[Sponsored Report] Lotte is getting Korea ready for the Olympics

Customers check out the PyeongChang 2018 Official Store at the Lotte Department Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. [LOTTE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Lotte Department Store was designated the official department store of the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Seoul Olympics and successfully introduced the world to Korean distribution culture. The company is now officially sponsoring the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

Lotte Department Store aims to create an Olympic boom before the event actually takes place. Starting November 9, all executives and staff members of Lotte Department Store are wearing an official PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics pin, becoming public ambassadors of the Games.

Approximately 6,000 employees from the 56 branches across the country have become official spokespeople for the international sporting event, which begins in less than three months.

Interior and exterior decorations at Lotte Department Stores have incorporated the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic mascots Suhorang and Bandabi. Branches nationwide have been decorated under the theme of “Joyful Christmas with PyeongChang 2018.” Bulletin boards and ornaments inside the stores feature the mascots of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Since Nov. 1, Lotte Department Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, has set up promotional booths and exhibitions in front of each location to advertise the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Customers can take photos with cut-outs of Suhorang and Bandabi and learn about PyeongChang Olympics-related products designed by Lotte Department Store. In the brand’s Avenuel store next door, a photo exhibition featuring the members of the national team taken by photographer Lee Myoung-ho is being held. A promotional video for the Winter Olympics is being continuously played outside of the Lotte Young Plaza location across the street.

Giveaways and PyeongChang Olympics Public Ambassador Membership Events are also taking place. Various gifts are prepared for customers who partake in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics-related event held on Lotte Department Store’s Facebook page.

Through membership events, 1 percent of every purchase over 10,000 won ($9.29) is donated to the national team by the store.

Lotte Department Store is also introducing commemorative products goods for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics at 26 stores around the nation in addition to being available online. The PyeongChang 2018 Official Store is now open at 18 stores.

Kang Hee-tae, CEO of Lotte Department Store, said “For a successful PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Lotte Department Store is taking advantage of its strongest point of having various distribution channels to promote broad-scale marketing. All the executives and staffs consider themselves promoters of the event, and are taking initiative in supporting the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.”