Jin-ho's "three deaths": a story of persistent challenge
I first met Jin-ho on August 30 at the Social Leaders Club event held at a cafe in Yangjae, Seoul.
I'd often read posts by "Marketer Choin" (his pen name; choin means "superhuman" in Korean) on LinkedIn before, but meeting him in person at a talk felt quite different.
Under the title "Three Deaths," Jin-ho calmly walked through what must have been a far-from-easy career journey. I was deeply moved, and I was lucky enough to get a coffee chat with him that same day.
Disney and GFFG (the Korean F&B group behind the donut brand Knotted): Jin-ho's road map was completely different from mine, but he shared great insights on writing, self-development, and growth.
Since then I've kept in touch with Jin-ho through several opportunities, including MAX Summit 2023 (a Korean marketing conference), and I was grateful to be given co-manager rights in the community he runs, "WARSPEAK."
What impressed me most about Jin-ho over the month we spent together was that he has a truly exceptional ability to build and use his own weapons, and he has kept up that effort consistently.
I asked Jin-ho, the author who wants to share his formula for success with as many people as possible through the community, to tell me a bit more!
Disney and GFFG: the biggest weapon is storytelling
The greatest strength I saw in Jin-ho was a powerful ability to make people feel delight and excitement.
"What's his secret? He's so different from me."
I couldn't chalk it up simply to his experience marketing Disney and Knotted.
When I looked at what makes Jin-ho exceptional in his actual projects, the answer turned out to be storytelling.
Rather than marketing that just "puts Disney's and Knotted's products and services where people will see them," he had made all kinds of attempts to let people genuinely experience delight.
From the pop-up stores that have only now become so common, to niche marketing centered on "non-mainstream characters" like villains: there couldn't have been many references to lean on when Jin-ho was running those projects, yet he led them to remarkable success, and I got to hear those stories firsthand.
I came to feel that if you want customers to truly enjoy and fall for a brand, distinctive storytelling that delivers an experience they've never had before really matters.
Among other things, there's a principle that people get hooked by the unexpected, the thing that breaks common sense, and then actively experience and consume the content, and Jin-ho put it into practice well.
It looked all the more impressive because it's not something you can attempt while just holding on to what you already have :)
Worthpick, the community for building weapons: what makes it special?
Worthpick has only been active in earnest for a month, but already lots of members are actively sharing insights.
Participating as co-manager, I've gotten a lot of help both professionally and emotionally.
Jin-ho said he created the community, built around the brands he'd already been running like "Marketer Choin" and "Choin Notes," to help more people build weapons for growth.
The concept of "building weapons" is fun in itself, but the biggest differentiator from existing information-sharing communities is that you can actually grow together, directly.
1) The "Weapon Challenge": telling your own story every day and turning it into a weapon
The defining feature of the Worthpick community is the "Weapon Challenge," where members share their thoughts on one topic every day.
It's a program where you share your own take on each topic, such as "writing," "books," or "pop-up stores," in the community space.
It builds the habit of finding "weapons for growth": a prompt to think about a topic you'd never considered before, or a chance to speak confidently about your strengths in front of others.
2) The "Book × Weapon Class": read a useful book, then apply it right away
There's a limitation of self-help books that many people point out: you never apply them at work; you just move on.
Worthpick's book-talk program, the "Book × Weapon Class," sets out to overcome that limitation by discussing the book alongside the work cases and insights Jin-ho himself has applied.
In the first session, on The Best Story Wins (published in Korea as "Pixar Storytelling"), I learned special know-how for using story as a weapon. For someone like me who'd always struggled to craft a hooky message, it was an especially good class :)
3) A community expanding through offline meetups and channel activities
Besides the book-centered classes, the Worthpick community plans to roll out a variety of activities starting in October, including "Worthpick Salon," where members speak candidly about their thoughts on a specific topic, and "Worthpick Shot," where deeper insights are shared over a few drinks.
I expect that Jin-ho, "Marketer Choin," together with the insightful people in the community, will create even more rewarding sessions :)
Cheering for "Marketer Choin," not just "Worthpick" :)
Jin-ho, who gives people a network and shares insights generously through the community, also told me about the various activities he's aiming for under his personal brand, "Marketer Choin."
They vary in nature, but keywords like "growth," "weapons," and "storytelling" stood out across all of them!
Finding your own weapon really matters now, even just for your own growth, and Jin-ho seems to be the person who does it best :)
Personally, I wanted to cheer on Jin-ho's success too, so once again I gave him a copy of StrengthsFinder 2.0 as a gift.
I'd guess he has themes like "Maximizer" and "Activator," but I'm curious to see his actual results :)
