`Compared to the same period of the previous year, monthly webtoon transaction amount increased by 702%` `Total monthly transaction amount increased by 240.5%`
This is the report card that Kakao Japan achieved in December of last year with the content platform’Piccoma’. Last year, Piccoma’s annual transaction amount also increased 188% from a year ago to 4146 billion won. Inside Kakao, this growth trend is called’J. Curve’. It is an ambiguous expression that means the fast-growing curve in the shape of the English name (Jay) and letter J (J) of Kakao Japan’s representative Kim Jae-yong.
CEO Kim, whom the reporter met with images after 4 years, laughed, saying, “I made a curve that is difficult to draw with a lie.” Originally, it was skinny, but the bird was a little thinner. Three Ryan trophies were added behind the desk. The white Lion trophy was awarded in 2018. This is the’Global Hope Award’ awarded by Kakao, who has been struggling to advance into the global market, in the sense of seeing hope in Japan. The other two silver Ryan trophies were awarded in a row in 2019 and last year. Kakao is said to give this trophy whenever its affiliates exceed 100 billion won, 300 billion won, and 1 trillion won in sales. Kakao Japan is the only company out of over 90 affiliates to receive this trophy for the second consecutive year. Global hope has already become a reality.
CEO Kim said, “It is a small (?) wish to receive a trophy for 3 consecutive years.” Seeing that’J. Curve’ continues this year, it may not be a wish. On the 6th, Kakao announced that Piccoma ranked third in the world in the ranking of non-game app sales growth in the first quarter compiled by global app research company App Any. It is ranked 9th in the world in terms of non-game app sales. Piccoma is the only one in the top 10 of the world’s manga apps. It is in line with Netflix and Disney with only Japanese sales. CEO Kim said, “Piccoma’s rival has already become games and online video services (OTT), not other cartoon apps.”
What is the secret of Kakao Japan’s growth? The first word that came back to the question was “I was obsessed with the content.” The secret to unprecedented rapid growth is a too plain and exemplary answer. However, he explained, “It is natural to operate a content platform centered on works, but there are not many places to practice this. It was surprisingly different to operate a content platform centered on works. In fact, about 50 local digital cartoon platforms competed in marketing to insert advertisements or distribute works for free, but Piccoma was different. Even in Japan, a comic book powerhouse with a strong paid payment culture, there were protests about why webtoons are paid for free. CEO Kim emphasized, “What I want to focus on the readers in Piccoma is not advertisements, but works,” and emphasized, “The insistence on paying webtoons also led to a virtuous cycle of activation of the creative ecosystem and influx of readers.”
The continued innovation through endless self-denial without being intoxicated by achievements also became the driving force behind’J. Curve’. CEO Kim said, “I take the last month of each year as a time of self-denial, and I am wary of thinking about users rather than being self-centered.” You have to deny it again,” he said. What was developed through this process was’Zero & Plus,’ a new business model (BM) suitable for Japan. In the past, it promoted the influx of paid users with the Korean BM’Free If You Wait’, which was provided once a day for each work. Zero & Plus, which improved this to suit the unique characteristics of Japan, provided a free license to read more than 11 free works every day without boundaries. It is a kind of’free use right’. Zero & Plus not only sucked in Japanese users, but also re-imported it as a’longitudinal plus’ on Kakao Page in Korea.
Even at the end of last year, CEO Kim, who had a time of self-denial, said that Piccoma still has a long way to go. Japan still has a strong power of paper manga. The success of Korean webtoons, such as’Alone Level Up’, is close to an exception. As such, the market potential is endless. CEO Kim drew a line saying, “It is said that Korean webtoons have occupied the Japanese market, but it is not at all.” He said, “Japan still sells hundreds of millions of copies of paper manga, but webtoons are only a few achievements.” Said.
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