[Executive Corner] Achieving Meaningful Growth With ‘Innovation for Impact’
-
-
Similar Topics
-
[Executive Corner] Orchestrating “Affectionate Intelligence” With AI Processors Exclusive to LG OLEDBy News Reporter
Imagine a TV that not only delivers your favorite shows in incredible picture quality but also connects with you on a deeper level. That concept is no longer bound to imagination, as LG’s latest TVs are capable of understanding what you want and need, tailoring every moment you spend with it through ‘Affectionate Intelligence.’ This is the essence of LG’s unwavering commitment to crafting empathetic algorithms through three decades of technological innovation. This ethos seamlessly extends to the development of its AI chipsets, which are designed to foster more meaningful TV interactions.
As a testament to this dedication, LG’s Alpha AI processor, engineered exclusively for its OLED TVs, made its global debut a decade ago as one of the biggest breakthroughs in TV processing technology history. This AI-powered processor is constantly evolving based on customer feedback, which guarantees a TV experience that only gets better with time.
Amidst the widespread adoption of OLED panels, LG OLED TVs set themselves apart courtesy of the first OLED-dedicated AI processor. This processor leverages advanced algorithms and cutting-edge upscaling technology to unlock uncharted levels of picture quality within LG OLED TVs.
Various processing technologies continue to evolve with AI, notably showcasing significant performance enhancements in the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) – essential for affectionate intelligence – with a remarkable surge of 400 percent. LG’s latest OLED evo TVs1 are equipped with the new α (Alpha) 11 AI processor which boosts processing speeds by 30 percent compared to its predecessor.
What’s more, LG’s premium AI processing technology has expanded to LG QNED TVs, taking the performance of its high-end LCD TV lineup to new levels. LG QNED TVs feature the Alpha 8 AI processor to achieve a 1.3-fold increase in AI performance and 1.6-fold increase in processing speed compared to its predecessor. These remarkable advancements come together to form a powerful yet refined audiovisual experience that heightens the audience’s sense of immersion.
At the core of LG’s AI TVs lies a deep understanding of the user’s preferences, habits and desires. Seeking to enrich the home entertainment experience with versatile personalization and added convenience, the latest LG AI TVs can recognize voices based on unique webOS profiles, making it easier to deliver personalized recommendations based on their personal viewing history.
This user-centric approach lets users access their favorite or most-used content and services in an instant, while Picture Wizard works to tailor picture quality to their preferences to foster a deeper understanding and connection. Picture Wizard lets users pick from a range of image options, so that they can fine-tune images to their liking and receive greater viewing satisfaction without having to learn everything there is to know about technical aspects such as brightness, contrast or sharpness.
With sound quality now deemed just as important as image quality in completing the viewing experience, AI processing technologies have been evolving to help the TV’s audio performance catch up. AI Sound Pro offers richer and fuller audio while the LG TV’s built-in speakers produce virtual 11.1.2 surround sound to heighten immersion. The AI can even enhance dialogue clarity by separating vocals from the soundtrack, making it seem like sounds are emanating naturally from the screen’s center. Moreover, WOW Orchestra creates three-dimensional audio which works in unison with the TV’s built-in speakers and compatible LG soundbars, creating a unified sound together.
LG’s focus on the webOS smart TV platform, which powers over 200 million smart TVs, is clear for everyone to see. webOS enriches everyday life experiences with versatile personalization and enhanced convenience in the form of individual profiles, voice recognition and recommendations based on viewing history. With its extensive user base, LG is set to maintain a strong presence in targeted advertising, FAST and content streaming services.
Lastly, the webOS Re:New program2 offers the latest webOS upgrade to existing LG Smart TV owners to guarantee the most up-to-date TV experience for the next five years. That means consumers purchasing an LG OLED TV or LG QNED TV launched in 2024 can benefit from the latest webOS platform until 2028.
To explore the various efforts the LG Home Entertainment Company is making to curate life-enriching experiences for every kind of user, stay tuned to the
link hidden, please login to view. By Jung Jae-chul, home entertainment research and development lab leader of HE R&D Lab at LG Electronics
# # #
1 LG OLED evo M4 and G4 models.
2 Pop-up notifications offering a full upgrade without the need to select specific UX, UI or features are only sent to customers who have agreed to receive them. Please note that this upgrade does not cover the TV’s hardware performance, features or durability.
-
By News Reporter
LG remains steadfast in its commitment to actively nurture ideas with the potential to fuel the company’s future growth. By fostering a corporate culture that not only encourages challenges but also embraces failures as stepping stones to success, LG aims to embody the principles that have been at the heart of CEO William Cho’s leadership philosophy since his tenure began. CEO Cho consistently champions the ‘Brave Optimist’ mindset, inspiring everyone to boldly undertake challenges and relentlessly innovate, anchored in the belief that the customer is always the key to unlocking solutions.
A prime embodiment of this ethos is ‘STUDIO341,’ an initiative launched by LG last year. This program is designed to identify and cultivate in-house ventures that encapsulate the spirit of challenge and innovation, a mindset that has been instrumental in propelling LG from its humble beginnings as Goldstar in 1958 to its current status as a global leader in home appliances. The ‘341’ in ‘STUDIO341’ serves as a poignant reminder for LG’s ‘Brave Optimists’ to stay true to the company’s roots, symbolizing the original street address of Goldstar in Busan, Korea’s second-largest city.
The initiative welcomed anyone with a creative idea that can solve a problem worth solving and provide a new experience to customers. The response was impressive, with over 100 internal submissions received.
In the previous year, LG shortlisted the top thirteen ideas – one more than the originally intended twelve – which were further narrowed down to six during an internal IR event. This process involved evaluating the ideas based on their potential to provide unique customer experiences. The selection criteria encompassed business value, feasibility, potential impact and team capabilities.
The chosen teams were relocated to an external office to be able to fully immerse themselves in developing their in-house venture ideas. By March 2024, the top six teams had the opportunity to present their business proposals at the ‘STUDIO341 Demo Day’ in Seoul, in front of LG executives and potential investors.
After thorough deliberation, the top five teams selected for spinoff were unveiled: ‘MASKIT,’ a mobile ticketing and admission service for performing arts that removes the necessity for queuing; ‘FreshGo,’ an original cold chain transportation solution that leverages individual refrigeration technology; ‘Cucumber,’ a platform focused on local food pickup services; ‘Found Objet,’ a digital transaction platform for recycled plastic materials; and ‘X-UP,’ a solution for diagnosing and maintaining golf courses using robots and heat mapping technology.
Meanwhile, LG partnered with Bluepoint, a partnership-driven Korean startup accelerator, to leverage their ability to objectively assess the teams’ capabilities and provide more effective support. This approach has helped streamline the whole process to a year, with six months for selection and six months for development. During the process, each team will receive a joint investment from LG and Bluepoint up to a maximum of KRW 400 million.
In parallel, LG is intensifying its collaboration with global startups, as exemplified by its partnership with Amwell, a U.S. telemedicine company, to provide remote medical treatment solutions across North America. The company also aims to evaluate the viability of services in prevention, diagnosis, post-management and recovery, among others.
LG NOVA, LG’s North America Center for Innovation, launched its “Mission For the Future” by presenting the Eureka Park showcase at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. It also leveraged its influence to introduce startups operating in the digital healthcare field, such as XR Health, Mindset Medical and C.Light Technologies.
Stay tuned to
link hidden, please login to view to see how else the company is revolutionizing the customer experience for all. # # #
-
By News Reporter
For consumers, it’s the ‘experience’ that counts.
link hidden, please login to view, 73 percent of all customers place experience near the top of their checklist when making purchasing decisions, following only price and product quality in order of importance. LG, a company that strives to ensure that ‘Life’s Good’ for all, has prioritized the art of providing F.U.N. – first, unique and new – core values for customers.
To successfully deliver the types of experiences that customers desire, LG first had to make sure that all parts of the organization were aligned and properly equipped for the task at hand. In 2024, new CX performance management system is applied to the entire executive organization structure – not just Korean executives at the company’s headquarters but global executives and employees in charge of sales, manufacturing and management – with a view to adding CX to other crucial measurements of overall business performance, such as sales and operating profit.
The data from the CX indicator is analyzed to assess the various teams involved and to instill a ‘customer-first’ mindset throughout the entire company. The definition of ‘customer’ in this equation is not limited to end-users, but includes business partners and relevant internal departments as well.
The company made meaningful changes by promoting various customer value innovation activities. However, it was identified that a process was needed to properly evaluate business performance as well as reward the achievement of increased levels of customer satisfaction.
Accordingly, starting from this year, all LG Electronics executives will be evaluated based on the level of customer satisfaction within the organizations under their purview, and also on whether or not they have achieved their allotted tasks. Customer satisfaction is graded based on LG’s in-house-developed measurement tool, which quantifies the satisfaction level of LG customers during each stage of the customer experience journey.
Now, each organization is charged with the mission of determining how it will go about innovating target customers’ experiences. In this way, each unit or team can give in-depth consideration to the important question of “What constitutes a differentiated experience from the customers’ perspective?” and then gauge whether or not a specific CX innovation can be realized.
For teams that don’t work directly with customers, CX tasks can include identifying the relevant customer groups, such as internal departments or suppliers, for a certain aspect or piece of organizational work, and generating appropriate and actionable innovation activities to drive meaningful results. LG strongly believes that customer value innovation is not just the domain of ‘management’ or select customer-facing teams. Rather, it takes a whole company working together to consistently create it, with each person adopting a ‘customer-first’ mindset and seeking to view all pertinent matters from the customer’s perspective.
This belief reflects LG CEO William Cho’s management philosophy, which states that the start and end of all innovation is the customer. Since taking charge of the company at the end of 2021, CEO Cho has continuously emphasized how accelerating customer experience innovation plays a critical role in improving customers’ lives. As a result of his astute direction, and as underscored by LG’s ‘Future Vision 2030’ document and recent brand reinvention, the company is actively expanding its CX innovation initiatives.
To boost the innovation of customer experience, the company has launched a company-wide project calling on all employees to ‘meet’ with customers directly to ‘hear’ their honest feedback and concerns in order to ‘empathize’ with them. As a part of this internal project that focuses on LG’s commitment to advancing CX, executives partook in an ‘on-site’ experience program designed to ensure the implementation of customer-centric management practices and policies. Last year alone, more than 280 LG executives from the Korean headquarters visited key offline sites to see firsthand a broad range of customer contact points and associated activities, including product purchase, phone consultation, rental, delivery and after-service care.
Many of these executives even visited Hi-Tele Service, an LG subsidiary that provides remote customer service. While there, the executives had the valuable opportunity to hear feedback direct from LG customers – giving them insight into how and where the CX might be further improved and refined.
On top of these activities, in order to ‘hear’ from customers, LG hosted seminars where employees could share CX innovation cases as well as programs where they could directly listen to customers’ stories. And, to boost ‘empathy’ for customers, the company is carrying out company-wide activities that enable employees to set their own customer and determine the value they can provide to these customers.
Customer value innovation is not just a task for management or teams that work directly with customers. It is the job of everyone at LG to make meaningful changes by rethinking and differentiating everything the company does from the customer’s perspective.
LG is committed to providing differentiated customer value. The company will continue to pursue a customer-centric way of working – one that is based on a detailed understanding of and empathy for its customers.
Not limited to HQ, our system of actively meeting, hearing and empathizing with customers is being put into place in LG offices around the world. In a dedicated series on , we will introduce how various LG teams and subsidiaries are making changes to reinvent CX, so stay tuned.
By Kang Je-nam, director of Customer Value Innovation Division at LG Electronics
# # #
-
By News Reporter
In this installment of On the Job, we go inside LG Labs, LG’s marketing platform established to deliver experimental and innovative product and service experiences to its customers. We’re here to learn more about how it brings one-of-a-kind products and service experiences to customers.
As it transforms into a younger and innovative company, LG is fully committed to delivering a consistent supply of groundbreaking products and technologies that appeal to the younger generation. Playing a key role in this shift is LG Labs, a platform established to push the limits of innovation and turn imagination into reality by doing something that doesn’t come natural to most – thinking outside the box.
Since making its world debut at CES 2023, LG Labs has been presenting some of the most experimental and innovative products and services to global customers. Set up to bring a younger and more innovative feel to the LG brand, LG Labs’ purpose is to develop products that resonate with the younger generation, helping it build strong and lasting brand values that will be crucial to sustaining its leadership status into the future.
“If we discover an innovative idea that can provide new, unique experiences to customers, it doesn’t matter if it is low in business priority or small in market size,” explained Kong Dae-won, leader of LG Labs. “Even before launch, LG Labs actively engages with real customers through various channels and considers their honest feedback, providing us more opportunities to bring our potentially game-changing ideas to life.”
(From left to right) Kong Dae-won, leader of LG labs, and Woo Hyung-bihn, specialist at LG Labs
To decide which product to develop, LG Labs brings together experts from LG Global Marketing Group, Design Management Center, CX Center, Quality Management Center and other related departments. The questions every LG Labs expert must ask themself are: Is this something we’ve never tried before? Is it a new concept for the industry? And does it have business potential?
For example, DukeBox, which was unveiled at
link hidden, please login to view, creates an entirely new product category and unique music experience by combining a vacuum tube motif with Transparent OLED tech. In fact, despite launching only a year ago, LG Labs has already invented several never-before-seen products including , Bon Voyage and brid.zzz. Bon Voyage featured at Wanderlust Korea
“We felt it was important to bring our innovations to customers directly and provide the opportunity to experience our innovative ideas in person,” said Kong Dae-won. “Over the past year, brid.zzz, Bon Voyage and DUOBO were featured in the LG Labs experience zone at offline events in South Korea, including Wanderlust Korea, Isegye Festival and Go Out Camp Festival. As a result, we were able to reach more than 40,000 customers and received invaluable feedback from more than 2,000 visitors.”
This year’s CES LG Labs booth was twice the size of last year’s booth, and the response from visitors was twice the scale as well. DukeBox was a big hit, especially with the big music labels in attendance as it fit seamlessly with their content and music. As a result, LG is currently in talks with a famous label on a potential collaboration that would undoubtedly strike a chord with young music fans.
LG Labs offline experience zone at Isegye Festival in Korea
Beginning last year, LG started focusing on targeting younger customers. This year, it’s taking things a step further by entering their social and online channels to generate more engagement. By leveraging the influence of creators who resonate with the younger demographic, LG plans to adopt an online and offline hybrid marketing strategy to communicate the new and exciting experiences of LG Labs’ products. This includes expanding its experience events overseas.
LG Labs aims to expand the company’s future business portfolio while encouraging both executives and employees to challenge convention by fostering an organizational culture that welcomes and rewards it. There’s much more to come from LG Labs over the coming years, so watch this space for more inventions designed to make life good!
Stay tuned to the to find out what other LG teams and employees are getting up to.
# # #
-
By News Reporter
Company Has Established a Comprehensive, Ethically-Responsible
Management System for Its AI-Enabled Home Appliances
SEOUL, Feb. 15, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) has recently achieved a significant milestone by obtaining the AI Management System (AIMS) certification (ISO/IEC 42001) from the Korean Standards Association (KSA).1 This certification demonstrates LG’s commitment to prioritizing data security and embracing responsible AI management practices throughout the entire lifecycle of its AI-powered home appliances.
ISO/IEC 42001, a globally recognized standard established jointly by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), sets out the essential requirements for governing and managing AI technologies.2 AIMS certification validates that a company has not only implemented but also maintains and continuously improves an AI Management System, demonstrating a responsible and ethical approach to developing and utilizing AI-based solutions.
The stringent assessment criteria of ISO/IEC 42001 cover various aspects, including AI policy formulation, risk assessment, risk management, ethical compliance, regulatory responsiveness and transparency in AI management processes.
The acquisition of AIMS certification acknowledges LG’s ongoing and systematic efforts to ensure rigorous control over potential issues related to its AI products and services, including security, fairness, transparency and accountability. Through this certification, LG aims to enhance customer trust and strengthen its competitiveness.
Last year, LG distinguished itself as the first home appliance manufacturer to receive Deep Learning AI Verification, awarded by the independent safety science company UL for its washing machine and dryer. Additionally, LG obtained AI Safety Certification from the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) for the AI functionalities integrated into the LG WashTower.3
LG actively leverages data- and AI-based research and development initiatives to realize the vision of the ‘Zero Labor Home,’ offering users a refreshingly convenient and relaxing smart home experience facilitated by LG’s advanced, AI-driven home appliances and services.
“This certification shows that we have established a comprehensive AI management system and are committed to providing our customers with safe, responsible AI-based solutions for a better life,” said Lyu Jae-chul, president of LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company.
# # #
1 The AI Management System certification (ISO/IEC 42001) from the Korean Standards Association is confined to the products produced in LG Smart Park 1, 2 in Changwon, South Korea.
2 link hidden, please login to view
3 The AI Safety Certification from the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology is applied to WashTower model W17NT.
-
-
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.