Johannesburg - When Sung Yoon joined Samsung as a bright-eyed low-level employee in 1989 he had a plan to stay with the company for just two years. Yoon wanted to start his own textile business. But as is often the case, man plans and then life happens.
In 1989 and on his first day on the job, he had no idea of the plan that life had in store for him but the man with the never-say-die attitude took it all in his stride. Even up Mount Kilimanjaro. Yoon was a first-hand witness to the company’s remarkable journey to becoming a global world-leading brand.
Despite countless challenges, he turned Samsung’s Africa business into a success within four years. In a career spanning more than three decades, Yoon contributed in numerous capacities, heading up sales, not only in Africa, but in three different overseas assignments. In his book and catch-up session with Independent Newspapers at the Rosebank Hotel, Yoon offers keen insights that shed light on the challenges of making business decisions and taking calculated risks.
He explores how to take a top brand forward and into new territories, both in terms of product, sales and marketing and in terms of new markets and how Samsung successfully fosters a healthy, robust and infinitely creative culture.
Now 61, Yoon cuts a dashing figure with very few time lines on his face for a man who spent most of his adult life on the move, inventing and reinventing, not just his brand, but also himself.
Yoon spent 16 years in the US growing Samsung’s TV sales and later moving into mobile phone sales. But he admits that the four years in South Africa were his best and that it will always be home to him. But his first introduction to Africa did not exactly instil confidence in him and his colleagues who were left terrified, although Yoon himself remained calm and later called this continent home.
“We were visiting one of our top salesmen in a poor neighbourhood in Lagos when we were confronted and followed by a local gang which demanded payment for our safety. The Area Boys, as they were known, had quite a fearsome reputation in the area and why colleagues thought it would be their last day on earth,” Yoon chuckled.
It’s exactly this disposition that allowed Yoon to thrive in what was at the time one of the most competitive markets in the world. Samsung was on a mission to become the preferred brand for TVs and phones and Samsung HQ decided he was the right man for the job.
“Never before had Samsung executives conducted meetings on the ground. I can still remember how that Nigerian retailer cried when we visited his store and presented him with a prize for his sales achievements. I have always believed that one should go humbly and listen to the customers. We always wanted to listen and that groundwork is still continuing today,” he added.
Yoon’s job took him to places he never, in his weirdest dreams, thought of visiting and this was what happened on a business trip to Russia. And to add to the stress of that visit, he had to collect a $4 million dollar debt from a trading partner in Russia. Not an easy feat, given the tension between the two countries at the time, but returning to HQ, without the money was not an option.
“At the time, Russia and Korea were seen as enemies. But when I arrived there, It was very different from what I expected. The people I met felt like family. Biases and perceptions can be misleading,” he said.
And while it took more than a year to collect the Russian debt, the people Yoon met became what he calls “good friends”.
“I still get very emotional when I think of my friend Sergey who welcomed me into his home and life. I was able to build good relationships,” Yoon added.
Although he loved his work, he often had to move cities and continents at the drop of a hat or wherever a challenge arose. Yoon was the man to overcome them. A fixer of sorts.
“The first time I told my wife we had to leave Korea, she cried. My sons, Jason and Alex and my wife, they always moved for me. I have experienced many failures, made many mistakes but always kept going,” he said.
After 16 years in the US and being part of a team which ultimately ensured that Samsung wore the tech crown for phones, TVs and computers, Yoon’s greatest adventure was about to begin.
“No, SA was never on my mind. I was told a week before I was due to start in Africa. When I told my wife, she kept on asking: Africa? Africa? The continent was a growing market for Samsung at the time and the boys were at college in the US so it was just the wife and I. This place (South Africa) is part of me. I am home here,” Yoon said.
During his four years as the Africa CEO for Samsung, Yoon travelled the lengths and breadth of the continent, met with political leaders and sports stars in his quest to make a tangible change to the lives of Africans. But his greatest challenge and joy was the Trek 4 Mandela expedition, although he didn’t quite know what he was getting himself into.
“The staff came to me and suggested I do it. No Samsung CEO had ever done it and I agreed. But when I came to realise what it entailed, I was filled with dread. But I had given my word to my team and could not withdraw. I just had to do it. I had no training. My wife made me promise that I would return safely to her and I am a man of my word,” he said.
Yoon’s son Jason joined him on the expedition and as the time grew nearer, so did his fear.
“The team and I decided that when I reached the summit, I would put up a banner to say that Samsung was on top of the world. No words can ever describe the difficulties that come with climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s not just that you feel like dying. Everything hurts. The air in your lungs. Your entire body hurts. My son decided to pull out just before we reached the last stretch. We were both very emotional, but I decided to forge ahead. And so I reached the top, took my pics and videos and kept my word to my wife and my team,” he gleamed.
“On my last day in SA, as I left the hotel, the entire Samsung staff came to bid me farewell. They lined the reception area of the hotel and all the way to the car. We all cried. They begged me not to forget them. They made me promise that I would write a book to remember them and I have,” Yoon concluded.
All proceeds of Yoon’s book will go to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.