E-Today | “This Time It’s Doggies and Kitties”… Woori Card CEO Jung Won-jae Dreams of 5 Million Accounts
E-Today reported that Woori Card CEO Jung Won-jae is aiming for 5 million accounts with a new pet-benefit card called 'Daengdaengnyangi.' Earlier, Jung had used Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung's work to bring Korean beauty into the 'Card Classics' series, which reached 4 million accounts in record time. It explained that Woori Card posted its highest post-spinoff net profit of 126.5 billion won last year.
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Directly leading the planning, design, and marketing of 'Card Classics'... "Put in what customers need"
"We must make products that sell themselves, not products to be sold."
This is what Woori Card CEO Jung Won-jae (pictured) always tells his employees. It is an instruction not to build products around branding, but to constantly think about what customers need and build it into the benefits.
The 'Card Classics' series he created is a distillation of this conviction. He personally leads everything from planning to design and marketing. It is thanks to this that the card surpassed 4 million accounts in the fastest time (16 months) even amid a sluggish market—a pace of over 250,000 accounts issued steadily every month. This is the fastest record for a single product series.
Having created a hit with cards specialized in benefits and points, CEO Jung is now turning his attention to the 'pet economy' (Pet+Economy, the pet-related industry). The pet-related market was worth 2.65 trillion won last year. It is expected to exceed 4.6 trillion won this year and surpass 6 trillion won by 2027.
The 'Daengdaengnyangi' (dog+cat) card, targeting pet moms and cat moms, offers benefits specialized for pet-related businesses.
It offers a 10% billing discount at pet shops, grooming salons, animal hospitals, Mollys Pet Shop (located in E-mart and Traders), Interpark's pet-specialty online mall Interpark Pet, and Wibee Market. It also offers up to 1% discount on overseas spending. There is no limit on usage count or amount.
Based on the belief that 'a card that sits at the top of your wallet has to look good,' the company also invested heavily in design. For the 'Daengdaengnyangi' card, a design contest was even held to achieve a sensuous look, with cuteness as the concept. Earlier, he used the work of Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung to bring 'Korean beauty' to the cards. The card has a notch cut into the top-right corner to make it easy to pull out of a wallet. These are all results of thinking from the customer's perspective.
The popularity of 'Card Classics,' personally overseen by the CEO and dubbed the 'Jung Won-jae Card,' shows clearly in the numbers. Woori Card earned a net profit of 126.5 billion won last year, its largest since spinning off.
It also posted a net profit of 66.5 billion won in the first half of this year despite reduced merchant fees. The number of active members also grew by 650,000 compared to the same period last year.
CEO Jung said, "With the goal of being the first card in the customer's wallet, I am confident we will reach 5 million accounts within the year."
Reporter Kim Byeo-ri, kimstar1215@etoday.co.kr