When Nam Yong, the chief executive of LG Electronics, goes on business trips, he does not just visit board rooms. He pokes around living rooms and laundry rooms everywhere from Brazil and Russia to the UK and the US.

“I visit a range of homes – poor, middle-class and affluent – and I spend an hour with them looking at where they put their TV, their fridge, and how they select brands,” says Mr Nam, who took over the running of the South Korea electronics giant in January.