Why Lucid Promo, with 28 Years in Construction Marketing, Chose the Character Business

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"We will generate 10 billion won in revenue from the character business alone within the next five years."

Kim Byungsoo, CEO of Lucid Promo, made this statement at a press conference hosted by the MainBiz Association (Korea Association of Innovative Small and Medium Enterprises) on the 11th. Established in 1997, Lucid Promo is an integrated residential marketing solutions company. Currently, revenue from the character business stands at around 700 million won out of a total revenue of 15 billion won. However, CEO Kim explained that, even though the company’s revenue structure is still centered on construction marketing, he is pushing for a pivot, making the character business the next growth engine.

Kim Byungsoo, CEO of Lucid Promo, is explaining the company and its business at the MainBiz Association's press conference for outstanding management innovation companies held on the 11th at the headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul. MainBiz Association

Over the past 28 years, Lucid Promo has served more than 20 construction companies, including Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Samsung C&T, executing over 2,100 projects. Through this, the company has established contact points with 1.8 million households, reaching 12 million people. Lucid Promo, which has handled sales, move-in marketing, and concierge services for renowned residential complexes in Korea such as Lotte Signiel, Tower Palace, and Nine One Hannam, began shifting its focus around 2010 by starting the character business. What was the reason behind this gradual change in direction?

"Trust is the core of every business... Developing socially responsible characters"

Lucid Promo, in the process of partnering with the British concierge brand Quintessentially, focused on social contribution activities as a way to deliver the value of trust. The company chose characters as a means to enhance the impact of social contribution messages. While the recognition rate of text-based messages is about 30%, Kim analyzed that story-based messages using characters achieve a recognition and behavioral conversion rate of up to 90%.

Based on this analysis, the company developed its own character intellectual property (IP), "WeCanDoIt." Since Lucid Promo’s main business has been construction marketing, the company utilized this character in etiquette campaigns by repeatedly exposing etiquette messages in resident guides that address etiquette in spaces like restaurants and fitness centers, as well as issues such as noise between floors and pets. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the company began to focus more seriously on the character business, judging that it is a high value-added business with strong global scalability and relatively low initial investment thanks to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and tools.

WecanDoIt character introduced on the Carkkon homepage. LucidPromo

On "Carkkon," the character IP-based content platform developed by Lucid Promo, various messages related to corporate culture, school violence prevention, and environmental education are produced in the form of posters, webtoons, videos, and guides. Recently, the company introduced "WeCanDoIt AI Studio," which incorporates AI technology to further enhance content production efficiency. Based on this, Lucid Promo is also developing global content suitable for multilingual and multicultural environments. To date, the company has produced over 10,000 pieces of content and carried out more than 850 collaborative campaigns.

"A company that enhances human value"

However, CEO Kim drew a clear line against the perception of Lucid Promo as a company that only generates profit through characters. He explained that the character is not just a source of profit, but a tool to deliver the values and messages the company pursues. He also emphasized that, in line with the founding philosophy of "practicing the enhancement of human value," the company is committed to spreading the values of consideration and sharing in everyday life through its characters. As part of these efforts, Lucid Promo won the Excellence Award in the short-form category at this year’s "Empathy for the Disabled Contest," demonstrating the social resonance and effectiveness of its character content in public campaigns.

Kim Byungsoo, CEO of Lucidpromo, is taking a commemorative photo at the awards ceremony of the "2022 Small and Medium Business Management Innovation Conference" held on December 14, 2022, at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel. Lucidpromo

This approach is also reflected in the company’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. In 2021, Lucid Promo received the Ethics Management Grand Prize from the Korean Society of Business Ethics alongside POSCO. The company was highly evaluated for practicing ethical management despite limited personnel and budget as a small business with about 30 employees. In 2022, Lucid Promo received the Prime Minister’s Commendation at the Small and Medium Business Management Innovation Conference and was selected as a recognized company for community contribution for four consecutive years. CEO Kim emphasized, "Employees donate 1% of their annual salary and 10% of their performance bonuses," highlighting social contribution as an internal principle.