Lotte Mart's Zetta taps baseball legend Lee Dae-ho to push into Busan market

Lotte Mart's online grocery platform Zetta announced Thursday that it is deploying baseball star Lee Dae-ho as its brand ambassador to spearhead a push into Busan and the Yeongnam region, timed to the opening of its Zetta Smart Center Busan.

Starting Thursday, Zetta plans to expand its reach to consumers in Busan and the Yeongnam region through TV commercials and SNS and OTT channels. Lee, a former cleanup hitter for the Lotte Giants and a national team veteran, is one of Busan's most celebrated sports icons. Zetta is leveraging his local appeal for a community-focused promotional campaign.

The Zetta Smart Center Busan is an online-only fulfillment center that began operation in Gangseo-gu, Busan, on Aug. 7. It combines Lotte Mart's fresh-food capabilities with automation technology from British retail-tech firm Ocado. AI-powered robots handle up to 35,000 products, automating the entire process from receiving to picking, packing and dispatch. Customers can receive deliveries around the clock in two-to-three-hour windows — during early morning, daytime or nighttime hours — with up to 13 delivery slots available per day.

In a pre-launch online survey of 500 residents in Busan and the Yeongnam region conducted last month, Zetta found that "fast delivery" was the top factor consumers consider when choosing an online grocery platform, cited by 55.1 percent of respondents, followed by "delivery at a preferred time" at 44.0 percent.

To convey that message directly, Zetta built its ad campaign around a wordplay on Lee's famous fan chant "Dae-ho!" — turning it into "Dwae-yo!" meaning "Yes, it's possible!" Ads are structured as scenes in which customers ask whether delivery is available at a desired time or whether fresh items can be delivered, and Lee responds with an enthusiastic "Dwae-yo!"

"Starting with Lee Dae-ho, we plan to roll out ongoing marketing and promotional activities to raise awareness of the Zetta Smart Center Busan," a Lotte Mart official said.