Kookmin University Platform SME Research Center and the Digital Merchants Union said on the 26th that they hosted "Impact Day (IMPACT DAY)" at the Park Byung-won Hall at Dcamp in Mapo District, Seoul.
About 100 people, including digital merchants and industry officials, attended the event held the previous day. It was organized to help merchants that have grown on digital platforms develop into competitive lifestyle brands.
Launched in April last year, the Digital Merchants Union has more than 150 member companies participating. It supports the growth of brand startups by digital merchants and their entry into global lifestyle brands.
In the first session, experts gave lectures on brand growth strategies. Jung Won-gyeong, CEO of the lifestyle brand "Mokdan," introduced ways to link brand philosophy to competitiveness, and Lee Seung-a, head of strategy at Bluepointpartners, explained global investment trends and fundraising strategies for early-stage corporations. Then, Moon Kyung-won, a partner at Primer and co-CEO of JOCODING AX Partners, presented cases of workflow innovation using artificial intelligence (AI).
In the second session, the results of each division's challenges were shared. The marketing division presented AI-based detailed page production strategies, and the global division introduced cases of building overseas sales channels and joining BuyKorea. The AI division shared AI content production and customer service (CS) automation cases, and the brand collaboration division announced outcomes from developing collaborative products between brands.
Ryu Pureum, head of policy research at the Platform SME Research Center, said, "This Impact Day was a venue to share the outcomes of the three-month challenge undertaken by digital merchants and to confirm their potential to leap into lifestyle brands," adding, "We will continue to support digital merchants so they can grow into competitive lifestyle brands through community-based collaboration and follow-up programs."
Starting on the 2nd of next month, the research center will run the first cohort of "Brand Value Up" for lifestyle sectors such as fashion, cosmetics and food. The first cohort program will feature one-on-one mentoring with venture capital firms, including IMM Investment and JYP Partners, and lectures by figures such as Im Jeong-min, head of Signite.