SK Telecom launches 'CX Campus' to find service innovation ideas with college students

SK Telecom said it will run an eight-week "CX Campus" project starting Monday, working with college students to identify service innovation ideas.

The project is part of the "Future Tomorrow Work Experience Program," overseen by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, supported by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and operated by the Korea Productivity Center. SK Telecom employees in customer value innovation, marketing and security will collaborate with the students to develop service improvement proposals.

The project sets itself apart from conventional education programs by having industry practitioners and students tackle customer experience improvement tasks together. Participating students will analyze inconveniences encountered during actual service use and usage patterns among younger generations, then propose improvements with real-world applicability.

SK Telecom said it will support students in gaining hands-on experience in the telecommunications sector and strengthening their employability through mentoring by company staff.

SK Telecom has already selected participants — both individuals and teams of up to four — from among current and leave-of-absence students at domestic universities and graduate schools. The project runs for eight weeks from Monday through Aug. 16.

Project themes include flagship smartphone marketing, expansion of T Roaming usage, enhanced security experience and improvements to offline store service.

Participating students will work alongside SK Telecom staff mentors through a process that includes market analysis, customer demand investigation, key case studies, and proposals for improvement directions and action items. Weekly check-in meetings with SK Telecom will be held throughout, with a final presentation scheduled for August.

SK Telecom said it plans to share the improvement proposals presented at the final showcase with relevant internal departments and actively incorporate students' opinions and ideas to drive service changes that customers can tangibly feel.

SK Telecom has recently been meeting customers directly in the field to gather feedback and translate it into real change. Representative examples include its "visiting service," which reaches out to digitally underserved populations to provide mobile education and service support, as well as its Customer Trust Committee and Customer Advisory Panel — both independent advisory bodies dedicated to listening to customer voices.

"Unlike a simple internship, this project — conducted together with the Ministry of Employment and Labor — is a meaningful activity in which college students form teams with SK Telecom employees and contribute to actual service improvements," said Lee Hye-yeon, head of SK Telecom's Customer Value Innovation division. "We will continue to catch even the smallest voices from diverse customers and turn them into improvements, so that customers can feel SK Telecom's efforts to change."