From business plan to first buyer.
Most consultants hand over a market report and stop there. We build the entry strategy into your business plan, then open the doors — distributors, agents and industry figures in the market you are entering.
Brand strategy · partnership contact map
Market structure · entry scenarios
Market sizing · segmentation · positioning
Value chain · regulation · route to market
Market entry, built to be executed
Research reports are easy to buy. What usually goes missing is everything after: who to meet, in what order to enter, and what has to happen in the first six months. Without that, the report ends up in a drawer. That is the part we take on.
Start at the business plan
We come in before the decision is made, not after.
- Product–market fit tested against the target country — including whether now is the right time
- Business plan and revenue model rebuilt around the entry
- Resource requirements, investment scale and payback timing
- Delivered in a form you can put straight into an investor deck or a government grant application
Entry and penetration strategy
Not just what to do, but in what order.
- Market sizing, competitive structure, regulation and distribution analysis
- Segmentation, positioning, local brand message and marketing mix
- Entry mode — direct export, distributor, joint venture or local entity
- Channel sequence, first-year budget allocation and a twelve-month execution calendar
- Checkpoints, review metrics and clear conditions for pivoting or pulling out
Introductions on the ground
This is where we differ most. We connect you to people, not to a list.
- Distributors, retail buyers, agents and importers identified and approached
- Industry associations, trade fairs and sector opinion leaders
- Meetings arranged and attended, negotiation support, follow-up managed
- Partner candidates vetted; advice on terms before you sign
- Drawing on a network built across Europe, the US and Japan over four decades at Samsung, Sony and Kodak
Four stages
Assess
We look at the product, the target market and your internal capacity first. If it is too early to go, we say so.
Design
Business plan and entry strategy come together as one executable plan, delivered as a report with a working session.
Connect
We approach distributors and industry figures on the ground and set up the meetings, attending where it helps.
Stay on
We remain through the early operating period, and can take on channel management and marketing execution.
AI-assisted social media marketing
Once you are in a market, the brand has to be built there. We run content and paid media as two tracks, and apply AI to the repetitive production work to cut both turnaround and cost.
Content
Decide how the brand should look in this market, then fill the channel accordingly.
- Brand tone of voice and content pillars
- Product shoot direction; image, video and copy production
- Instagram and blog channel operation and publishing
- Launch and seasonal campaign content
- Categories: food and beverage, home living, beauty, fashion, industrial goods
Performance
Judged on what the spend actually returned.
- Meta, Google and Naver campaign setup and management
- Audience and creative testing, budget reallocation
- Crowdfunding and direct-to-consumer launch campaigns
- Monthly reporting on ROAS and cost per acquisition
- Landing page and product page recommendations
Where the AI actually goes
Not everywhere. We use it for the high-volume, repetitive work — image variations, copy alternates, first-cut video, performance data cleanup — which is where it saves real time and money. Anything that requires brand judgement is still reviewed by a person.
Recent projects
Client names withheld. Named case studies available on request.
Who does the work
Over ten years posted in Europe with Samsung Electronics, working in product planning, marketing and corporate brand strategy. Later CMO of Sony Korea, CEO of Kodak Korea and of iriver, and COO of the Mirae N Group.
Having run a full manufacturing value chain and both domestic and overseas distribution — and having built the relationships that came with it — is what this practice rests on.
- Current
- Chief Executive Officer, Sellbridge — since 2022
- Mirae N Group
- Chief Operating Officer, Senior Executive Vice President
- iriver
- President & Chief Executive Officer
- Kodak Korea
- President, Country Manager & General Manager
- Sony Korea
- Chief Marketing Officer, Head of Consumer Company
- Samsung Electronics
- Head of Corporate Brand Strategy; product planning and marketing at European HQ, London and Frankfurt
- Education
- MBA, Korea University · BS Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University
If you are considering a market
Tell us the product and the country you have in mind. The first conversation ends with a defined scope and a fee.
- kunokim@gmail.com
- Based in
- Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
- Registration
- 203-13-11523 (STANDARD)