Hands-on marketing, career, books, and the things I love. Written from the Korean market.
Every post was written in Korean first and translated into English. Each post links to the Korean original.
Why I prepare a draft when I meet someone. It started with wanting to be praised, but in the end, what a draft leaves behind is an understanding of the other person.
2026.10.29 · 2 min
With contract management solutions, what matters more than the feature list is whether it fits your company's contract flow. Here are 7 selection criteria, what to try hands-on in the demo, and when you don't need one yet.
2026.10.24 · 12 min
In a goods supply agreement, the delivery, inspection, defect, and payment clauses are what matter. A rundown of the six-month inspection and defect-notice rule under Article 69 of the Korean Commercial Act, which applies to sales between merchants, and the clauses you should always include.
2026.10.24 · 13 min
A confidentiality agreement is evidence in a trade secret dispute that the company has been managing its secrets. Here are the legal requirements for trade secrets in Korea, what to include in the agreement, and how to collect and manage it at hiring and departure.
2026.10.24 · 11 min
Rescission unwinds a contract as if it never existed; termination ends it only going forward. The differences under the Korean Civil Act, restitution and damages, and which word to use in contracts and termination notices.
2026.10.24 · 11 min
CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) is a way of managing contracts as a single flow, from request through renewal and termination. Here's what actually happens at a company in each of the six stages, and how far spreadsheets, e-signatures and CLM each go.
2026.10.24 · 9 min
An MOU (memorandum of understanding) is generally said to have no legal force, but it's the content, not the title, that determines enforceability. Here's the difference between an MOU and a contract, the clauses that become binding, and what to check before signing.
2026.10.24 · 10 min
Adopting e-contracts splits into two problems: getting signatures, and managing what happens after signing. Five questions to tell which one your company needs, plus a checklist to use when comparing services.
2026.10.24 · 11 min
An e-contract can't be denied legal effect just because it's electronic. Here's what Korea's Electronic Documents Act and Digital Signature Act set out, what actually counts as evidence in a dispute, and the exceptions that still require paper.
2026.10.24 · 14 min
Contract retention periods aren't set by a single law. Here are the requirements under Korea's Commercial Act, Framework Act on National Taxes, and Labor Standards Act, plus company retention rules that also account for how long a dispute could arise.
2026.10.24 · 11 min
The 12 fields every contract register needs, the 5 signs that Excel is getting hard to sustain, and what to look at when comparing contract management systems (CLM).
2026.10.24 · 10 min
Legal's reply is slow because the information needed for the review lives outside the contract. The 5 things to always include in a review request, plus a ready-to-use request template.
2026.10.24 · 10 min
The 10 clauses every service contract needs, plus how to write the three that cause the most disputes, scope, acceptance, and intellectual property.
2026.10.24 · 10 min
The difference between ganin (page-joining seals), gyein (counterpart seals) and nal-in (signature seals) in Korean contracts, how to stamp them, whether a contract without ganin is void, and what replaces ganin in an e-contract.
2026.10.24 · 11 min
NDAs are signed more often and faster than any other contract, which is exactly why they're the least managed. Here are six must-have clauses and a checklist for tracking whether one was signed, when it expires, and whether materials were returned.
2026.10.24 · 11 min
A delay penalty is calculated as contract amount × delay penalty rate × days of delay. Here are the rates and cap under Korea's State Contracts Act, plus five things to check when writing the clause in a private contract.
2026.10.24 · 13 min
Implied renewal isn't just a problem for apartment leases. How auto-renewal clauses in business contracts work, how to calculate the termination notice deadline, and how to manage it so you don't miss it.
2026.10.24 · 10 min
Social and review data analysis should be judged by the decisions it changed, not by the report. Six public cases, from sampling strategy and sensitive-product improvements to global research timelines and issue response, laid out as situation, data examined, and decision changed.
2026.10.23 · 13 min
New product research usually fails not because nobody did research, but because it was done in the wrong order. Here are the 4 steps, listen to customers first, narrow the hypotheses, then ask, then listen again after launch, with a checklist for each.
2026.10.23 · 10 min
Export statistics tell you which countries buy how much, but not why customers there buy or what disappoints them. Here are 5 consumer reactions K-beauty brands should check before going overseas, along with free and paid tools for each.
2026.10.23 · 12 min
Syncly is a Korean social listening service that analyzes what people say in TikTok, Reels and Shorts videos, along with reviews. I gathered publicly available customer reviews and case studies to sort out which teams it fits, which teams are better off with another tool, and what to check in a demo.
2026.10.23 · 14 min
There are three ways to analyze reviews. Read them yourself, hand them to ChatGPT or Claude, or use a dedicated tool. The right one depends on how many reviews you have and whether you'll revisit them every month. Includes a ready-to-use ChatGPT prompt and a way to validate the results.
2026.10.23 · 13 min
Listening Mind looks at search data, Sometrend at social mentions, and Syncly at what people say in videos. Rather than competitors, the three answer different questions. Here are their strengths, weaknesses, and how to choose for your situation, based on public sources.
2026.10.23 · 14 min
Sometrend launched an MCP in March 2026, got ChatGPT app approval in May, and opened paid billing and a Beauty MCP in July. Here is what you can ask it, what public sources still do not tell you, and which teams it suits.
2026.10.23 · 12 min
Surveys show answers to the questions we chose; social listening shows what customers said on their own. The pros and cons of each for new product planning, and how listening first and asking second cuts research costs and trial and error.
2026.10.20 · 12 min
You can do social listening by subscribing to a tool and running it yourself, or by outsourcing the analysis to an agency. The deciding factor isn't budget but whether you have the people and time to analyze, and whether you need always-on monitoring or one big decision. Here's how to choose based on your team's situation.
2026.10.20 · 12 min
Market research costs are calculated differently depending on the method. Surveys are priced by respondents and questions, focus groups by the number of groups and how hard recruiting is, and social and review analysis by channels, countries, time range, and whether you outsource the analysis. Here are the published prices, plus ways to bring the quote down.
2026.10.20 · 15 min
The positive/negative ratio from sentiment analysis can't be the conclusion of a report. Here's the difference between sentence-level and aspect-level analysis, five traps that distort the numbers, and how to read sentiment analysis in a way that leads to decisions.
2026.10.20 · 11 min
There's something to look at before the price tag when choosing a research company. Here are 7 things to ask before signing: question definition, data sources, first-results timing, raw data, cost breakdown, industry experience, and reusability.
2026.10.20 · 12 min
Every trend analysis site answers a different question. I sorted Google Trends, NAVER DataLab, TikTok Creative Center, Sometrend and Syncly into "what's trending" and "why people say it," and laid out which one to open first in each situation.
2026.10.20 · 14 min
Analysis based on hashtags and captions only counts the people who typed the brand name out. In short-form video, customers talk about products with their voice and on screen, so those mentions drop out at the collection stage, before any analysis happens.
2026.10.20 · 14 min
A VOC analysis report isn't about what customers said; it's a one-page document showing what you'll change because of it. Here are five steps for collecting, sorting, and reporting the voice of the customer (VOC), plus a ready-to-use one-page template.
2026.10.20 · 14 min
Judging by published prices alone, social listening costs range from tens of thousands of won a month to tens of millions of won a year or more. Here are the 6 factors that drive the price, plus a checklist to run through before you ask for a quote.
2026.10.20 · 13 min
The most useful competitor analysis for a brand marketer is seeing what customers praise and complain about in competitors' products, in their own words. A 5-step method using reviews and social media, plus a ready-to-use template.
2026.10.20 · 13 min
The moment someone who has built the world's greatest ego aligns it with the world. My prediction for how Blue Lock ends.
2026.10.20 · 16 min
Sometrend and Syncly don't answer the same question. Based on publicly available sources, I compared their strengths, weaknesses, cost structures, and which one fits which team.
2026.10.20 · 24 min
How is an FDE different from a systems integrator? Position names may be wordplay, but the philosophy and attitude packed into a name concern everyone in the organization.
2026.10.20 · 19 min
AI slop may just be the latest round of a pattern that repeats every time content gets more abundant. What really deserves our guard isn't clumsy content, but content that deceives the people viewing it.
2026.10.19 · 21 min
An honest answer to the question of how I choose a company: the place in that industry where people work with the most fire.
2026.10.13 · 5 min
I love money, but I want it to always be a means, never an end. A financial goal set as one sentence instead of a number.
2026.10.13 · 3 min
MQLs and SQLs aren't steps on a single staircase; they're different sets with only a small overlap. The smaller the team, the more it matters whom marketing brings in.
2026.10.13 · 3 min
B2B customers are, in the end, people who are anxious, tired and afraid of being held responsible. And those people want to look rational even when they aren't.
2026.10.13 · 5 min
One line that touched the customer's anxiety instead of listing features brought in 100 consultation requests from a single ad. How combining inbound with ads took us from 40 a month to 70-100.
2026.10.13 · 4 min
A long list of contacts doesn't start anything on its own. Why I, as a B2B marketer, made consultation requests my success metric instead of MQLs.
2026.10.13 · 5 min
"Enjoy the journey. The things you'll treasure more than what you were after are waiting along the way."
2026.07.15 · 12 min
Using AI in marketing is nothing special anymore. Most teams already use it for copywriting, content review, and cleaning up data. But there…
2026.04.27 · 9 min
On a weekend out to rearrange my furniture, I met ‘the real thing’ in an unexpected place.
2026.03.18 · 4 min
If I could give one piece of advice to my 20-something self, I'd say it without hesitation: "Change your field, right now."
2026.03.15 · 5 min
Watching Haikyu!! recently got me thinking again about the role of a good marketer/SDR.
2026.03.15 · 3 min
I really got a taste for pulling kits one by one out of my backlog pile and building them.
2026.03.02 · 7 min
When I first started in marketing, I remember being puzzled by the social media accounts of the so-called "hot" brands. Surprisingly, their feeds weren't neatly curated at all.
2026.02.18 · 3 min
Last year, the biggest turning point in my career was the day I experienced 'direct sales' for myself.
2026.02.12 · 5 min
Two years ago, I published a post called 'Building a marketer portfolio that gets you interview offers on its own.'
2026.02.11 · 4 min
Maybe real soft skills aren't about saying the right thing, but about leaving enough room for the right thing to actually reach the other person.
2026.02.09 · 4 min
Even if it isn't systematic right now, an organization where anyone can contribute to success is better.
2025.08.03 · 4 min
A different attitude toward the system
2025.08.03 · 1 min
In the end, he'll set everything free.
2025.06.13 · 7 min
What am I hungriest for?
2025.06.13 · 2 min
If we could turn our customers' time into heat
2025.06.13 · 1 min
Discovery, exploratory, fandom-driven, and more: a look at how e-commerce brands' strategies differ across customer and brand types.
2025.06.06 · 8 min
The types of key performance indicators e-commerce needs to hit, and how to manage them
2025.06.06 · 7 min
An expanded version of my notes from week 1 of the study group
2025.06.06 · 7 min
Week 1 notes from an e-commerce study group
2025.06.05 · 12 min
I reviewed Recatch, a CRM built so you don't miss sales opportunities.
2025.03.14 · 14 min
Execute relentlessly, but keep reviewing the strategy
2025.03.07 · 2 min
A crazy person who makes 1 trillion won in revenue alone. What kind of person is the customer I'm meant to help?
2025.03.05 · 1 min
On the courage an artist needs
2025.03.04 · 2 min
How to respect your customers' needs in order to craft messages that drive real change in them
2025.02.10 · 3 min
A SIDIZ brand promotion: my visit to the Chair Research Society session 'A chair for marketers.'
2024.08.20 · 13 min
Why inbound marketing is hard, and why you should start anyway.
2024.08.03 · 12 min
I read Hamkke Jaragi (Growing Together), the book by coach Kim Chang-jun, who taught me so much in such a short time.
2024.04.23 · 6 min
I went to Channel Talk's festival, and it made my heart swell.
2024.04.06 · 18 min
January through March was a string of achievements and burnouts. Along the way I found the kind of talent, and the kind of person, I want to aim for.
2024.04.04 · 12 min
Certifications, extracurriculars, competitions and more: let's talk about the many "credentials" people chase when trying to land a marketing job.
2024.02.04 · 17 min
Introducing Marketer Haven, a career growth blog for junior marketers!
2024.02.03 · 9 min
For my first book of 2024, I picked Seth Godin's latest.
2024.02.03 · 9 min
How to build a marketer portfolio that saves recruiters time and gets better results.
2024.01.28 · 18 min
A method for planning content around what your potential audience actually wants to know.
2024.01.21 · 24 min
"Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products"
2024.01.14 · 6 min
A November spent exploring the world of Seth Godin, the most famous marketer on the planet
2023.12.03 · 7 min
A look back at the treasure-like experiences I found during two months in the marketer community Worthpick.
2023.10.28 · 11 min
The 31 keywords I collected at Worthpick, a community of superhuman marketers
2023.10.28 · 34 min
I read a primer on growth to re-examine what I knew about growth marketing and set clearer goals.
2023.10.04 · 7 min
Sharing the marketer portfolio and resume I put together back in 2022.
2023.10.03 · 5 min
September was the month I found my own strengths and my own way of playing the game. Through a range of opportunities, I got to meet some hidden talents.
2023.10.02 · 16 min
From CJ ENM and Disney to marketing director at GFFG! I sat down with author Yoon Jin-ho, who now spreads the 'weapons' people need to grow :)
2023.09.24 · 13 min
From the early planning of 29CM and EQL to LF Mall's live commerce today: I sat down with Director Yang Su-seok, a man with an incredible story.
2023.09.18 · 11 min
What rules are hidden inside the compelling stories that move people's hearts?
2023.09.17 · 5 min
I wanted to be a teacher. I started this blog to make that dream come true.
2023.09.16 · 13 min
A brilliant point guard on the team, and as a man, a character with pure passion and devotion. I like Ryota Miyagi.
2023.09.14 · 4 min
I read B2B Brand Management, Baemin-daum, and Intellectual Capital Theory, and thought about what branding means.
2023.09.05 · 13 min
August was a month of meeting a lot of people and picking up insights. Along with new connections, I also ran into new challenges and opportunities.
2023.09.04 · 14 min
Yeokhaengja (The Reverse Runner, expanded edition), The Burnout Society, and Yotsuba&!. Three books with completely different messages.
2023.09.03 · 3 min
Review marketing strategies that lift conversion rates, part 2: raising review quality
2023.09.03 · 1 min
Part 3 of the review marketing strategy series on boosting purchase conversion rates: managing review display and analysis
2023.09.03 · 2 min
Being data-driven for customers, the company, and me
2023.08.30 · 8 min
A customer-centered copywriting method I learned from the copywriter behind 'The bed is science,' the most famous ad line in Korea
2023.08.28 · 17 min
I've decided to give this book as a gift every time I meet someone whose success I want to root for.
2023.08.27 · 6 min
Part 1 of a review marketing strategy for higher purchase conversion rates: why review content matters and how to raise your review collection rate
2023.08.19 · 2 min
A topic that always comes up in Korean marketing job-seeker communities: cold calling as an agency AE.
2023.08.19 · 13 min
Among many tasks this month, I focused on implementing lead routing to improve the overall performance of the growth team.
2023.08.08 · 10 min
Q1 and Q2 at Indent went by in a blur. I decided to pick the blog posts and retrospectives I'd let slide for six months back up.
2023.07.22 · 8 min
April, a month of reading evenly across genres
2023.04.30 · 8 min
A look at Nike, the front-runner in D2C strategy D2C case studies of brands talking directly to consumers without going through platforms, plus how small brands can put it into practice
2023.04.30 · 4 min
No Rules Rules: a textbook for a culture of freedom and responsibility
2023.03.26 · 15 min
New people and a great start to the year in January. Hello, Indent!
2023.03.12 · 10 min
As my journey at useB came to an end, I took some time to think about handovers and what it means to leave a job well. Good Bye, useB.
2023.02.12 · 7 min
What we need right now is the 'courage to be happy'
2023.02.05 · 3 min
