Rebranding
South Korean mobile messaging services provider Kakao, formerly Daum Kakao, has resolved to become a leader in the mobile market with a new CEO and a new corporate name, one year after its merger with Daum Communications.
Considering the fact that critics have raised concerns over the lower profitability than expected after the merger, the new Kakao will expand its business areas, including the establishment of an Internet bank, and beef up the mobile business platform related to online to offline commerce, or O2O, in order to take leadership in the mobile market. In the mobile market, in which there has already been some fierce competition, all eyes are on what kind of results the new Kakao can achieve.
During the extraordinary shareholders meeting held at its headquarters in Jeju Science Park on Sept. 23, Kakao handled the items of the change of its corporate name and the appointment of its internal director-designate Rim Ji-hoon. On the same day, Kakao revealed a new corporate image, along with the name change for the company. The new company logo sets yellow as the new corporate color. The company says yellow is already well associated with the company through multiple Kakao services.
Rim Ji-hoon, the new chief executive of Kakao Corp., said, “We will accelerate securing global competitiveness based on the keywords of 'mobile' and 'connection.' I will offer innovative ideas in order for Kakao to make the best use of its platform competitiveness.” As Rim mentioned “speed” right after he was appointed as the new CEO, it is expected to become Kakao’s core strategy in the future.
Since he played a key role in investment decisions with high levels of confidence from the Chairman of the board of directors of Kakao Kim Bum-soo, his movement will carry considerable weight. Rim, who previously led start-up investment firm K Cube Ventures, has invested in nearly 50 start-ups, including Dunamu and Frograms, and raised their company value dozens of times. Accordingly, he is expected to carry out many investments in a new growth engine of Kakao and also seek for M&As. The new Kakao aims to keep seeking change and innovation in all areas of major mobile services dealing with communication, on-demand, fintech, Internet of Things, content, and commerce.