Samsung Projecting Lee as Future- Oriented Leader; Hyundai Portraying Chung as Aggressive Tycoon Korean conglomerates spend millions of dollars a year to improve the public image of their chairmen. As a CEO's image can significantly affect a company's sales and market position, seasoned PR chiefs usually handle the matter directly with the aid of image consulting agencies. Because corporate identity matters, so too does the president's identity. When a CEO is involved in a corruption scandal, the firm's sales and share prices fall as a reflection of decreasing public trust. Samsung Group has a vast global marketing network and works under one motto: innovation. And it also brands chairman Lee Kun-hee as an entrepreneur with a future-oriented business mindset just as the company sets the global trend for semiconductor and wireless technologies. "A CEO's image is an important symbol to a business entity. It affect sales and the morale of employees and its subsidiaries," said Choi Eun-joo, president of Image Korea, a corporate image consulting firm. According to Choi, companies generally try to change the image of their CEOs on five occasions _ when they come in, when they need a breakthrough from a legal battle or personal crisis, when the company needs to expand, when CEO is in a slump, and when people grow tired of his image. "In any case, it requires well-calculated marketing for a change as it costs millions of dollars," she said. In photos and publicity materials released by Samsung, Lee is rarely seen smiling. The company tries to show Lee as a serious man so it looks as if he is always pondering over something. Image of Lee Kun-hee as an innovative businessman In fact, whenever Samsung faced challenges, Lee tried to show where Samsung was and where the Korean economy was going by making touching remarks in public. In 1993, when Samsung and other South Korean chaebol, or family-run conglomerates, faced calls of restructuring to come up with world's No. 1 companies, he said, "we have to change everything but wives." His idea of innovation was shared by all Samsung executives and helped the conglomerate shift its focus to the semiconductor and other technology sectors to emerge as the world's top technology firm, according to Samsung officials. He also made a similar remark in 2001, when he said he feels cold sweat running down his back whenever he thinks about how the group will survive after a decade, stressing innovation. Recently, he said one genius feeds 10,000 people, indicating the need to support technocrats. The sensational remarks has created an image of Lee being future-oriented and devoted to innovation and technology, and it also has become the image of Samsung. Marketing experts agree there is a correlation between the image of a company and its chairman, and consumers are inclined to buy products made by firms with a better image when choosing products within the same price bracket. Some people only buy products manufactured by Samsung because they believe that Samsung products are free of defects and when problems are encountered, it fixes them as soon as possible through its well-established afterservice network. Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group chairman Chung Mong-koo is often viewed as a blue-collar chairman. He makes it a rule to visit manufacturing plants to encourage assembly-line workers and doesn't carry expensive items, like his late father Chung Ju-yung, who founded the Hyundai business empire with empty pockets. In most photos released by Hyundai, he is usually dressed in a worker's uniform, talking happily with other people. This has caused the public to feel uncomfortable when they see the chairman wearing a suit. Chung Mong-koo is active Such images make the former rugby player look active, dynamic and aggressive and it matches the characteristics of the automotive industry. The chairman has had his sights on improving the quality of its vehicles and spent millions of dollars in harnessing research and development. That strategy has won Hyundai, once regarded as one of the worst car manufacturers, global respect in recent years and it now sees surging sales in the United States, China, India and many European countries. In the process, the carmaker has achieved much confidence, and it is reflected in the branding of the chairman and the carmaker, experts say. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won is young and cool-headed, but he has no brand identity just as SK has no unique color. Recently, the conglomerate often organizes social and charity events, in which Chey, in casual clothing, helps out the needy and cooks for orphans. "We are focusing on some key points in building CEO identity, such as youth, passion and social contribution," an SK official said. "We try to make the chairman look at home with the public to show that he is concerned about them." The top priority of their promotional activities is to remove the corrupt image of Chey, who served a jail term for his role in SK's manipulation of earnings in the late 1990s, according to SK officials.