LINE Careers

About Work

Q Please introduce LINE's Creative Studio Team and your responsibilities.

As the name suggests, Creative Studio plans and produces creative multimedia content for all LINE affiliates. It's a cross-functional organization, capable of producing everything from zero base, from planning to output. Specifically, we handle the planning and production of LINE stickers and story content for the character IP businesses. LINE stickers were a key element in LINE's growth in the mobile era, allowing for communication using images when words alone can't fully convey emotions, which people found quite appealing. This advantage only grew in the non-face-to-face era due to COVID-19. Our organization includes talented illustrators who have created various characters, including LINE's official characters, Brown & Friends. We also produce animated series content that brings character IP to life and plan fan-based marketing activities. We constantly strive to make LINE stickers more than just images, but valuable friends who always provide joy and support. In addition, we plan and produce advertisements that appeal to LINE's various services. We create comprehensive multimedia content, from global TV commercials to billboard ads at LINE stores in New York and SNS and in-app interactive motion graphics, prototyping, sound business. We plan and produce content based on data analyzing local trends, users, and viewers, taking into account the cultural differences of each country. My team, Contents 4, handles this advertising work. Our team is really talented, with experience in planning, storyboarding, design, prototyping, 2D/3D motion graphics, animation, and more, and we work together to create better content. As a content planner and designer, it's always rewarding to see the real-time reactions of users and viewers around the world. (laughs)

Q When working for internationally based users, are there any considerations or preparations you like to focus on?

When working in global advertising, there's a key phrase I often mention to my team members like a mantra: “Korean/English/Japanese/Thai/Taiwanese”. It's a familiar term to LINERs. We constantly check during projects to make sure we have prepared for all five languages. (laughs). We're promoting LINE services globally, and are especially aggressive marketing in countries like Japan and Thailand, where we've topped the download charts. Although it's the same service, we differentiate our planning, editing, and even narration through “hyper-localization” to provide the optimal service to local users by understanding each country's advertising market trends and culture. A memorable instance of this was a scene from the LINE RANGERS TV commercial where Brown's flaming fist confronts the enemy. While Thailand and Taiwan simply changed the subtitles and broadcast the video with some big sound design, Japan hired four local voice actors/announcers/idols/sports commentators to add new dialogue and sounds like a scene from a variety show. It was surprising at first, but it turned out to be catchy and fun. When I first started handling global tasks at LINE, I struggled to understand cultural differences (laughs). But, I quickly came to respect the differences. The hyper-localization strategy, which captivates the hearts of users in each country, is really important.

Q What achievements do you find most memorable?

In 2016, I was in charge of a large LED billboard advertisement in New York's Times Square. I'll never forget the overwhelming feeling and joy when various multimedia content, mainly featuring LINE's logo, covered Times Square, which can be considered the holy ground of advertising. It was a moment when I truly felt what a 'global experience' was. At that time, we simultaneously handled not only the Times Square area but also media devices inside New York taxis and billboard advertisements on iconic main buildings in New York. Despite the time difference causing sleepless nights, we continuously communicated with local colleagues in New York and conducted real-time on-site monitoring. Thanks to this, I developed a strong camaraderie with the team members who worked on the project, which words can't fully express (laughs). I was truly proud to be part of this historic moment for LINE. Later in 2017, we opened a regular LINE Store in Times Square and worked on the store's large LED billboard advertisement. Even now, we produce and broadcast new service content from LINE or various seasonal content for Christmas/New Year in Creative Studio. I regularly track SNS posts to see consumer reactions. Whenever I see people capturing precious moments in New York with the content we created in Creative Studio as the backdrop, and especially the heartfelt reviews from fans interacting with LINE's services and characters, I feel a great sense of fulfillment.

Challenges and Failures

Q They say we learn more from our failures than our successes. Tell us about one or two of your failures.

I served as a team lead for about eight years after joining LINE. During that journey, the biggest challenge was figuring out how to move forward together, not alone. Initially, I wanted to be a perfect and good leader, thinking that's how my team members would trust and rely on me. So, I tried to balance hands-on work and management without making any mistakes. If any aspect didn't meet my expectations, I felt discouraged, and wondered if that meant I had failed at being a leader. However, as time went by, I realized that being perfect alone isn't important in a team setting. In fact, it's impossible. When the strengths and weaknesses of myself, my team members, and my colleagues complement each other efficiently, better and productive ideas are born. That's when I felt a rise in synergy and what I was doing, including my work quality. I think it's important to openly address my shortcomings as quickly as possible and honestly ask questions when I don't know something, even if the person who knows the information is a new hire or an intern. I also share my know-how as transparently as possible when I have something to offer. That’s how you build trust. Through these processes, I gradually gained a sense of accomplishment in managing. Recently, I applied for a team counseling session, one of LINE's care programs. I received a professional and detailed analysis of my team members' psychological states, their growth curves, and what additional actions I can take in the current situation. This opportunity helped us understand each other better, strengthened our teamwork, and greatly improved work efficiency. I'm grateful for these experiences, which serve as a stepping stone for personal growth, not only as a leader but also in various types of relationships.

Q What does the word “challenge” mean to you? and Has there been a particular situation or turning point where you feel you grew significantly through your experience at LINE?

“Challenge” is a familiar keyword at LINE. As I mentioned earlier, I've worked in the field of TV commercials, where you need to express your message in as little as 15 seconds, and as an advertiser, I've often pondered how to captivate viewers in a short time. My first mission after joining LINE was to direct and produce an animation series for LINE RANGERS, one of LINE’s major games. Unlike advertising, I had never planned a long-form animated program before, and there were no internal experts at that time. Honestly, I was quite worried. However, as a big fan of animated content, I saw this as a great opportunity to meet experts in an area I had never experienced before. The benefits of doing what I love are self-evident (laughs). First, I started by world-building based on the basic storyline provided by the game planners. Then I wrote the structure of a series from episodes 1 to 13. From the distant past to the present, from the first meeting of the characters to the appearance of the case's subplot, and the story of becoming the LINE RANGERS team, I wrote the scenario with my senior leader through sleepless nights. This allowed me to have a valuable experience of developing various stories that are not visible in the game by repeatedly interviewing the planners, and I found myself enjoying the new challenge. Finally, I had to complete the series even though the basic story of the game was not yet known. I wondered what kind of story would make this content more interesting and make people want to play the game more, and let my imagination run wild. Thankfully, when the game planners reflected our ideas back into the game story, I could experience firsthand how special it is to create a service together. Thanks to the experience of OSMU (One Source Multi Use), where one brand is linked to various contents, I was able to carry out the global advertisement of LINE RANGERS with more affection. All these processes have been the stepping stones for me to grow from an advertiser to a content creator and animation PD.

Thoughts on competencies

Q What competencies and qualities do you believe are necessary for delivering excellent performance in your role?

I believe the most important ability for growing as a content planner, animator, or motion graphics designer is the effort to understand the consumer's mind, even before having flashy skills. Creative marketing strategies are needed to captivate consumers, and under these strategies, various advertising media are born. When given a task like “we need to promote something”, regardless of whether you're the planner, it's crucial to cultivate the habit of always questioning why something is needed, who needs it, how will it be broadcasted, and what strategy is needed to really appeal to the consumer's heart, rather than just proceeding as received. Of course, you can't overlook the skill to execute the planned content. Since video content is a comprehensive art, a variety of capabilities are required to create a single ad. Therefore, if you discover your main capability that you can do best, from creative ideas and planning to various production areas, and have the immersion and problem-solving ability suitable for it, I believe you can create good content that captivates consumers.

Special experiences at LINE

Q What's the most satisfying part of working as a Multimedia Designer at LINE?

The ability to create something out of nothing in a hierarchy-free atmosphere is the most satisfying aspect. I believe it's an environment truly optimized for creative work, as our organization's name suggests. If you have a “WOW” idea, it's respected regardless of the rank of the person who proposed it, and everyone, from leaders to seniors, new hires, and interns, is given the opportunity to grow as a project manager. Also, regardless of who becomes the director, everyone supports each other, shares all information, and freely exchanges opinions to achieve our goals together. While working at LINE, I'm still learning a lot about what an environment that allows the unleashing of infinite potential is, and what true teamwork and mutual respect are.

Q Is there any benefit or cultural aspect at LINE that you think is particularly notable?

My top pick is the smartly designed office space. I usually work in the office. The office interior, designed to provide a conducive work environment for all sorts of situations, greatly aids me. With hybrid work, I can freely use non-assigned seats, so I use different floors and seats depending on my mood on the day I go to work. I particularly prefer the Focus rooms, the one-person work concentration spaces. I think it's a groundbreaking space where you can immerse yourself in work, even though it's an office. Plus, each floor has its own charm, which is great for refreshing during work. On a different note, I take pictures of what happens in the office (internal events, spatial changes, etc.) and colleagues I meet in the office, including the cozy company space, and share them in the team chat, so, I'm sometimes called a paparazza. Fittingly for creators, these days, they take the initiative to strike various creative poses (laughs). Sharing photos and engaging in small talk gives the effect of feeling like we're in the same space, even though we're apart due to remote work. When team members intermittently come to the office while working from home, they don't find it strange to see colleagues they haven't seen in a while, new hires, or changes in the space.

Wrap-up