Naver Webtoon's US headquarters, Webtoon Entertainment, was ranked 8th in the '2023 World's Most Innovative Companies' announced on the 2nd (local time) by the US economic media outlet Fast Company. It was ranked 1st among the top 10 innovative companies in the media sector.
Fast Company is a US economic magazine covering technology, management, economy, business, and design. Since 2008, it has annually selected companies that have created creative business models and innovative cultures, announcing the world's top 50 innovative companies rankings.
Fast Company cited Webtoon Entertainment's selection reason as bringing innovation to the global digital comics market and emerging as a major player exerting strong influence in the entertainment industry through market pioneering using webtoon IPs such as video adaptations.
Naver Webtoon introduced vertical scroll-type webtoons suitable for the digital era. It has pioneered markets utilizing webtoon IPs in video, publishing, games, music, and licensing. The Naver Webtoon original 'Now, Our School' ranked 1st in the non-English series category most loved on Netflix in 2022.
Naver Webtoon's market pioneering innovation case was also made into a case study by INSEAD, a prestigious global business school famous for the 'Blue Ocean Strategy,' last December.
The case study mentioned, "Pioneering the market by attracting users who did not read comics as readers and building an ecosystem where users and creators create content together is a case that created unprecedented customer value as digital media." It especially evaluated that creating various business opportunities using original IPs such as video adaptations explosively increased the value and potential of the IPs owned by Naver Webtoon, making it sufficient for Naver Webtoon to become the 'Next Marvel.'
Kim Jun-gu, CEO of Naver Webtoon, said, "I am very grateful that the innovation and change we have created through webtoons have been internationally recognized, and I want to celebrate this news with all webtoon creators worldwide," adding, "This achievement is not only recognition of Naver Webtoon but also recognition of the creativity and passion of all creators active on our platform."
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