aimed to address with its Lifestyle Screens. 

LG OLED Objet Collection TVs seek to blur the line between state-of-the-art home appliances and designer furnishings. They boast a modern, minimalist design language that focuses on elevating and blending in effortlessly to any indoor environment. As suggested by the word objet – a decorative object meant to be exhibited or open to view – the collection seeks to provide a compelling way for customers to express their unique tastes and personality.  

In line with this concept, the LG OLED Objet Collection Posé was designed as a TV resembling a high-end furniture piece or art object, complementing the décor in any part of a room. The TV’s gently curved edges and muted, calming beige fabric finish is soft to the look and touch, adding a stylish charm to the room, wherever it is placed. It blends in particularly well with similar colored rugs, creating a cozy atmosphere. It wasn’t long before the aesthetically-pleasing design began to garner the attention of the people who were searching for ways to better meld the TV into their living room design. 

Aesthetics, however, was not the sole focus in the development of Posé. The design process is actually said to have begun with trying to make a practical TV that can answer some of the difficulties that came with installing a TV. Then came the long and arduous deliberation into how the product should fit in the room – the most challenging job of making it blend in with the surroundings. 

The result was a successful fusion of art, design and practicality. The LG OLED Objet Collection Posé offers a solution to the common challenges faced when integrating a TV into a living room, providing homeowners with a visually pleasing and functional option. With its elegant aesthetics and thoughtful features, Posé redefines the concept of a TV, transforming it into a statement piece that enhances the overall ambiance of any room.

To find out more about how the LG HE Design Lab is setting new standards for the perfect home entertainment experience through groundbreaking designs, stay tuned to the LG Newsroom.

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Photo Credit: CBS Media Ventures / The Drew Barrymore Show

Finding the time and means to make daily living easier can be a significant challenge. The pace and pressures of our modern world make it difficult to think outside of our well-worn routines. Fortunately, LG, recently recognized as America’s most reliable line of home appliances, can help bring convenience and comfort to everyday life.¹

In the fourth and current season of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” the globally popular American talk show hosted by actress and producer Drew Barrymore, the company is showcasing its latest lifestyle innovations and sharing some sage tips and helpful hacks for simplifying life at home.

Photo Credit: CBS Media Ventures / The Drew Barrymore Show

Fans of the show will now be familiar with LG’s cutting-edge kitchen and laundry solutions, which have been featured in several segments with Barrymore and her guests demonstrating clever ways to reduce the time and effort spent on household chores.

Photo Credit: CBS Media Ventures / The Drew Barrymore Show

The first episode of the show, originally aired on October 24 2023, featured a range of LG kitchen appliances, including the 30-inch Electric Cooktop, Double Wall Oven with InstaView^®, True Convection, Air Fry and Steam Sous Vide, and the Counter-Depth MAX™ French Door Refrigerator with four types of ice. Together with lifestyle guru Danny Seo, known as @dannyseomag, Drew explored her show’s newly remodeled kitchen, showed off her famous sense of humor and cooked up some delectable dishes making full use of LG’s innovative appliances.

Photo Credit: CBS Media Ventures / The Drew Barrymore Show

During the segment, Danny demonstrated his recipes for ‘Massaged Brussels Sprouts’ and ‘Creamed Corn Sheet Pan Tart,’ sharing his secrets on the art of healthy cooking while using the latest LG kitchen solutions to prepare his inspired culinary creations. With its SmoothTouch™ glass panel, LG’s cooktop provides precise heat management and effortless touch control.

Photo Credit: CBS Media Ventures / The Drew Barrymore Show

Also seen in the episode was LG’s Counter-Depth MAX refrigerator, which keeps ingredients fresh and cool and boasts the largest capacity of any counter-depth type French Door model,² and the versatile smart double wall oven. As demonstrated by the entertaining duo of Drew and Danny, the oven’s LG InstaView panel lets users check on the progress of their meal simply by knocking twice on the door, thus keeping the heat inside and the cooking temperature stable.

The partnership between LG and the Drew Barrymore Show is a gift for those seeking greater simplicity in their lives, offering up wisdom and innovation from a company that embraces optimism and the belief that “Life’s Good.”

In the first segment, she had nothing but love for LG and its smart, stylish and reliable appliances. She thanked LG for being one of the first major corporate brands to partner with her show since its inception.

To hear more details, refer to Drew Barrymore Press Release and stay tuned to the show throughout the season to discover more tips, tricks and hacks for an easier life, proudly brought to you by LG, America’s most reliable line of home appliances.¹

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¹ According to a 2023 leading consumer testing organization.
² TLG Counter-depth MAX refrigerator offers a capacity of 25.5-cubic feet, despite a nine percent reduction in depth compared to a conventional French-Door model. Its interior space provides 25 percent more room for storing food and drinks than LG’s previous counter-depth models, based on an internal study utilizing average cans to quantify available storage space, conducted in March 2022 (comparing LG models LRFVC2406S and LRFOC2606S).

ComplexCon, a global street culture festival held in Long Beach, California, is a popular destination for the world’s growing ranks of sneakerheads. At this year’s event, which took place in November, LG showcased two innovative products that have quickly found a fanbase among the footwear-obsessed – the LG Styler™ ShoeCare and Styler ShoeCase.

To introduce its unique shoe management solutions in the US – the undisputed capital of sneakerhead culture – LG collaborated with street fashion icon and founder of the STAPLE brand, Jeff Staple. Together, LG and Jeff created a game show-themed activation for visitors to experience and enjoy while exploring LG’s booth at ComplexCon 2023.

On the first day of the event, Jeff made a special guest appearance at the booth, meeting with fans and hosting Spin to Win – an interactive game giving ‘contestants’ the opportunity to win exclusive prizes by answering questions about the features and functions of LG Styler ShoeCase and Styler ShoeCare. Up for grabs were limited-edition Styler ShoeCase tote bags exclusive to ComplexCon, and for one very lucky contestant, an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City for a sneaker shopping spree with Jeff Staple.

Visitors to LG’s booth also had the chance to see first-hand the convenience, elegance and quality of the LG Styler ShoeCase and Styler ShoeCare. Collectively, the two products offer a total solution for storing, showcasing and caring for one’s shoes. First unveiled at last year’s IFA, the Styler ShoeCase features a 360-degree rotating turntable that presents the perfect stage for displaying sneakers, old and new. Not only does it put users’ prized possessions in the best possible light, it also affords them protection against UV light as well as the damaging effects of humidity.¹

Complementing the ShoeCase, the Styler ShoeCare employs LG’s proven TrueSteam™ technology in conjunction with a ZeoDry filter to refresh and revitalize shoes, minimizing the presence of moisture and removing unpleasant odors.² To cap off the ‘refreshed’ user experience, LG Styler ShoeCase and Styler ShoeCare can be controlled remotely via the ThinQ™ app.³

After joining forces with Jeff Staple to give ComplexCon 2023 visitors an exclusive look at its state-of-the-art Styler ShoeCase and Styler ShoeCare, LG will continue to seek out inventive ways and new opportunities to engage with the world’s sneaker collectors and lovers.

Stay tuned to learn more about LG’s innovative solutions for a better life at home.

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¹ LG Styler ShoeCase panels are coated with ultraviolet light absorber, helping to prevent discoloration caused by sunlight or fluorescent lighting.
² The Styler ShoeCare’s Zeo-Dry filter is made of the high-performance drying material, ‘Zeolite,’ which is commonly used for dehumidifying and deodorizing. The absorption feature is regenerated when heat and pressure are applied to a ZeoDry filter containing moisture or odor particles.
³ Users should register LG Styler ShoeCase and ShoeCare on their LG ThinQ app to be able to control products remotely. Products and features may vary depending on model and region.

On November 28, Member States of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) will gather for the organization’s 173rd General Assembly, which will be held in Paris, France, to select the country to host World Expo 2030.

One of the three countries in the running is South Korea with its port city of Busan proposed as the best city to host the World Expo under the theme ‘Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future.’

With headquarters in South Korea, LG has been committed to supporting Busan’s bid to host the global event. Leading up to the final presentation of the candidate cities on November 28, the company will be operating its large double-decker LG buses around Paris wrapped around in images that promote Busan’s bid to host World Expo 2030.

The buses will serve as ‘moving ambassadors’ to promote the charm and beauty of Busan to not only key officials from BIE member states but tourists from around the world. Until November 29, the buses will be operated around the venue of the BIE General Assembly as well as on circular routes around the outskirts of Paris.

Since 2022, the company has been actively promoting Busan’s bid for World Expo 2023 at several major events, including The Amundi Evian Championship in July, and also carried out a series of inspirational films on LG’s popular displays around the world.

With the promotional bus fleet in operation until the naming of the host city, the company remains fully committed to promoting Busan’s bid to host World Expo 2030.

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Innovators worldwide gathered in October at the Hibernia in San Francisco, California, USA for the third annual Innovation Festival, hosted by LG NOVA, LG Electronics’ North America Center for Innovation. The festival is a unique event that brings together innovators to discuss, explore and build next-generation impact-driven solutions for digital health, cleantech, future tech, smart life and other emerging technology areas.

Annie Hanlon, Emerging Tech Executive/Producer, Alchemy Tech & Entertainment Group, emceed the Innovation Festival

With over 500 startup founders, industry experts, investors, mentors and influencers in attendance, the festival provided a collaborative environment for innovators to network and discuss the challenges and key topics important to their businesses, in the context of creating impact for a better future. Through think tank-styled sessions, meet-ups, interactive panels, mentoring, reverse panels and other sessions, innovators had the opportunity to share their stories and ideas.

(From left to right) Alicia Hanf, LG NOVA; Cheryl Contee, The Impact Seat, Dorothy Johnson, gener8tor,
Flossie Hall, Stella and Sayki O’Duro, Lockstep Ventures discuss “The Power of Diversity in Tech” at the Innovation Festival

From these discussions, attendees forged new connections with potential investors, other startups, advisors and corporate partners. The festival’s theme “Growth Through Innovation” was top of mind for all attendees, as they used this opportunity to explore innovative ways to help their businesses grow. Alongside this focus, the festival hosted discussions on women in tech, balancing growth, profitability and impact, and diversity in tech, to heighten, grow awareness and discuss solutions to the challenges in these key topic areas in the innovation community today. It also hosted a special guest presentation from award-winning wildlife filmmaker Amoghavarsha JS, who touched on the importance of impact and building for a better future through technology innovations. In total, this year’s event hosted over 90 speakers and 28 sessions.

Film-maker, Amoghavarsha JS presents on creating impact through storytelling at the LG NOVA Innovation Festival

In addition, for the first time, this year’s Innovation Festival featured a webOS Hackathon, where 15 developer teams pitched their app ideas using the webOS platform to bring new use cases and applications to smart TVs. And the Festival’s annual Startup Pitch Competition hosted 12 startup companies in the categories of digital health, cleantech, future tech and innovation for impact.

The winners of the webOS Hackathon

The top three winners of the hackathon were:

• First Place: Key2Enable provides greater digital accessibility to people with disabilities. Its Key-X, a multifunctional Smart Keyboard, provides people with motor limitations to have full control of a computer and other digital devices, and together with its AI-powered inclusive Educational platform aligned with curriculum and learning goals, enables them to develop their motor and cognitive skills.
• Second Place: AAVAA provides bionic technology for hands-free control of remote devices, utilizing brain and bio-signal decoding to enable intuitive control and enhance accessibility for users with differing abilities on LG devices.
• Third Place: Doktorconnect offers a comprehensive healthcare experience through its app, integrated with LG TVs, allowing users to conduct Telehealth appointments, store fitness data and access various health tools, all compatible with Doktorconnects’ line of health devices.

The winners of the Startup Pitch Competition

Winners of the Startup Pitch competition were:

• First Place: Light Technologies, a health tech company on a mission to create AI-enabled technology to assess eye and brain health and aid earlier detection and intervention for neurodegenerative diseases, neuro-inflammatory diseases, brain injury and concussion and retinal diseases.
• Second Place: SafeBeat makes software that goes beyond diagnostics to power cardiac therapeutics, all from a phone. SafeBeat software uses explainable AI to fully automate and streamline this process and even recommend patient-specific drug dosing for physician approval.
• Third Place: Safire Technology Group develops advanced Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technologies. The company’s core technology, SAFe Impact Resistant Electrolyte (SAFIRE™), is the world’s only patented and proprietary drop-in additive for any Li-ion battery cell that prevents fire and explosion through an instantaneous liquid-to-solid transformation upon kinetic impacts, such as electric vehicle crashes or ballistic events.
• Winning again, as Innovation for Impact special award recipient was Key2Enable.

 “It’s gratifying to see how this event and the LG NOVA community have grown in the past two years,” said Thomas Yoon, President and CEO of LG Electronics North America, who participated as a judge in the hackathon and presented the keynote on address, alongside Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Head of LG NOVA and Dong-su Kim, CEO of LG Technology Ventures, setting the stage for the conference. “For LG, our growth signifies how we’re collaborating more closely with the startup community on new ideas to deliver on our vision of Innovation for a Better Life,” he said.

LG Executives representing home appliance and air solutions, home entertainment and LG NOVA presenting on “How to Build with LG”

At the festival, LG NOVA re-launched its Mission for the Future initiative. Now starting its third year, the program has been re-designed to enable greater collaboration with startups by extending the process year-round. In this new engagement process, startups can approach LG NOVA with ideas for collaboration throughout the year across the key market areas that have a positive impact on people and the planet, including digital health, cleantech, future tech and smart life. LG’s objective is to find new market opportunities by collaborating with companies to create innovative solutions and business ideas, build and test them in the open markets and accelerate market growth with support from LG’s global brand and resources.

The 15 teams that participated in the webOS hackathon

“This year’s event was even better than last year. We intentionally added more opportunities for discussion and idea sharing for speakers and audiences alike,” said Rhee. “The best part of the event is being able to sit down and connect with startup founders to hear what they have to say on the industry, their market areas and their business. The openness and collaboration at the Innovation Festival represents LG NOVA’s sentiment and sincerity in its intentions to work with others to build for a better future.”

View a highlight reel of the Innovation Festival here.

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 Choi Joong-ho, professional at LG’s Brand Strategy Team (Photo credit: Oh Joon-sup)

An ordinary middle-aged man cruises along the streets on his longboard. He stumbles for a moment, bewildered, but then enjoys the thrill and excitement of the ride.

LG’s new brand film, Life’s Good When You Dive in Smile First, has been trending with a record of 60 million views globally and 2.55 million locally. Released in October, the film received praise from the public with comments such as “The best commercial I have seen lately.”

Choi Joong-ho, professional at LG’s Brand Strategy Team, dives into the behind the scenes production and reflects on the brand message in the Life’s Good film.

The film was very impressive. At first glance, the film seems like a simple story about a man riding a longboard, but what is the true message behind it?

Riding the longboard is a metaphor for life’s journey. Like in life, you do not simply stand still on the longboard but move forward with it. While gliding through the streets, you may stumble over a rock or feel unbalanced just like life is not all sunshine and rainbows.

We wanted to use this metaphor to share LG’s bold brand promise of Life’s Good. Everyone’s idea of a ‘good life’ is different, and LG strives to recognize those differences to provide a better life for all. The film also wanted to show that everyone possesses the potential for boldness by choosing to be optimistic.

Some people who watched the video said they could not help but watch the entire video without skipping. Were there any parts placed intentionally to prevent viewers from clicking the skip button?

We did not want people to scroll past it like with typical commercials, so we tried to catch our audience’s attention with curiosity and intrigue from the very first scene. We focused on the narration and set a more serious tone compared to usual commercials, which might have been a brave decision. Although it is important to talk about the brand’s actual products, with this film, we wanted to specifically deliver LG’s message and voice.

Nicolai Fuglsig, a renowned filmmaker, directed the production of this film. How was he brought into the process and why did LG choose him?

Starting from the key visual of a middle-aged man riding a longboard to writing the script that incorporated the campaign’s main message of optimism, we took a lot of time internally to consider different perspectives. Once we confirmed a concept, it was pitched to several filmmakers to gauge interests.

Nicolai Fuglsig has a similar philosophy and idea of optimism, so he understood exactly what we wanted the film to say. He even loved longboards, and on the set of the film, he could direct the actor on how to ride the longboard himself. I think all these factors and his artistic production capabilities created synergy between us.

During the process of casting the actor, why did LG choose a middle-aged man as the main character?

We wanted our audience to feel like they could be the main character – that anyone watching could think of it as their own story. If the film featured a young and trendy person, it could have been perceived more like a sports video about longboarding.

For this reason, we chose a protagonist who is deemed extremely ordinary. When you look at him, it is difficult to pinpoint what kind of person he is, with an indefinite body type, style and age. We wanted the film to highlight the man’s emotions, the optimism that is evident as his feelings shift from uneasiness to confidence. The casting was the result of taking all these factors into consideration.

There were many comments about how impressive the brand film was. Do you think the message touched the audience in the same way? What message would this video have sent to people in their 20s?

The young people of today live in a world of increasing uncertainty. There was a time when many decisions could be made in early adulthood, such as choosing a profession after graduation or having kids after marriage. However, due to the unpredictability of the current times, the young generation may feel distress when faced with similar options.

After much internal discussion, we concluded that we should not deliver this message lightly. As LG has obtained achievements by maintaining an optimistic mindset – just like the message of Life’s Good – we wanted to provide encouragement and support to anyone in their 20s who wants to approach life with optimism.

(Photo credit: Oh Joon-sup)

I believe that is why the key message that runs throughout the film resonates so much more. Please elaborate on the process of how LG developed a script from the keyword Life’s Good.

Optimism is the most important keyword to spread the Life’s Good message. In these difficult times, with a pandemic sweeping the world, there was a determination within LG, including within myself, to not become complacent or dismiss customers by saying, “Everything’s going to be fine.”

This was our motivation behind sharing a sincere message that encourages optimism. The nuance behind each word was carefully considered and reviewed, and when the script was finally finished, the entire team felt a thrill with the realization, “Yes, this is what is means to be optimistic about life.”

Come to think of it, the brand promise of Life’s Good seems to be popping up more often lately. What is the goal of sharing this message?

We have been trying our best to provide a better life for everyone with our products. Earlier this year, we presented Brand Reinvent to interpret this message more thoroughly.  We understand that life can be difficult and painful at times, and the Life’s Good message aims to encourage that there is always the possibility of optimism in everyone’s heart.

We wanted to show that by believing in optimism and boldly taking on challenges, people will see the goodness and value in life. The brand film was created to deliver this message as well.

Facing life with an optimistic attitude may not be easy during these challenging times, but is there any reason why LG chose a message to encourage optimism?

According to consumer research agency GWI, the global population grew 34 percent more pessimistic in 2021. Two years later, the percentage has still not recovered, proving how difficult it is to be positive these days.

However, in times like these, it is important to look at the optimistic side of life. People do not need to have the strongest determination or lofty goals; the possibility of optimism in our hearts is enough. LG wanted to convey a message of encouragement to help overcome real-life challenges with a bold mindset.

Do you have any plans to connect this brand value to the customer experience?

LG’s brand reinvent is the start. The optimism and boldness of Life’s Good have always been at the core of the company’s challenges and innovations, the driving forces that established LG as a global company. These values are incorporated into LG’s products, and we will continue our mission to provide a better life for all, including our customers and employees.

This story was edited from an editorial feature article published in Univ Tomorrow.

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