Webtoon architect and all-around CEO Junkoo Kim
Last year, the absolute U.S. comics industry — periodicals, clear novels and agenda beyond all publishers, genres and channels — brought in a almanac $1.28 billion according to Comicron/ICv2. That accumulated cardinal comes abutting to the 2020 acquirement of a distinct belvedere that has become the best of the ascent all-around bearing of comics fans. Webtoon, the adaptable agenda comics app that has congenital up a countless of readers aboriginal in Asia, now counts the United States as its fastest-growing market, with a account readership that already dwarfs any added comics average or format. Webtoon aloof appear partnerships with two iconic American brands, DC Comics and Archie, as it seeks to aggrandize the bazaar alike further.
Despite this success, the South Korean aggregation charcoal a bit of a abstruseness to the American comics industry. Here, for the aboriginal time in absolutely a while, Webtoon architect and all-around CEO Junkoo Kim speaks to an English-language advertisement about the company’s booming after-effects and action affective forward.
The app-based comics platform, now a accessory of Korean tech behemothic Naver, pioneered a vertically-scrolling storytelling architecture optimized for adaptable accessories and readers attractive for engaging, after belief in a advanced ambit of genres. The account debuted in the US in 2014 and has congenital up a massive, super-engaged admirers of mostly adolescent readers acquisitive for their approved fix of Lore Olympus, Tower of God, Let’s Play, translated Korean actual (“K-comics”), and bags of added curated and user-created titles from about the world.
According to the company, Webtoon now draws over 72 actor account alive users (14 actor in the US), announcement revenues of over US$100M per month. GenZ and adolescent Millennials accomplish up 75% of Webtoon users worldwide, and 70% of the users in the US are beneath age 24. 58% of Webtoon users are female. Those demographics alter decidedly from the admirers for printed journal comics in the US. Currently the majority of acquirement affairs appear from Korea and Japan, with the US third, but the aggregation sees the American bazaar overtaking Asia in 3-5 years at accepted advance rates.
Webtoon Ball was founded by Junkoo Kim, who now serves as All-around CEO of the business. We batten via an interpreter. Our chat has been edited for breadth and clarity.
Rob Salkowitz, Forbes Contributor: How would you characterize your advance over the accomplished brace of years?
Junkoo Kim, Webtoon founder/CEO: Despite the appulse of COVID-19, we accept apparent astronomic growth, because you can absorb our agreeable anywhere. We attending at advance two ways: in the cardinal of creators on the belvedere and the cardinal of readers. During the pandemic, we saw the cardinal of creators and the bulk of agreeable access explosively. That’s led to an access in readers and revenue.
RS: What’s abaft the contempo deals with DC and Archie?
JK: There are several benefits. We’ve congenital up a mostly adolescent admirers for our accepted content. DC [and Archie] will be able to ability mobile-generation readers in this new format. Webtoon readers will be able to see DC characters through new agreeable and new kinds of stories, and it will be absolutely agitative to see how they react.
RS: So is this Webtoon creators cogent belief with DC characters, or DC writers adapting belief for the Webtoon format?
JK: DC has accustomed us to actualize agreeable with their characters and world. The writers of Webtoon are creating agreeable based on DC characters. [note: the aboriginal appear DC accord is a Batman-oriented title, Wayne Family Adventures. The Archie accord is Big Ethel Energy].
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, is a accord amid DC Comics and Webtoon
RS: Are you attractive to accomplice with added accustomed comics publishers in the US, Asia, Europe or elsewhere?
JK: Back we are a administration platform, we are attractive to coact with all all-around partners. We are advance in ally in US and Japan, but best importantly, we’re attractive for the abutment of alone creators.
RS: User-generated agreeable is a big allotment of your model. Why is that important to Webtoon’s success?
JK: In agreement of content, the best important allotment is diversity. UGC creators are authoritative new and aboriginal content that no one has done before. They’ve become big hits, with our publishing support. We’re seeing the better success with their agreeable about the globe.
RS: Do you accept a action for anecdotic the accepted or potentially bartering assignment in the UGC approach and bringing those bodies forth so that they accept added adventitious of success?
JK: There are several means we ascertain the abeyant for acknowledged agreeable in our platform. The aboriginal allotment is abstruse analysis. By allegory the contents, based on the abstracts and logic, we are anecdotic abeyant success. The additional allotment is the cardinal of users who acknowledge to the capacity fabricated by creators and again giving support. That’s adage your agreeable is activity to be absolutely successful. The third allotment is the acumen of ambassador and editors.
RS: Webtoon’s ancestor aggregation Naver afresh acquired the book fiction belvedere Wattpad. How does that fit in with your strategy?
JK: We are both story-tech platforms. By that I beggarly we use IT to abutment the conception and administration of content, abutting creators and users. The better synergy is that Wattpad already has a ample cardinal of users and a ample bulk of aboriginal content. Those can be visualized [by artists] and breeze into Webtoon, creating a new architecture for a new audience. At the aforementioned time, a lot of Webtoon users could become admirers of Wattpad agreeable as well.
RS: I accept some creators are authoritative an astronomic assets – added than $10 actor in one case, which is a lot of money for authoritative comics – through your acquirement sharing. How does the business abutment that affectionate of payment?
JK: The best important allotment in our ecosystem is creators, so I anticipate back creators get added profits, added acceptable agreeable will be created in a ample volume, and that that will accomplish our belvedere abundant added convalescent and productive. We launched this folio acquittal archetypal 15 or 20 years ago to actualize incentives. We now accept a lot of bodies administration revenues from agreeable and from ads. We additionally allotment money from licensing revenues based on their creations. There are a array of business models they can choose, and we try to accomplish them actual favorable for creators.
RS: $10M is acutely an outlier, but what can a archetypal architect apprehend to make?
JK: We accept not fabricated the all-around cardinal accessible yet, but in Korea, we accept creators authoritative US$225,000 to 250,000 per year.
RS: There is a lot of antagonism in the agenda comics space, from added Asian adaptable comics providers and from distributors application altered models, such as Amazon AMZN . How do you see the aggressive landscape?
JK: Aboriginal off, we do not see publishers as competitors. They are ally or -to-be partners, and that accord is a win-win because we are accommodating with them. There are additionally abounding companies in western markets or globally adopting our model, agnate or aforementioned model, and I anticipate that helps abound the all-embracing market, back the bazaar for Webtoons[-style comics] can be broadcast further. These “follower” companies are authoritative efforts on the frontiers, which is authoritative the all-embracing bazaar convalescent and acting as a bang for readers.
Our absolute competitors are over-the-top platforms, alive casework and gaming companies. Why? Because they booty abroad time from our audience. Instead of account Webtoons, they are accomplishing article else.
RS: Webtoons accept become an basic allotment of the accomplished ball ecosystem in Korea, with K-dramas and affection films based on the stories. How are you demography that archetypal to markets like the US?
JK: We accept been authoritative a lot of investments in the US to accomplish our belvedere and agreeable added admired in added media. We accustomed Wattpad Webtoon Studios in the US afresh to accomplish it easier to accompany our agreeable to added formats and platforms. We additionally anchored a big advance of 100 billion Korean won (around US$85M) from our ancestor aggregation Naver to access the amount of our IP and acceleration them into production. We accept it is acutely important to accompany this agreeable into added media. And I anticipate our creators will be actual aflame to accept this happen, seeing their Webtoons and web novels broadcast into new formats, including videos, films, amateur and merchandise.
RS: Finally, a claimed question, Mr. Kim… you’ve angry Webtoon into a behemothic all-around abnormality and a bartering powerhouse. Are comics still fun for you?
JK [in English, after aid of interpreter]: Of course! I adulation this job! I started this aggregation aloof so I could see added of the comics I love. I would do this job aloof because I appetite to see added comics, added Webtoons. I’m accomplishing my best not for the money, not for the fame, but aloof for this. Frankly, I would do it alone for myself!
Tower of God, a Korean manwa alternation by S.I.U., is one of the best accepted titles on the Webtoon … [ ] platform.
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