LOTTE Department Store reinvents itself, changing its shopping bags for the first time in 15 years and putting Jennie front and center

[Financial News] LOTTE Department Store is working to redefine its brand identity. After selecting global artist Jennie as its brand ambassador for the first time in about 10 years, the company is breathing new life into its brand across the board, including with a complete redesign of its shopping bags for the first time in 15 years. 
According to industry sources on the 12th, LOTTE Department Store will completely redesign its shopping bags for the first time in 15 years to mark its 47th anniversary. This will be the sixth redesign since the company was founded in 1979, with a focus on preserving the brand’s history and symbolism, built up over many years, while adding a contemporary touch.
Shopping bags are generally considered “the face of a department store.” Since most purchased items are sold in the store’s own shopping bags, except for products from some brands, such as luxury labels, the bags play a symbolic role in conveying the brand’s identity and image.
The redesign retains the “Champagne Gold” color and ribbon design that have long symbolized LOTTE Department Store, while introducing “Serenity Blue,” a new signature color, and the “Embrace Ribbon” graphic. Serenity Blue was inspired by the blue tailcoat worn by the protagonist in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, and is a modern reinterpretation of “Riviera Blue,” which LOTTE Department Store used in the 2000s. The Embrace Ribbon reworks the existing ribbon design into a form in which supple curves intersect.
In particular, instead of putting the brand logo front and center, the new shopping bags feature the phrase “My Dearest and Best (the person I hold most dear and cherish),” expressing gratitude and welcome to customers. The phrase was inspired by a line in The Sorrows of Young Werther: “You, who are so good beyond compare.” The French high-end design studio Saint-Lazare took part in the redesign.
The new shopping bags will be rolled out at all stores in phases starting on the 15th, LOTTE Department Store’s anniversary, while the gift certificate packages will follow from the first of next month, beginning at the Main Store and Jamsil Store before rolling out to all stores in phases. The bags will use the same eco-friendly materials as before and come in four sizes: extra-large, large, medium and small.
The complete redesign is seen as a strategy to redefine the brand’s identity and offer customers a differentiated experience. The aim is to build a distinctive brand image unique to LOTTE Department Store by adding a contemporary touch while preserving the brand’s history and symbolism, accumulated over many years.
In fact, LOTTE Department Store has recently broadened its changes beyond shopping bags to include marketing and its offline spaces. Last September, it selected global artist Jennie as its new brand ambassador for the first time in about 10 years. The strategy is to expand its points of contact with customers at home and abroad by leveraging Jennie’s global recognition, and to give the brand a youthful, stylish image.
The company is also stepping up efforts to revamp its offline spaces. Last month, it began a full renovation of the food hall on the first basement level of the Jamsil Store’s main building, its first in about 10 years. In December, it plans to unveil “LOTTE TOWN LIGHT,” an enormous media façade on the exterior of Young Plaza at its Main Store in Sogong-dong, Seoul. The first-basement-level Cosmonergy Plaza, which connects Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station with the Main Store, will also be revamped and developed into a signature space.
“This shopping bag redesign is significant because we have redefined the brand’s aesthetic assets and identity by adding a contemporary sensibility to the heritage LOTTE Department Store has built up over many years,” said Park Ji-young, head of design at LOTTE Department Store. “We will continue working to establish it as an even more special and beloved brand in our customers’ everyday lives.” 
[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter