Episode 49. Is It Okay to Do This? 6.
Hyeonu was sitting in a conference room tucked into one corner of the space that had been used for the review session.
A moment later, the door opened and a familiar face entered.
It was Senior Associate Jeong Hunseok from Planning Team 1, whom he had seen earlier.
“Welcome, Senior Associate.”
He bowed awkwardly and took a seat.
“You came after all.”
“They said they’d assign me full-time so I could focus only on this.”
“Thank you. We’re preparing a brand launch with a small team, so it’s going to be very busy. I appreciate you coming.”
“That’s how brand launches are, after all. But if it goes well, it’s that much more rewarding.”
[Honestly, brand launch work is so exhausting that I didn’t want to do it, but I decided after seeing how you dealt with the department head. For some reason, I felt bad for you and just wanted to help. Since it’s your first time, you’ll probably get lost a lot. Still, I’ve done a brand launch once at another company, so it should be a little better.]
Hyeonu smiled.
“Since I’m not from the industry, please understand if there are things I don’t know. I look forward to working with you.”
“I look forward to working with you too.”
Once Jeong Hunseok, now in charge of planning for the project, sat down, there was a knock and the door opened.
A woman with a bare face, rough skin, and her hair tied tightly back with a rubber band poked only her head in.
She was a designer.
People might think designers are incredibly flashy and well put together, but the reality was nothing like that.
They had no time to dress up, and their daily lives were too harsh.
Working overtime for most of the year, and when a review session approached, staying up all night for several days in a row was standard.
On top of that, because they learned their work under a design director in a semi-apprenticeship system, the hierarchy was firmly entrenched.
And yet their pay was shockingly low.
After enduring like that through sheer grit and stubbornness, moving from brand to brand until they became team leaders and then directors, only then did they stand on the true stage of evaluation.
If they failed, they could be driven out and never recover; if they succeeded, they hit the jackpot.
Their base salary would be in the hundreds of millions of won, and they would even gain the power to negotiate incentives.
That was why they searched everywhere like starving wolves, hoping for even a single opportunity.
Within the apprenticeship culture, unless they rose to the very top, far from creating the designs they intended, all they could do was carry out orders from above. And even if they had done the work themselves, the credit went to the design director.
For women like them, professionals among professionals in a sense, an opportunity to escape that framework could only be welcome.
“This is where they’re preparing the new brand launch, right?”
“Are you from the design office?”
“Yes.”
“Welcome. I’m Kim Hyeonu. I look forward to working with you.”
“I’m Choi Mijin. I look forward to working with you.”
“Did you apply to join our team yourself?”
“Yes. I’ve never worked on a new brand launch before, and I wanted to experience it.”
[Whew······ I have to do well. This is an opportunity. It may be shabby right now, but I’m the first designer here. If this launch succeeds, I could rise all at once. Go at it like crazy, Choi Mijin. You absolutely can’t miss an opportunity like this. Even if it kills you, bite down and hang on. I can do it. I can do it, Choi Mijin.]
She spoke coolly and aloofly, but Choi Mijin’s true feelings were desperate.
People like this were always welcome.
There was no one more formidable than someone with a clear sense of purpose.
“That’s good. I hope this project becomes a great opportunity for you, Ms. Choi Mijin. I hope the launch succeeds and you rise all the way to design director.”
At Hyeonu’s lightly spoken words and gentle smile, Choi Mijin’s chest tightened.
Because Hyeonu had put into words the very picture she had longed for so desperately in her heart.
Her eyes had reddened slightly, but she clenched her molars and spoke again in an aloof voice.
“Isn’t design director getting too far ahead of things?”
Her inner thoughts were different from her words.
Looking into her blunt face, yet seeing the desperation in her eyes, Hyeonu answered.
“Since it’s tied to Mancheon Apparel’s organizational structure, I can’t really say anything for certain, but at the very least, I think you’ll be able to claim the title of the designer who successfully launched a brand.”
“······.”
“And when I submit the report as the project proposer, I’ll make sure to include the name Designer Choi Mijin.”
Her round eyes wavered, and she spoke in a low voice as she walked to her seat and sat down.
“Let’s make sure this brand launch succeeds.”
After she sat down, Eom Yoseop, an assistant manager from Sales Team 2 with a rather cheerful personality, came in and exchanged greetings.
And finally, Manager Choi Wonhyo from Production Management Team 1 arrived, and everyone was gathered.
At last, the team for launching the new outdoor brand had been formed.
To loosen the atmosphere, they drank coffee and chatted for a while before Hyeonu handed out a printed sheet to each person.
Everyone looked at it with puzzled faces, wondering what the printout meant, while Choi Wonhyo, who already knew, raised the corners of his mouth as if amused by their expressions.
Assistant Manager Eom Yoseop, in charge of sales, raised his head.
“Isn’t this a documentary channel?”
“Yes. That’s the outdoor brand we’re going to launch.”
Everyone was startled.
A brief silence passed, and Eom Yoseop asked again.
“Did we buy the apparel trademark rights for this?”
“The planning team at Mulsan is negotiating right now. I just heard they’re discussing clauses related to extending the contract, so it seems like they’ve reached the final stage.”
“Wait a moment.”
Planning manager Jeong Hunseok stood up and rushed out.
A moment later, he came back carrying black and white padded jackets and placed them on the table.
“Mr. Hyeonu, Assistant Manager Eom, could you try these on?”
While Eom Yoseop and Hyeonu put on the padded jackets, Jeong Hunseok took scissors from his pocket and cut the logo printed on the paper into a square.
Then he held it against the left chest of the black padded jacket Eom Yoseop was wearing and asked Choi Mijin,
“Since it’s taken from the documentary channel, we can keep the main logo in its original colors. What print colors would be good?”
Choi Mijin chewed on her lip and stared at it silently before speaking.
“If the background is black, I think white, yellow, and dark gray would be good.”
Jeong Hunseok nodded as if he agreed and called over Hyeonu, who was wearing the white padded jacket.
“Could you come here for a moment?”
When Hyeonu walked around the table and stood beside Eom Yoseop, Jeong Hunseok placed it against Hyeonu’s chest this time, and Choi Mijin spoke again.
“For this one, black and dark gray, and hmm······ teal would look good.”
“Teal?”
“A blue tone with a dark green tint.”
“Ah······ That would be nice.”
Jeong Hunseok put down the paper with the logo on it.
“Since the brand is already decided as Discovery, I think we can immediately start matching it with the products, and also work on drafts for store interiors and shopping bags. Along with various subsidiary materials and props.”
Hyeonu was puzzled.
He had expected them to say this or that about the Discovery trademark, but instead of any such talk, they went straight into work.
Was it because they were all experts?
Still, since he didn’t know, he asked once.
“Do you think the brand is okay?”
The moment he finished speaking, Eom Yoseop answered at once.
“Of course. If this goes well, I think it could hit the jackpot.”
Jeong Hunseok picked up where he left off.
“Honestly, when I first saw this, my heart sank. I even thought it was unfair. And I felt bad too. We’re working on a brand launch, but the planning manager didn’t even get to do the branding work······ Still, what can we do? Like Assistant Manager Eom said, it’s a jackpot······ Though if I had one opinion about promotion, it would be to not put Mancheon Apparel forward, but hide it. I think the originality will feel stronger if people think Discovery made it directly.”
Hyeonu felt extremely good.
The project he had only imagined by himself had entered the hands of experts and was becoming concrete, moving forward so briskly.
It even occurred to him that this was what cooperation with an affiliate was like.
“But we’ll have to think a bit about the color of the store sign. The original logo color is steel blue, so we have no choice but to use a light-colored background.”
“Since it’s an outdoor store, wouldn’t a dark background be better?”
“Exactly. That’s why I said we need to think about it.”
In this way, as if brainstorming, they poured out ideas without rest until Eom Yoseop suddenly brought this up.
“But what are you going to do about the launch timing and the number of stores to open? Usually, you decide on the launch date and target number of stores first, then work the entire schedule backward. If we’re launching on such-and-such date, then the products have to arrive by this date, and for that to happen, final confirmation has to come through by this date······. It’s more reasonable to set the schedule in reverse like that.”
“Kekeke.”
When Choi Wonhyo suddenly chuckled, everyone turned to look at him.
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I just couldn’t help laughing, thinking about how everyone’s going to keel over when they hear the launch timing and the number of stores.”
Eom Yoseop replied jokingly.
“Why? Are we opening a hundred stores right from the start?”
“No, the opposite.”
“Pardon? The opposite?”
Seeing Eom Yoseop tilt his head in confusion, Hyunwoo cut into their conversation.
“We’ll open between one and three stores. And I’d like the launch to be sometime this year, early January of next year at the latest.”
Everyone was struck speechless and stared blankly.
“O-one to th-three stores?”
“Yes, Assistant Manager. Department stores only.”
He stared blankly with his mouth open.
He had no idea what to say.
Hyunwoo asked him.
“Which Mancheon Department Store branch has the highest sales?”
Only then did he come back to his senses and answer.
“The Myeongdong main branch, Gangnam branch, Busan Haeundae branch, and Jamsil branch, in that order.”
“Then Busan would be inefficient in terms of logistics, so we can just target the main branch, Gangnam, and Jamsil. We don’t need to open all three. Securing even one properly will be enough.”
“If we set it that vaguely, we could end up with leftover inventory or not enough stock.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. We’ll produce enough for ten stores, and I’ve already prepared a plan to make sure there’s no leftover inventory. We can discuss that plan separately later. It’s not urgent right now.”
At that moment, Choi Mijin’s frustrated voice was heard.
“Hyunwoo, this plan is physically impossible. When are we supposed to design the products, and when are we supposed to produce them? We haven’t even made the logo molds for subsidiary materials like buttons and zippers.”
As Choi Mijin said, the timeline was physically impossible.
“We can do it. There’s a way to make it possible.”
It was Choi Wonhyo’s voice.
Everyone turned their eyes to him, and Choi Mijin asked.
“How?”
“Right now is exactly when we’re putting in spot orders and reorders. We just need to add a little more quantity there. And as everyone knows, spot orders are a way to quickly produce the items currently trending most in the market. Reorders are additional production of items that have already sold well. In other words, they’re proven products. Which also means the chances of success are that much higher.”
“Even so, wouldn’t it be too late once the order has already gone in? They must have already ordered the materials······.”
“That’s not a problem. Now, look. Let’s say we place an order with a vendor for a thousand pieces. Then, on the delivery date, we’re supposed to receive a thousand pieces from the vendor. But when you’re producing clothing, it’s hard to match the exact number due to the nature of apparel. That’s why there’s a margin of plus or minus five percent. In other words, even if the vendor delivers only ninety-five percent of the quantity, we don’t file a quantity claim, and conversely, even if they deliver one hundred and five percent, we pay for the excess quantity. That’s the only way vendors can breathe. Then, from the vendor’s point of view, what do you think they’ll do?”
He looked around at the team members, who were listening quietly, then spoke again.
“They’ll try to deliver one hundred and five percent, won’t they? Because they get paid more.”
“······.”
“I’m saying we take that ten percent over here. We redirect the plus and minus five percent margins to our side.”
“······.”
“Now, let’s look at it again. Since there are ninety-seven In the Nature stores, how many stores could ten percent supply?”
Eom Yoseop said.
“Nine to ten?”
Choi Wonhyo grinned.
“Then there’s no problem, right?”
“But we can’t fill out the assortment with only spot orders and reorders.”
At Choi Mijin’s words, Choi Wonhyo spoke again.
“I think it’s enough. We can make the well-selling spot items and reorders our main products, and replace basic items like T-shirts with stock fabric—fabric that’s already been made. What do you think, Chief Jeong?”
Jeong Hunseok, who had been rubbing his chin and thinking for a moment, answered.
“I think it’s possible. Given the nature of outdoor wear, the assortment doesn’t need to be too diverse. And consumers will think of it as original clothing sold by a documentary channel, so they probably won’t demand as wide an assortment as they would from a regular fashion company brand.”
Eom Yoseop added a word.
“I think it’s possible on the sales side too. We have a relationship with Mancheon Department Store, and with a plan like this, we should be able to secure at least two, even at worst. Since the schedule is so tight, store interiors are the issue, but if it’s a department store, that’s not a problem either. Department store interiors are normally done after the previous day’s business closes and finished before business opens the next day. It’s a one-day job anyway, so there won’t be any issue with the schedule. And since it’s a corner-type interior, it’s relatively easy to prepare a draft as well.”
Hyunwoo, who had been listening quietly, asked Choi Mijin.
“What do you think? Does it still seem impossible?”
There was no answer.
That meant it was possible.
Of course, there would be some ups and downs once they actually proceeded, but it was plenty feasible.
“Then what do we need to hurry with right now?”
Choi Mijin answered.
“We need to copy the work orders for the current spot items, reorders, and basic products, then adjust the design points little by little. We can’t send out identical products. And we need to finalize the logo that will go into the subsidiary material molds. That can be done in coordination with Manager Choi and Chief Jeong. Though we’ll probably have to stay up all night for about a week.”
After finishing, Choi Mijin let out a sigh.
“Haa······ I never dreamed we’d launch a brand like this.”
Looking at her, Hyunwoo said calmly, as if it were nothing.
“Actually, this isn’t an official brand launch. It’s only preliminary work for a brand launch.”
“Pardon? Not an official launch, but preliminary work?”
As they were startled by the completely unexpected words, Hyunwoo handed out another copy of the documents to each of them.
It was the very proposal No Hyeoncheol had seen.
Jeong Hunseok murmured the title of the proposal.
“Regarding the Operation of Pilot Stores for the Official Launch of the Outdoor Brand’s S/S Season······.”
He flinched, raised his head, and asked.
“Pilot stores? Like a pilot program?”
A pilot program referred to a broadcast aired as a test before a TV show was officially scheduled.
In other words, a trial broadcast where only one or two episodes of a program were produced and aired in advance, and after gauging the response, they decided whether to make it a regular program.
Hyunwoo answered.
“It isn’t exactly the same method as a pilot program. The key intent behind my plan is to move quickly with the minimum number of stores and generate the maximum promotional effect before the official opening. If those one or two stores succeed properly, consumers, department store officials, and even fashion media will take interest, and then the chances of success for the official S/S season launch will increase exponentially. If the pilot stores fail, then we’ll have attempted to launch a new brand with minimal losses. Of course, the chance of failure is extremely low······.”
Just as Hyunwoo said, no one thought it would fail.
The moment they secured the documentary channel as the brand name, it was as good as a success already.
They could only be impressed.
An extremely low chance of failure.
Even if it did fail, the losses would be small.
And after using pilot stores to give concrete form to a jackpot possibility that had only been drawn in the abstract, they would make a stable investment.
How could they not be impressed?
This was Hyunwoo’s plan.
As he had said at first, there was not a single process of creating something or making something new.
From the brand to product production, promotion, and sales, he simply took what already existed and used it.
Just like a pilot store should.