South Korea Archives - Page 3 of 4

Singapore — Una Brands, Singapore-based e-commerce aggregator, has struck its first strategic alliance with South Korean domestic counterpart, KlickBrands. Together they will invest KRW₩120b, or US$100m, in the countries’ e-commerce market over two years.

The alliance will link Una Brands’ global cross-border network with KlickBrands’ understanding of the South Korean market. Together, they will help grow the local e-commerce brands domestically and into Southeast Asian markets namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Una Brands and KlickBrands will scale at least 25 or more profitable e-commerce brands, across categories such as health, K-beauty, baby, pets, and home and living brands. South Korea was identified as a key market for Una Brands, being the fifth-largest e-commerce market globally with an annual growth rate of around 14% and an expected market value of US$250b by 2025.

Kiren Tanna, co-founder and CEO of Una Brands, said, “Of all the local e-commerce aggregators, we chose KlickBrands as our strategic partner because of our shared vision, mission, and values. Their hands-on approach to working with the brands they acquire mirrors our own work ethic. This will make KlickBrands an instrumental partner in strengthening Una Brands’ presence in, and understanding of, the South Korean e-commerce landscape. In return, KlickBrands will benefit from our robust operational, technological, and acquisition capabilities.”

KlickBrands, founded in 2021 by entrepreneurs and venture capitalists Brian Hyun and Jung Ho Joo, is focused on creating opportunities for brand owners to accelerate their growth across eCommerce platforms and markets.

Brian Hyun, co-founder and CEO of KlickBrands, commented that the partnership with Una Brands bears testament to the growing possibilities for e-commerce brands in South Korea.

“When Una Brands approached us, we immediately recognised that their capabilities were a great match for our own, particularly with the strong team that they have built, their expertise in e-commerce in the Asia Pacific (APAC), and their global distribution network. We bring to the partnership local e-commerce expertise, as well as the understanding and empathy of local brand owners’ mindsets. We are very excited to have the backing of Una Brands as we continue to reach out to more brand owners in South Korea to support their next phase in expansion,” Hyun said.

Una Brands, an e-commerce aggregator in APAC that comprises a team with a wealth of experience behind it, has established its presence in key markets namely Singapore, Australia, India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan in under a year, with South Korea being the next strategic market for the business’ expansion and development. Since its launch in 2021, Una Brands has to date acquired over 20 firms, with the earliest brands seeing over a 50 per cent increase in sales and profits.

Seoul, South Korea – The majority of brands have acquired technology to charm more consumers, which resulted in the latest trend of virtual influencers. Joining the hype, South Korea’s red ginseng company, Korea Ginseng Corp. (KGC), has appointed Rozy, a virtual human, to be its exclusive model for its products.

‘Rozy’ is designed with 3D technology by analysing the face and characteristics, and like ordinary influencers, she uploads photos of her daily life and actively communicates with her fans via comments on Instagram.

The appointment is in line with KGC’s brand concept of its product. The company believes that Rozy’s lively and youthful image will engage many youth, as its products are especially targeting the Millenial Z generation, who seeks a unique experience.

According to KGC, as women’s social status increased, economic activity became more active, and interest in health and self-management increased. This led women to begin taking care of their own health by focusing on value consumption and maintaining self-management. In addition, after the corona crisis, ‘self-medication’, which manages one’s own health through steady exercise and intake of health functional foods, became very popular among the Millenial Z generation, which is commonly referred to as Koreans in their 20s and 30s.

“Red ginseng is a representative health functional food that has been loved in Korea for a long time. Through the process in which ginseng is made from red ginseng, its efficacy is enriched and it is upgraded to be able to be stored for a long time,” said KGC in a press statement.

The company added that this move will enable them to communicate with a wider customer base together with Rozy.

In July 2021, Shinhan Life, along with advertising agency TBWA\Korea, was the first one to rope in Rozy for a brand campaign.

Hong Kong – Hong Kong-based game software and venture capital company Animoca Brands and South Korean entertainment company Cube Entertainment have announced the official establishment of their latest venture called AniCube Entertainment, which aims to build a music metaverse, and issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and ecosystem tokens based on the intellectual property rights of Cube Ent’s globally popular K-pop music artists and actors.

The partnership was first announced in November 2021, and also entails AniCube bringing Cube Ent’s artists to The Sandbox, a decentralised gaming virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said, “As a fan of K-pop and Korean culture, I am thrilled to contribute to AniCube, a JV that will guide K-pop music creators and fans in the open music metaverse and help them to enjoy true digital property rights and the other benefits of blockchain and NFTs.”

Meanwhile, Woohyung Ahn, CEO of Cube Entertainment, commented, “With the support of Animoca Brands, the music metaverse created by AniCube will be global and open, and will play a leading role in the global music industry to protect the rights of IP holders and content creators related to music sources. We look forward to the ways in which Cube Ent’s highly talented artists will help to build the open metaverse.”

Seoul, South Korea – B2LiNK, a brand aggregator for K-beauty products, has announced that it will be acquiring Picky Inc., a community skincare app through a formal agreement set to close this month. Said acquisition follows B2LiNK’s total fundraising to US$23m since being founded in 2014.

The acquisition enables B2LiNK to bolster its leadership position and global lineup of beauty brands and helps Picky to leverage B2LiNK’s network and resources to further expand its strong community base and global reach.

As part of the acquisition, Picky founder and CEO Jihong Lee will join B2LiNK as chief marketing officer and board member, leveraging his career experience that spans international roles with Google and Supercell.

“In what has been a challenging time for startups worldwide, we’re proud to have gained an avid following of hundreds of thousands of regular users in our skincare community. Our team set our sights on the global marketplace on day one, and the opportunity to keep that momentum going with the resources behind B2LiNK is the perfect match,” Lee stated.

To date, B2LiNK has extended its portfolio to include seven brands that have surpassed US$30m annual recurring revenue in 2021, including its flagship brand Skin1004.

Meanwhile, for Nate Sohyung Lee, co-founder and CEO at B2LiNK, with K-beauty being a global phenomenon, there is a seemingly endless pool of unique indie brands relevant for global beauty consumers. He added that they have access to established distribution channels to meet the demand for K-Beauty products everywhere.

“We’re helping K-Beauty products become much more accessible in more markets through our deep experience in the retail business and world-class global marketing team. With the Picky acquisition, we’ve strengthened our team and firmly established our No. 1 market position in Korea,” he stated.

Picky aims to build on its strong community base of more than 250,000 global users and growth throughout 2021. Its web and mobile app-based community has established itself as an ‘every day’ app for skincare enthusiasts, including those passionate about K-Beauty products.

Singapore – Following the company’s funding in April this year, coffee chain Flash Coffee has officially extended its operations in South Korea and Japan, with branches opening up in each country’s capitals, Seoul and Tokyo.

The coffee chain launched with two outlets in Seoul, a two-storey flagship establishment at Sinsa, and a store in Yeoksam, both located in the heart of the bustling, upscale Gangnam district. In Tokyo, Flash Coffee unveiled a two-storey concept in the city’s iconic shopping destination within Omotesando.

David Brunier, CEO at Flash Coffee, said, “We are very excited to officially launch in both Seoul and Tokyo, and introduce our mission to provide high-quality coffee at affordable prices to these cities. These markets are known to embrace technology, and we hope to bring ease to the lives of consumers with our digital-first solutions, ultimately changing the face of coffee consumption across Asia for the better.”

The coffee chain will continue to grow its footprint across the seven markets it is currently in: Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, with a goal of opening over 350 stores by early next year. The coffee chain has also set sights to enter three new countries next year; Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Un Koh, managing director for South Korea at Flash Coffee, said, “South Korea is filled with coffee enthusiasts and our coffee consumption rate ranks within the top 10 in the world. We are confident that our high-quality beverages crafted by award-winning baristas at Flash Coffee will appeal to South Korean coffee lovers. Our goal is to make our specialty coffee accessible to all, so for those who’ve not come across Flash Coffee yet, you will find us brewing very soon in a location near you. ”

Meanwhile, Shu Matsuo Post, managing director for Japan at Flash Coffee, commented, “Coffee culture has been prevalent in Japan for many years, and we’ve observed the rising preference for premium coffee locally. Specialty coffees tend to be expensive, but with Flash Coffee, consumers can now enjoy it at an affordable price point. We look forward to sharing our award-winning menu with customers in Japan, and hope they will enjoy our innovative creations.”

Singapore – A group of independent public relations agencies representing Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, as well as Singapore, and South Korea has joined forces to form the new ‘PerfectPitch Asia PR Network’ in SEA.

The new network aims to support global companies in strategizing and implementing their business communications programs as they venture into Asian markets. It is composed of female founders who are experts in brand strategy, public relations, and integrated marketing, as well as social media.

PerfectPitch founders include Constance Chao, the founder of Media Plus for Mainland China and Taiwan, Maggie Chen, independent representative for Hong Kong, and Yukiko Harada, TrainTracks’ managing director for Japan, as well as Melinda Ilagan, I.M. SEA Communications’ managing director for Singapore, and June Cha, TwinTracks’ managing director for South Korea.

Harada said, “We have come together combining the depth and breadth of our experiences in various industries, practices, and our respective geographies to provide global clients good counsel and strong execution to help them succeed in Asia’s mega-economy.”

Meanwhile, Ilagan shared that SEA continues to experience brisk growth as global enterprises and disruptive innovators set their eyes on the region’s young, tech-savvy talent and consumers.

“Our experience is that global companies and our counterpart agencies in the western hemisphere seek expert advisors in the most economically vibrant countries like Singapore, Mainland China/Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. They come to us because of our intimate understanding of this diverse region,” said Ilagan.

Chao also noted, “With over 20 decades of media experience in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan via Media Plus and Maggie Cheng, PerfectPitch can provide the total solution for the companies who want to enter into these comprehensive markets.”

As free trade agreements get ratified and borders start to reopen amid COVID-19 PerfectPitch said it is anticipating a fresh burst of business opportunities coming into the region.

Singapore – American-based music distribution company The Orchard has promoted former vice president for Southeast Asia and South Korea Priya Dewan to the role of vice president for international marketing for APAC. In addition, she has also taken the role of managing director of Southeast Asia and Korea at The Orchard.

Her newest vice president position is the company’s first Pan-Asian management role. In addition, her promotion follows the company’s substantial growth in the market, and the need for expansion to provide additional on the ground support to artists and labels in the region.

During her past role as VP for SEA and South Korea, she was responsible for leading The Orchard’s teams in the region, providing expertise, releasing strategy and regional support as well as creating a pipeline for artists locally to new international audiences.

In addition, Dewan is responsible for signing The Orchard’s priority labels in the region, including BTS’ label BIGHIT Music and JYP Entertainment – whose roster includes K-pop groups ITZY, Stray Kids and more.

She brings in 18 years of music industry experience, and previously held a position at UK-based label Warp Records as the label manager for North America.

“In this new role I look forward to helping more clients from across the region achieve greater success by providing more access to our global tools and teams. This also includes exploring bigger opportunities for our entire catalogue with our international digital service providers across the Asia-Pacific region,” Dewan said regarding her appointment.

She will report to Colleen Theis, chief operating officer at The Orchard.

“The Orchard’s Pan-Asian expansion further amplifies the amazing success we’ve had connecting artists and labels from the region with fans around the world. Priya’s leadership and proven expertise at identifying and developing talent will continue to create new opportunities for our clients,” Theis said.

Recently, The Orchard launched its office in Indonesia, with Arie Legowo appointed as the company’s head for the market and Gyscha Rendy appointed as client services manager, Southeast Asia. Both Legowo and Rendy will report to Dewan in their new roles.

In addition to South Korea, The Orchard’s newly expanded reach across Asia now includes an on-the-ground presence in Greater China, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines.

Singapore – As part of its vision to be one of the leading digital career platforms in the Asia-Pacific, tech company SEEK that owns recruitment marketplace platforms JobStreet and JobsDB, has announced investment amounting to US$48m to JobKorea, a South Korea-based online recruitment platform.

The investment entails SEEK having a 10% stake of JobKorea, as well as having Peter Bithos, CEO of SEEK, to join JobKorea’s board.

For Bithos, said investment partnership is a big win not only for SEEK and JobKorea, but more importantly for all jobseekers and employers in Asia, adding that with JobKorea, they can now touch the lives of an additional 25 million jobseekers and 5 million employers in one of the largest economies in the world.

“Through this investment, we look forward to helping JobKorea with our market-leading insights into big data, how to leverage AI, and our commercial and technical experience building the leading jobs and career marketplaces across APAC. We also look forward to learning from JobKorea as it continues to build on its leadership in one of Asia’s most dynamic, sophisticated markets,” he said.

This investment will provide an opportunity for SEEK to add value to JobKorea’s market-leading position, while SEEK focuses on its operations, fast-tracking its ongoing transformation and growth of its existing Asia businesses. SEEK’s digital teams continue to make major inroads in building products and solutions driven by AI and market data, which combined with SEEK’s deep local insights and resources in each location, differentiate it from other international players.

Meanwhile for JobKorea, this partnership will provide an opportunity to leverage SEEK’s experienced management team and their significant expertise in operating global online employment and human capital management platforms.

“We are delighted to have a partnership with SEEK, a company with a wealth of experience in the global online employment market. We believe that this relationship will be an opportunity for JobKorea to make a quantum leap to the next level. With competition becoming ever fiercer to hire talented people such as good managers, developers or tech specialists, JobKorea will move toward a global HR platform that connects the Korean employment marketplace internationally,” said Yoon Byung-joon, CEO at JobKorea.

At present, 90% of JobKorea is owned by Affinity Equity Partners (AEP), a global private equity player and the largest in Korea. AEP acquired 100% of JobKorea back in May 2021.

SEEK in Asia has also seen some corporate moves as well recently, with the appointment of former HOOQ marketing head Jane Cruz-Walker as its chief marketing officer.

Hong Kong – As part of strengthening their presence in Asia-Pacific, streaming service Disney+ from global media enterprise The Walt Disney Company has announced that they will roll out to the markets of South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan in November 2021.

Said announcement was made during the recent calls of the company regarding their Q3 earnings.

In addition to this announcement, Disney+ Japan will also be expanded to feature additional general entertainment content in October 2021.

To date, Disney+’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region includes the markets of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

According to Luke Kang, president at The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, the response towards Disney+ across the region has exceeded the company’s expectations, as consumers seek diverse entertainment content and are drawn to their portfolio of brands and franchises.

“We are pleased with the subscriber growth and partnerships forged in markets, and look forward to engaging with more consumers across the region – through unparalleled storytelling, creative excellence and cutting-edge content delivery,” Kang said.

Said endeavor by Disney+ best reflects the duties of Kang when he was appointed to the current position last December 2020, including duties of managing Disney’s media networks, direct-to-consumer offerings including Disney+, media distribution and motion picture businesses.

Disney+’s current content portfolio includes a wide selection of films and episodes of content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star, as well as including local and regional content in the region. Globally, Disney+ is currently available in 61 countries and 21 languages across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Seoul, South Korea – Native ad platform Dable, which is also a content discovery platform, has announced a partnership with Integral Ad Science (IAS) to deliver additional brand safety capabilities for advertisers.

Through the partnership, the Dable Native Ad platform will integrate integrated IAS’ brand safety solutions, which offer advertisers the ability to avoid content that most brands would consider inappropriate.

This in turn, allows brands using Dable Native Ad to avoid risky content based on their preferences across categories such as adult content, alcohol, illegal downloads, illegal drugs, hate speech, offensive language, and violence. IAS brand safety controls are available on a pre-bid basis, so marketers only bid on brand-safe impressions and reach their clients in trusted environments. Working with IAS, Dable also provides insight on bids that are removed due to brand safety risk.

For Chaehyun Lee, CEO of Dable, he stated that they are committed to providing the best advertising experience for brands with the greatest level of brand safety, stating that brand safety is crucial when a company wants to communicate and continue to engage with clients.

“IAS is the leading company solving brand safety with excellent technologies. With this partnership, I believe our global advertisers can deliver their message confidently in a trusted environment and achieve their marketing goals,” Lee stated.

Beyond just analyzing keywords or URLs, IAS examines multiple elements of web pages that display Dable Native Ad to identify the content’s context in depth. Advertisers can control whether to include or exclude categories in their campaigns, helping them to reach clients alongside content that is safe and meets their brand standards. Advertisers can now benefit from IAS’s brand safety solution at no additional cost and avoid spending their budgets on objectionable content.

“We’re very pleased to work with Dable and provide our brand safety offerings for even more marketers. We are committed to helping our customers make every ad impression count, by providing insights and technology that protects their advertising investments from unsafe environments and drives results. We will continue to help protect advertisers’ brand equity through new partnerships with industry leaders like Dable,” said Laura Quigley, SVP for APAC at IAS.

Dable’s partnership with IAS also reflects the ongoing stride in creating brand safety measures for advertisers, as IAS had also recently signed a partnership with The Global Disinformation Index (GDI) to help brands avoid misinformation, ensuring journalistic integrity and reaffirming support for quality news sites.