'Corona Now' Creator Born in 2005, Explains Background of Entering Advertising Market After Toss

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"As stimulating content increases, demand for good content seems to be growing as well. I believe this is also the reason why content that effectively presents topics matching one's tastes and interests is gaining attention again."

Choi Hyung-bin, CEO of Edit & Arc, became known as a developer while in middle school. During the spread of COVID-19, he developed 'Corona Now,' which provided real-time infection status updates. In high school, he joined fintech company Toss and served as the youngest Product Owner (PO), responsible for service planning.

At Toss, he was in charge of youth financial services such as 'Toss Youth Card.' He led initiatives like the 'Pepero Day Challenge,' which significantly increased new user acquisition, gaining experience not just in development but also in defining service problems and attracting users.

After leaving Toss, Choi enrolled at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) and developed 'Kkoko Alarm,' an alarm that only rings via earphones, achieving the number one spot in the health category on the App Store.

These experiences laid the foundation for founding Edit & Arc. He stated, "At Toss, I directly confirmed the power of a strategy starting with niche and small problems and expanding vertically and horizontally." He added, "We plan to expand our business in the same vein as Toss expanded from simple money transfers to loan intermediation and credit score services."

Edit & Arc focused on Instagram magazine and editor accounts. They recognized that 'editorial' advertising, which naturally combines brand messages with information-based content delivered through Instagram pages like card news, is emerging as a new marketing method.

He judged that how to deliver good products and content to people has become just as important as creating them. He saw business opportunities in the process of connecting these channels, which curate information and tastes in specific fields, with advertisers using data, helping to naturally blend brand ads into each channel's content grammar.

Choi (CEO) said, "While the traditional media advertising market has high entry barriers, Instagram is a market that remains open to everyone yet is still not standardized. I believe we can industrialize this market as media usage patterns change."

Content channels collaborating with Edit & Arc produce content that blends brand messages and advertising products according to their respective expertise and content formats. This includes introducing new construction methods by construction companies on architecture-related accounts or reprocessing brands and products of major distribution corporations into content tailored to the tastes of consumers in their 20s and 30s. Recently, they are also expanding into campaign areas, such as running book advertisements aligned with the content consumption habits of young people seeking 'good quotes.'

Choi (CEO)'s view is that editorial can establish itself as a new advertising format following TV ads and performance marketing. He stated, "During the growth period of social commerce, cost per click (CPC) was low, and some companies seized the opportunity to lead performance marketing using this, significantly expanding the market. Now, with advertising unit prices rising sharply, it is difficult to grow relying solely on existing methods."

Edit & Arc's technical differentiation lies in utilizing data throughout the entire advertising process. As an official business partner of Meta, Edit & Arc has developed a solution that allows for the comparison and analysis of Instagram ad execution history for specific brands based on accumulated data. This is used to automatically analyze ad execution results to confirm performance and propose new advertising formats and execution methods based on these findings.

AI technology is utilized to enhance advertising transparency. The company checks in real-time whether advertisements are disclosed and their placement according to Fair Trade Commission guidelines, filtering out so-called 'under-viral' posts known as 'hidden ads.' Choi (CEO) stated, "There are still many so-called under-viral promotions that proceed without disclosing the fact that they are advertisements. We believe contributing to the ecosystem by eliminating such practices is part of what we can do."

Edit & Arc's long-term goal is to expand beyond an advertising execution company into a consumer goods company that creates and nurtures its own brands. The plan is to accumulate experiences connecting consumers and brands through media, then use this foundation to create its own brand or acquire competitive brands.

Choi (CEO) said, "Our goal in five years is to become Korea's top consumer goods company. I want to continue solving the challenge of delivering good stories to the public by acquiring good brands or creating them directly."

The global market is also in mind. The plan is to build a foundation for the editorial advertising market domestically and then expand into Japan and the United States. Since formats combining content and advertising are emerging in both markets, they judge that the business model accumulated domestically can be applied overseas as well.

Ultimately, Choi (CEO) envisions a company equipped with both media and consumer goods. He expressed his ambition, stating, "I think a company like CJ, which possesses both media and culture, is truly amazing. Our goal is to become a powerful company by combining the two."

[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]