Using Korea as a Test Bed for Asian Expansion: Look to Facebook

I have advised, on many occasions, clients to look to Korea for their Asian expansion prior to entering more expensive and difficult Asian markets.  Hey Facebook seems to agree in an article entitled: Facebook uses Korea as Test Bed.

This is a repost of article from nearly five years ago.  China is becoming even more difficult and much of SE Asia is not becoming anymore transparent – Korea is an excellent place to test the Asian waters.

The Korea Herald has an interesting article that quotes the president of Facebook Korea as noting that:

 “Facebook sees Korea as an important country due to its high mobile usage and the presence of global companies like Samsung and Hyundai,” he said. “This makes Korea an important test bed to Facebook (insofar as it is) wishing to be a mobile-first company.”

We, strongly, recommend that all companies consider Korea as a useful “test bed” in determining if Asia shall be a success for your brand, franchise, technology etc.

This advise is, also, the advise of the former head of the European Chamber in Korea that noted in the EU Chamber Infomag in 2011 that: “While the world focuses on the Chinese market, company executives should also try to include Korea in their itinerary whenever they visit this part of the world, because a presence in South Korea is indispensable for truly global brands and could in fact constitute an excellent launching pad to reach the Chinese and Japanese markets.”

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