Seoul Business Agency launches Seoul Award Season 2, offering full-cycle support from online platform entry to offline scale-up as it targets 550 billion won (approximately $366 million) in exports this year
The Seoul Business Agency (SBA), led by CEO Kim Hyun-woo, has declared 2026 its "Global 2.0 inaugural year" and announced a sweeping overhaul of its overseas export support programs.
From domestic to global: overhauling SBA's marketing support
SBA's marketing division focused through 2021 on helping companies establish themselves in the domestic market, but from 2022 onward it shifted its strategic weight entirely toward overseas markets in response to a rapidly changing global environment.
That strategic pivot has produced dramatic results. In 2021, a budget of 4.3 billion won generated 12 billion won in domestic sales. By 2025, a budget of 6.9 billion won had generated 571 billion won in export results — a 47-fold increase in four years and an 83-fold return on investment — establishing what SBA calls a distinctive "global export pipeline."
Taking online gains offline: the O2O export pipeline in operation
SBA's marketing division has formally launched an export model that organically combines online and offline programs, drawing on four years of accumulated export support expertise. Where the agency previously focused on maximizing results within individual programs, it has now turned its attention to breaking down the barriers between online and offline initiatives — building an "O2O (Online-to-Offline) export pipeline" that delivers optimized support at each stage of a company's growth.
The model's core is a virtuous cycle running from Seoul Award certification (discovery) to online platform entry to offline scale-up. Outstanding products are identified and awarded Seoul Award certification; their performance is then tested on online platforms to gauge local consumer response; and products that pass that test are connected to major trade shows and local retail channels to drive tangible sales growth.
Seoul Award relaunches as Season 2, focusing on selecting top products through global consumer evaluation
The Seoul Award, which has operated for roughly a decade, underwent a complete strategic reorientation in 2025 — shifting from a domestically focused program to a globally export-oriented one (Season 2). Expert judging and consumer preference voting were introduced to strengthen objectivity, and the program now concentrates its resources on three sectors — beauty, living and food — to identify products with genuine global competitiveness.
Support has also evolved well beyond issuing a certification mark, transforming into follow-on assistance aimed at generating actual sales. Selected companies receive entry support for seven platforms as well as connections to overseas trade shows. This year, those efforts bore fruit at the 2026 Cosmoprof Bologna — the world's largest beauty trade show — where participating companies in the Seoul Award joint pavilion secured on-site contracts worth $2.2 million, establishing a firm foothold for entry into the Italian market.
Expanding global commerce support: verifying online market viability and strengthening viral marketing
SBA is also significantly expanding its global online platform partnerships. Building on platforms spanning six regions and nine countries — Amazon (North America and the Middle East), TikTok Shop (North America and Southeast Asia), Shopee (Southeast Asia), Rakuten and Qoo10 (Japan), Xiaohongshu (China), and Mercado Libre (Latin America) — the agency plans to generate 255 billion won in export results across 840 companies.
SBA is particularly stepping up "viral-first marketing" through media commerce platforms such as TikTok Shop and Xiaohongshu to drive immediate responses from local consumers. Through content strategies optimized for each platform, the agency aims to build brand awareness quickly and provide systematic support covering everything from local marketing to sales — going beyond simple platform entry to deliver real sales results.
Accelerating entry into global retail channels: phased support tailored to each stage of company growth
Over the past four years, SBA has completed an "export roadmap" covering the entire process from domestic and overseas export consultations to entry into major retail channels. The integrated process centers on five stages of phased support: online and offline export consultations; registration and acquisition of country-specific required certifications; market viability testing through trade shows and pop-up stores; influencer marketing and social media virality; and entry into global retail channels.
In 2025, SBA extended broad support across Asia — Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore — as well as the Middle East. This year, the agency has designated three strategic target countries (Japan, Indonesia and Australia) and will concentrate its efforts on uncovering global export success stories through one-stop support with customized strategies by product category, from mass-market to premium segments.
In addition, SBA is significantly expanding its participation in major trade shows and advancing a "Seoul Lifestyle Hub Market Entry Project" that leverages global bases in Thailand, Japan and the Middle East to test local consumer response and gather sales data. Through this initiative, the agency plans to provide a comprehensive export solution connecting the entire process — from buyer matching optimized to each company's growth level through to local sales — to drive genuine global growth for Seoul-based businesses.
"Over the past four years, our shift toward an export-driven model has enabled our companies to achieve visible results in global markets," SBA CEO Kim Hyun-woo said. "We will continue to refine the O2O export pipeline combining online and offline channels, and spare no effort in providing all-round support so that Seoul companies can secure real competitiveness in the global market."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
