New opportunities open only to ‘those who move first’
In April 2021, at a B2B digital marketing training session for owners of dealerships selling Hyosung FMS’s 'recurring payment automation system (CMS)', a dealership owner in their late 50s took a deep drag on a cigarette and said, "Sales have been dropping lately and I don’t know why. We have a lot of staff and a high share of fixed costs, so this is serious. We need to change fast, but it isn’t easy. Please tell me the quickest B2B digital marketing method we can apply." Then a woman owner in her early 30s, who had been listening quietly right beside them, handed me a cup of coffee and whispered, "Please don’t go into too much detail about B2B digital marketing in this session. An opportunity has come for a small organization like ours to go after large organizations that struggle to change. We’re expanding our market, sales, and share quickly. Just mention it lightly." This scene captures how the B2B market has moved over the past five years: incumbents who feel the need to change but cannot execute, versus challengers who spot the opportunity and move fast and strategically.
The real reason Samchully Bicycle collapsed
Samchully Bicycle once ruled Korea’s bicycle market. But from around 2010 it leaned on cheap contract manufacturing in China and neglected R&D for years. It missed shifting consumer trends, product innovation stalled, and sales stayed centered on domestic dealerships. The distribution model remained traditional, and the aging dealership owners never even tried digital marketing. In the end, the market went to more agile, digitally savvy competitors. Cases like this are easy to find. Companies that resisted change and were pushed out of the market are too many to count.
Lessons from my father’s election loss
Five years ago, when my father ran for chair of a cooperative, I gave him this advice: "Dad, winning an election comes down to securing a database and going digital. Through offline, online, and the call center, invest the right money and effort to lock in as many friendly members as you can." But my father’s answer was confident. "Digital marketing, strategy... we don’t need any of that. I have the network I’ve built all these years. No matter what strategy or tactics the other side comes up with, the outcome is settled. I win. Don’t worry!" And the result? A competitor a decade or more younger beat my father decisively: recruiting members by exploiting loopholes in the rules, running offline and online outreach off a systematic database, and making value propositions tailored to each member’s needs. I remember it as the moment the traditional assets of experience and connections collapsed, powerless against a systematic, digitized strategy.
Early signs of a shifting market on Teheran-ro
A few days ago, I gave a guest lecture on B2B digital marketing at Epson Korea on Teheran-ro to the owners of channel dealerships that distribute its large-format printers. The room felt like the eve of a battle in Rome’s decline. Some looked like weary veterans, bored and worn out; some like sentries scanning for the enemy from behind their shields; others like cavalrymen with fierce eyes, ready to charge; and others like soldiers timing their rush. Even in this older, less digitized corner of the market, a few had a different look in their eyes. That is often where the tide turns. When most people settle in, the impact of the few who break out is bigger than you would imagine. I ended the lecture like this: "Everyone, now is your chance. A bear is running up behind you. Lace up lighter sneakers and get out ahead of the rest. If we don’t set off right now... you know what happens, right?"
The fast follower’s chance is now
Much of the B2B market is still run by older players who have little motivation to change after years of success, and many areas remain undigitized. These are the best opportunities for fast followers. Even small changes in digital marketing and systematic sales methods can flip the game. The core of digital transformation is 'starting first.' Perfect can wait. Learning by doing comes first. While competitors still settle for traditional methods, even basic digital marketing tools can set you clearly apart. Start by building a customer database, then move on to online content marketing, social media, and a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Introduced step by step, they let you play a completely different game from the incumbents. You can take their market share more easily than you think.
Change is not optional. It is a matter of 'survival'
Digital transformation is no longer optional. It's a matter of 'survival.' The ‘bear’ chasing from behind was the IMF crisis in the late 1990s, the 'financial crisis' in the late 2000s, the 'COVID pandemic' in the late 2010s, and from the mid-2020s, 'AI.' Like the strategic whisper of the woman in her 30s who runs a Hyosung FMS dealership, someone is spotting opportunity and moving first, even at this very moment. They target the gaps left by incumbents who are afraid of change, expanding market share with a better customer experience (CX) and more efficient marketing. The question is simple: will you be the heavy incumbent that wants change but can't act, slowly fading away, or the light, nimble winner that seizes the opportunity and changes fast? The answer is already clear.
It’s time to lace up your sneakers and run.
To be continued