Have you heard of Buzzvil? The name might be unfamiliar, but we've all probably unlocked our screens, watched ads, and received rewards. I, too, remember unlocking my screens diligently and earning rewards. Buzzvil is a leading adtech company that pioneered the lockscreen reward advertising market. Having pioneered this field since the concept of reward advertising was still relatively new, Buzzvil has recently successfully launched new businesses: multi-mission and retail media platform advertising, accelerating its growth. Let me explain these two new businesses in detail.
Multi-mission advertising is a method of designing the entire app process—from installing and launching an app, to playing it, and even making in-app purchases—as multiple "missions," offering rewards for each step. It predicts each user's "Aha Moment" and optimizes reward types, mission composition, and creative for each user. It also analyzes engagement and conversion rates in real-time to create the most effective advertising experience. Retail media platform advertising (co-op advertising) combines client data with Buzzvil's technology, allowing clients to directly manage their advertising campaigns.
Buzzvil achieved KRW 100 billion in sales in 2024 and aims for 30% revenue growth in 2026. It plans to pursue an IPO once it demonstrates success in new businesses, including multi-mission and retail media platform advertising, and in its global presence.
I was curious about how Buzzvillian, with 131 employees (at the time of writing), works. The PR manager shared a thick culture book with me.
I was immediately struck by Buzzvil's Culture Book. First of all, I was surprised to see that, despite the fact that not many startups have one, they've already created their fifth edition. Founded in 2012, Buzzvil published its first Culture Book in 2014 and has revised it four times since last year. In other words, they've consistently revised their Culture Book every two years on average over the past 12 years. It's impressive how consistently they create a document that's difficult to create even once.
I was once again amazed by the content. Buzzvil's culture book clearly outlines its mission, vision, and core values, and it also clearly outlines the way Buzzvillians work and the company's future vision. It allows you to understand the company's identity, purpose, goals, and even its working methods at a glance. I thought, "Wow, Buzzvil is truly serious about its organizational culture."
In fact, I thought that if the culture book was this well-made, a separate interview about the organizational culture could be omitted (just like an interview is needed even if a press kit is well-made, an interview is still needed even if the culture book is well-made. Please do not misunderstand, I am expressing that it is that well-made). I asked CEO John Lee about the culture book.
Q. Why are you so serious about the culture book?
"Our lockscreen service grew rapidly and was successful in Japan and Taiwan. We even became the number one app. So we entered the US market, which was focused on edtech and martech. That was in 2013. We hired developers, stayed together, and worked hard on development. But after two or three months, we started fighting with each other. Some employees wanted to return to Korea. Meanwhile, our Korean and Japanese performances faltered. Ultimately, we failed. We withdrew from the US. Many members were disappointed and resigned. It was a crisis. And then I thought, why did we fail? We didn't have our own mission, vision, or philosophy. Every weekend, we would gather with our leaders at a cafe, study foreign culture books, and create our own. What are we truly pursuing? We defined our core values by sticking Post-it notes on them one by one."
It was striking that he began by reflecting on the causes of his business failure with self-reflection. While environmental constraints and business model issues were certainly a factor, he fundamentally recognized that the problem lay with the people working and their work methods. This suggests that he wasn't simply blaming external factors or the market for his business failure, but rather deeply introspected on the organization's internal structure and the very nature of work.
Q. You created the first Culture Book in 2014 , and the fifth in 2025. Why do you continue to create them like this ?
"Yes, we created our first Culture Book in 2014, and our fifth in 2025. A lot of time has passed since then, and our staff has grown to 130. As a company grows, we need to ask ourselves, 'Who are we?' more frequently. Every time a new member joins, every time our business structure changes, every time our market positioning shifts, we need to ask and consider these questions."
Q. So the fifth culture book isn't the end?
"The Culture Book is not a finished product, but rather the starting point of evolution. It's a 'living document' that allows everyone to agree on our current regrets and the direction we should take going forward.
CEO John Lee is also renowned for actively supporting Buzzvil alumni to grow and become entrepreneurs. He calls them the "Buzzvil Mafia," generously offering stock options and even making angel investments in early-stage companies. Buzzvil's organizational culture and culture book creation expertise have had a significant impact on the Buzzvil Mafia. Companies like DealOitroom and NextOter are also said to have excellent culture books.
Now, let's talk about Buzzvil's organizational culture in earnest.
The preface of the Culture Book clearly states why it's necessary. I'm introducing it here because I think it will be helpful to companies considering a Culture Book.
Buzzvil's fifth Culture Book has been born . Beginning with our first Culture Book in 2014 , we have consistently reflected on our journey of growth and renewed our commitment . In creating this Culture Book 5.0 , we sought to capture the voices of Buzzvillians, who have formed a consensus on our current regrets and the direction we should take going forward . This Culture Book is not simply a finished product . It is a living document, containing our reflections, discussions , and the promise of change we will create together . We believe this promise will naturally be incorporated into our work methods and systems , forming a robust operating system that will drive Buzzvil's sustainable growth .
“ We boost our client growth in a way people love .”
This is Buzzvil's mission.
"The way we love" isn't simply about rewarding users. It's about assigning fair value to their time and attention and transforming that engagement experience into a positive exchange. Through this value-based structure, Buzzvil is creating a new standard for advertising experiences where users, advertisers, and publishers grow together. (Source: Buzzvil Culture Book)
As we all know, ads aren't universally loved. Users install adblockers and are sensitive about their privacy. Therefore, Buzzvil redefined advertising by making it something users either "love" or "dislike." To achieve this, users need to be informed, provide engaging experiences, and offer rewards. If users don't object to ads, advertisers will be more effective, and media outlets will generate revenue. Buzzvil's mission can be seen as a fundamental redefinition of the existing advertising industry. It has made the potential of a new advertising market its core mission.
So, let's take a look at how Buzzvillians work and their core values. Before that, let's define what Buzzvil considers core values.
Core values answer the question, "What does Buzzvil value?" and serve as the basis for all decision-making. Buzzvil's core values are the very essence of its operating system, presenting the company's philosophy and the standards of conduct for Buzzvillians. Buzzvillians make their own judgments and act according to these four core values. (Source: Buzzvil Culture Book)
Buzzvil's four core values are:
- Responsible Autonomy
- Growth Mindset
- Grit
- One Team
In particular, autonomy based on responsibility is the most important, and autonomy based on responsibility is the most important core value that influences growth mindset, indomitability, and one team.
We define ‘responsibility-based autonomy’ as follows:
We proactively identify and address issues that contribute to the success of our team and company, going beyond our own roles and taking responsibility for their resolution. (Source: Buzzvil Culture Book)
Q. Why is autonomy based on responsibility the most important core value ?
"Even when we're focused on the same North Star indicators—vision and mission—it's much more meaningful when we're autonomous in our execution. I believe it's better to take initiative and pursue something that positively changes the world than to be directed. Maintaining a growth mindset—to grow beyond yesterday and learn from failure—requires sufficient information and individual capabilities. In this regard, we emphasize the "One Team" approach. These values all stem from autonomy based on responsibility."
Behavioral indicators for responsibility-based autonomy
- Don't just do what you're told, find out what you need to do yourself.
We proactively identify and take responsibility for issues that contribute to the success of our teams and the company, going beyond our individual roles. Instead of dictating how to work, Buzzvil clearly shares the "what" we're working towards (the Objective). Each team and individual proactively sets and implements the most effective methods to achieve that goal (the Key Results).
- Share transparently and actively ask for help.
Rather than trying to solve everything on your own, share your progress transparently with your colleagues, and ask for help immediately when you encounter difficulties to solve problems together.
- I take responsibility for my work.
I act responsibly not only within the scope of my role, but also regarding issues that arise during the collaborative process.
(Source: Buzzvil Culture Book)
Q. Are there any real-world examples of how the core value of autonomy based on responsibility is actually being implemented ?
"The finance team discovered the inconvenience of writing expense reports. They suggested to the development team, 'Is it possible to automate this with AI?' The developers solved the problem in two or three hours. The team that discovered the problem took the initiative. Here's another example. We created a culture of praising employees with the 'Taco' emoji in Slack, and one developer was curious about who received the most tacos. They suggested a feature to aggregate statistics, so the developer volunteered to contact Taco headquarters and developed this feature. Later, Taco developed and launched this feature on its own. This was possible because someone recognized the need and volunteered to do so. This is what autonomy based on responsibility is all about."
The Culture Book contains information on various welfare systems and growth programs. If you're curious, please refer to the Culture Book.
Finally, let me talk about Buzzvil's vision.
“ We redefine the advertising and marketing markets and become a must-have solution for our clients .”
Buzzvil set out to redefine the traditional advertising industry. Its mission was to provide users with information, experiences, and rewards, eliminating advertising aversion and creating an advertising model that delivers value to both advertisers and publishers.
What does Buzzvil ultimately want to achieve by completing this mission?
Buzzvil's vision is to redefine the market and become an essential solution for our clients. Beyond setting a new standard for the advertising industry, we aim to become recognized as a key partner that our clients can't live without.
Buzzvil's definition of the advertising market resurfaces. It differs slightly from the redefinition of the advertising market discussed in its mission statement. The market redefinition discussed in its vision is the "Interaction Economy." The Interaction Economy begins by redefining advertising from a matter of exposure to a matter of engagement. It's a structure where every active user action—viewing ads, experiencing content, participating in events, and interacting with short-form content—directly leads to rewards. The more engaged users are, the greater the rewards they receive and the longer they stay on the platform, while advertisers gain an integrated marketing solution across the entire lifecycle. Through this, Buzzvil plans to make its solutions not just "beloved," but "indispensable."
The digital advertising market has reached its structural limits. A supply chain centered on a few platforms, distorted performance metrics like impressions and clicks, the proliferation of ad fatigue and blocking technologies, and tightening privacy regulations. The existing model is no longer working. The market is now demanding a shift to a new structure centered on voluntary user participation.
I'm curious to see how Buzzvil will perform and grow in this newly defined market, and how Buzzvillians will work. There will undoubtedly be many failures along the way to achieve this goal. And many people will join us. Then, I believe we'll see the release of Culture Book 6.0, a new self-definition. When Culture Book 6.0 is released, I'll introduce Buzzvil's newly upgraded mission, vision, and core values.
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