SPC has been diligently trying to create a balanced work environment and establish bilateral communication between employees. As a result of these efforts, on February 24, Coffee Business Division’s 3rd Town Hall Meeting 2023 was conducted at SPC Future Creation Centre, Shindae-bang, Seoul. The executives and staff members of the Paris Croissant Coffee Business Division gathered – and under the theme of ‘Jump up your brand’— had a valuable time talking about their concerns and goals to grow into a better brand in 2023. Let’s have a look at leveled-up Town Hall Meeting proceedings.
2023 Open Class with a Branding Expert
Employees listen as Custom Eat’s Chief Marketing Officer Heo-jun delivers a lecture on branding
This time, the open class was concurrently held online and offline. The lecture mainly consisted of food and beverage brand launchings and the lecturer was Heo-jun — the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of a food technology platform called Custom Eat. The open class focused on the meaning of branding, successful branding activities of prominent brands, and the exclusive marketing know-hows of the CMO Heo-Jun. During the Q&A session, participants openly asked questions about branding, followed by a discussion of Paris Croissant Coffee Business Division employees’ discussion on branding concerns.
Remarkable Participation and Communication at the Town Hall Meeting
Coffee Business Division’s Executive Director Kim Jin-jeong inaugurates the event with an opening speech
With ‘Jump up your brand’ as the theme of The Town Hall Meeting’s communication session; the leaders of OCS, Teatra, Pascucci, Jamba Juice and Coffee@Works selected a keyword that represents the identity of their respective brands like hybrid, universal, ready, wellness and generality etc. They discussed the reason behind choosing these keywords, the concerns of their brands, and their future goals. Afterward, they answered questions from employees in a real-time dialogue.
Q&A session regarding the future course of each brand
OCS’s goal to offer a hybrid of office café culture and home café service and Teatra’s aspirations to change into a universal brand that is easily available anywhere, anytime were conveyed during the session.
Pascucci expressed its aspirations to rebrand itself by reflecting on its past and discovering something new. Jamba Juice is expected to put continuous efforts into conveying the value of happiness and health wellness; Coffee@works hoped to connect with its customers through online platforms and be by their side as a widespread brand.
Meeting Heroes of the Coffee Business Division
Coffee Business Division’s Executive Director Kim Jin-jeong
Q. What was the purpose of the Town Hall Meeting?
It was conducted to amend the rigid work culture and revitalize bilateral communication. Although the Coffee Business Division is small, the staff members are often not acquainted with each other. I wanted to create a platform, where employees could intermingle while getting to know the leaders and the brand. Furthermore, we hope that it grows into a platform to discuss important topics, and share information. It is being conducted once in a while and the response has also been favorable so far.
Q. What was the agenda of the 1st and 2nd Town Hall Meetings?
The purpose of 1st Town Hall Meeting was the introduction. ‘Let’s break the ice’ was the slogan under which leaders of each brand participated and introduced their brands and their teams. The agenda for the 2nd meeting was to encourage interest and participation in the meeting. The opening ceremony of Pascucci’s 20th anniversary store called Centro Seoul and the Town Hall Meeting were celebrated together. A valuable time of looking back at the brand’s history was held with the first-year members of Pascucci. Through this, they displayed their pride in the brand, all the while maintaining the fun factor, such as specifying a dress code. In particular, employee satisfaction was the highest in regard to the socializing party.
Q. How was this Town Hall Meeting conducted?
In the case of the Town Hall Meeting, we recognized the needs of our employees and detected the issues through ‘Hipsters’ of the Coffee Business Division. The needs of the employees were identified by the ‘Hipsters’: an internal organization of the Coffee Business Division. In this Town Hall Meeting, we listened to the wishes of our employees for marketing lectures and selected experts from related topics to conduct an open class. After the lecture, a Q&A session was held about the course of branding in 2023. Lastly, we implemented self-regulated team activities combined with Self Care Day.
Customer-oriented management vision of each business unit was shared and active communication and participation took place at the Town Hall Meeting
Q. How was the reception and will it also be done in the future?
The interest and participation in the new program have been growing among the members. As for now, it is held once every quarter but, in the future, we plan to hold one each month. In the course of time, we plan to level up Town Hall Meetings into the most important culture and communication channel of the Coffee Business Division by converging and developing more diverse topics.
Coffee Business Division Associate Director Han Kyu-cheol
Q. What are your thoughts on the Town Hall Meeting?
Hello, all. I am the Coffee Development Office’s Associate Director Han Kyu-cheol. I am currently in charge of work responsibilities related to Pascucci and B2B coffee beans development. Initially, we were extremely unaccustomed to the Town Hall Meetings. I was a bit doubtful that people would attend in large numbers despite being busy with work. I asked myself “Will it go smoothly?”
But all my doubts disappeared after attending three Town Hall Meetings; each time I was able to rediscover myself through different communication programs and different stories. I have become zealous about interacting with each division and their respective members. I am already anticipating the 4th Town Hall Meeting.
Q. What was your favorite among agenda, program and management?
I liked the management part the most. The Hipsters, also called the Avengers of the Coffee Business Division, managed everything professionally in their administered fields, due to which the program went smoothly. We were able to have this Town Hall Meeting only because they took out time and spent months preparing for the meeting, even though they were busy with their work. Once again, I want to thank them all for their hard work.
Hipsters: a junior board bettering the work culture at Paris Croissant Coffee Business Division
Q. How did Town Hall Meeting help in your duties?
The interaction between Paris Croissant and external brands has become smooth. It was a great help, as I was able to know about the new products launched by each brand or team, their own work style, and brand stories, as well as communicate with the head of the divisions, managing directors, and team leaders with whom I could not normally communicate.
Q. What was the response of your participating colleagues?
It was a bit awkward at first, but with time, they became earnest about the program. Even in the future, we hope for more successful Town Hall Meetings in the long term. I wish the next Town Hall Meeting is in the form of an outing.
3rd Town Hall Meeting of Coffee Business Division
In this article, we shed light on the proceedings of the Coffee Business Division’s Town Hall Meeting. Henceforward, SPC will continue to discover the brand’s vision and roadmap through transparent communication with its employees and pour in efforts to motivate them. We hope for your continued support of SPC Coffee Business Division’s endeavors to flourish through Town Hall Meetings.
