KTF's Show has gained the top spot among Korea's third generation mobile phone networks.

Aggressive marketing has given KTF the edge over its rival, SK Telecom. According to numbers released by both KTF and SKT in June 2008, KTF is leading the pack with 6.31 million registered customers to SKT's 6.02 million.

For 10 years, SKT dominated the second generation network services, offering superior reception quality through 800 MHz bandwidth. SKT users were able to communicate in places that users of KTF and other telecom providers could not.

KTF introduced a new brand, Show, in March last year and was the first to introduce WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) 3G services to Korean consumers nationwide. Previously, this was only available to users in Seoul and other major cities.

Through tough marketing strategies, Show was able to gain a solid first place standing over its competition.

The first major step was coming up with a name for the new image and brand. The pre-existing name, G-Cube, was thought to lack appeal among consumers. After a long and careful selection process, Beyond and W were favored choices. Show was actually placed last in a vote.

But the voters were KTF employees in their 40s and 50s, and since the company was targeting a younger crowd, it went with Show. Lee Dong-won, the director of the business marketing division at Show, is more pleased with the results than anyone at KTF as he has been spearheading the contents development aspect of the project from the beginning. Lee is currently in charge of over 4,500 mobile phone services provided by Show.

"The current results did not happen overnight. It took 10 years of planning," said Lee.

The success of Show has left Lee giddy but he knows he needs to keep a close eye on competitors who are pushing ahead with advertisement campaigns of their own. SKT has been using a catchy tune in television commercials starring top celebrities. When it seemed SKT was catching the interest of the masses with its tune, Show responded with its own comic advertisement series.

This article first appeared on www.jongangdaily.joins.com

Aug 5, 2008

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