newscj38d ago
The history of the Lotte Group brand began alongside the life of its founder, the late Shin Kyuk-ho. After moving to Japan in 1941, he studied chemistry at Waseda Technical College, laying the technical and managerial foundations for his future ventures. In 1946, shortly after liberation, he established a small factory producing soap and cosmetics, accumulating capital and business experience.He later shifted his focus to the rapidly growing chewing gum market in postwar Japan. As gum sales proved highly successful, he founded “Lotte” in Japan in 1948, marking the official start of his corporate journey.The capital and networks built through the confectionery business led to the establishment of Lotte Confectionery in Korea in 1967. Investing the capital earned in Japan into Korea’s industrialization was not merely a business expansion, but an expression of the founder’s determination to “make Korea a prosperous nation.”During the 1970s and 1980s, Lotte expanded beyond food into retail, tourism, chemicals, and construction. Its department stores, hotels, and theme parks became symbols of modern Korean consumer culture. This was more than diversification—it was a strategy to build a “brand ecosystem encompassing everyday life.” In Korea’s era of rapid economic growth, the modern consumer-space model presented by Lotte became a core brand asset for the group.However, the mid-2010s “brothers’ dispute” exposed structural issues in the group’s governance and its dual Korea-Japan framework. Owner-related risks and management conflicts damaged corporate credibility. The THAAD dispute dealt a direct blow to Lotte’s China operations and duty-free business. At the same time, the retail environment shifted dramatically. The expansion of e-commerce and changing consumer trends forced Lotte Department Store to restructure and renovate stores, while the duty-free sector suffered sharp revenue declines due to the suspension of group tourism. It was, in many ways, a “winter” for retail.Nevertheless, Lotte has sought revival through symbolic assets during times of crisis. A representative example is Lotte World Tower, now a landmark on Seoul’s skyline. Although its construction faced controversies over safety, military airspace, and concerns from local businesses, its completion in 2017 established it as a central icon of the city. Beyond short-term debates, it reflected a long-term strategy to secure a future-oriented symbolic asset.The true strength of a brand is revealed in its response after a crisis. Behind Olympic snowboard gold medalist Choi Ga-on stands over a decade of consistent support from Lotte. Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who was active in skiing during his school years, has invested more than 300 billion won in supporting skiing and snowboarding to expand the sport’s foundation.As a result, Korean skiing and snowboarding won their first-ever Olympic gold medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, emerging as new medal events. This long-term investment in athletic development, rather than short-term publicity, aligns with ESG management and redefines the company’s social role.Recently, the duty-free channel has shown signs of recovery alongside the rebound of Chinese tourism. Marketing linked to K-content and VIP-focused strategies signal a shift from quantitative growth to qualitative growth. Offline retail spaces are also being restructured from simple sales venues into experiential and content-driven environments.Lotte’s brand insight lies in managing dualities: a company that began in Japan yet positioned itself as a partner in Korea’s industrialization; the tension between family ownership and the ambition to become a global enterprise; the transition from a traditional retail powerhouse to a space and content-driven company. At each crisis, Lotte has restructured, accumulated symbolic assets, and prepared for the next phase.Now is the time to move beyond scale-driven growth and redefine the brand around transparency, innovation, and social trust. When the founder’s original vision of “strengthening the nation” evolves into the language of a “sustainable corporate citizen,” Lotte will emerge from retail’s winter into spring once again. Even if change comes gradually, a clear direction makes the next decade of Lotte worth anticipating.