Article at a Glance

Yuhan-Kimberly’s “Keep Korea Green” campaign began in 1984 with tree-planting initiatives and has since worked to address social issues through forests—spreading awareness of their value via public service advertisements and promoting movements such as “school forests” and “urban forests” that create green spaces in schools and cities. Now marking its 40th year, this longest-running forest and environmental public campaign in Korea offers the following managerial implications and insights:

1. It presented a new model that simultaneously creates value for both the company and its stakeholders through institutional entrepreneurship, which innovatively transforms the existing institutional environment.
2. Through a campaign that met the VRIO criteria—valuable, rare, inimitable, and organizable resources—it enhanced the company’s brand value.
3. It accumulated reputational capital by harmoniously managing both market issues, such as product quality improvement, and non-market issues, such as environmental concerns.
4. As the origin of brand activism, where brands raise their voices and take active roles in addressing social problems, the campaign established Yuhan-Kimberly as an authentically purpose-driven company.

---

Bonghwadae Mountain in Chogu-dong, Donghae, Gangwon State. At 100 meters above sea level, where the ridgeline of the Baekdu-daegan in Gangwon State is visible to the west and the blue sea and beach spread out to the east, this place bears a “painful past.” In March 2022, a wildfire that started in Okgye-myeon, Gangneung, Gangwon State spread to this area, consuming the trees. The Gangneung-Donghae wildfire at that time burned down approximately 4,000 hectares of forest—equivalent to more than 5,600 soccer fields—with 1,900 hectares in Gangneung and 2,100 hectares in Donghae reduced to ashes. Even now, the mountain still bears black scars from that day. On March 31 this year, 120 young married couples gathered here to give the barren mountain a green garment once again. Working in pairs, they began planting pine seedlings at 1.8-meter intervals. One dug the ground with a pickaxe, while the other planted a seedling, carefully filled the hole with soil, and placed a bamboo marker with a small white cloth beside it to mark the spot. The purpose was to ensure the seedlings would not be accidentally cut during the mowing season between June and August. In total, they planted around 2,000 trees that day. Of the 3,000 cherry and pine trees planted at the same time last year by 110 newlyweds, more than 90 percent have survived and are growing lush and green.

This is not unique to Gangwon State. From 1985 to 2023, newlywed couples across 32 regions in Korea—including Gyeonggi Province and Daejeon Metropolitan City—have planted trees on barren mountains each year. The driving force behind these efforts to reforest the country was neither the government nor a civic organization, but a private company: Yuhan-Kimberly, a household goods manufacturer. Since the first tree planting in 1985, Yuhan-Kimberly has planted and nurtured more than 57 million trees, carried out public advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the value of forests, and led initiatives such as the “school forest” and “urban forest” movements to create green spaces in schools and cities. Its ongoing campaign, “Keep Korea Green,” marks its 40th anniversary this year, solidifying its position as Korea’s longest-running forest and environmental public campaign. The campaign’s consistency—addressing social issues through forests—and its sustainability—maintaining a 40-year governance structure involving the government, civil society, and experts—have both become vital nutrients for Yuhan-Kimberly’s brand value. Since 2004, Yuhan-Kimberly has consistently ranked among the top three in Ewha Womans University’s “Most Reputable Companies” survey, firmly establishing itself as an ethical and eco-friendly company.

인기기사