2005-2162

Cover Story | Hidden Champions
A Cute and Cuddly Path to Success
If you or one of your kids has a room
full of stuffed animals, chances are
you’ve bought an Aurora World
product, though the Korean firm is
nowhere near as familiar to consumers
as Disney.
That could change, however. Over
90 percent of the company’s sales are
made abroad, with the U.S. market
Aurora’s largest at 48.8 percent, followed
by Russia with 13.1 percent and
Britain with 10.4 percent. Korea only
accounts for 7 percent of Aurora
World’s total market share as of last
year.
Aurora was first established in
1981. Although it only rakes in 1.5
percent of all the character goods sold
in the world, it was still chosen as one
of the 22 “hidden champions” listed
on the Kosdaq.
It wasn’t easy for Aurora to get
started. It began as a manufacturer of
other companies’ designs and brands.
Then, in 1991, just a decade after it
started taking orders, a major U.S.
buyer slashed the fees it was willing to
pay for Aurora’s products. It was a
massive blow to the doll maker.
So founder Noh Hui-yeol decided
to weather the storm by having his
company create its own characters.
But there were hiccups here as
well, with U.S. dollmaker Russ Berrie
filing a lawsuit against the Korean
company for copying its designs. But
Aurora didn’t back down, and continued
to introduce its Korean stuffed
dolls to consumers in the U.S. through
nationwide marketing tours. As the
world’s largest doll market, the U.S.
accounts for over 40 percent of annual
sales.
In the end a deal was reached with
Russ Berrie, and Aurora was free to
promote and sell its products.
President Hong Gi-woo with stuffed animals.
Aurora World was chosen as one of
the 22 “hidden champions” listed on the
Kosdaq.
Today more than 85 percent of the
products Aurora makes are derived
from the company’s own designs.
Meanwhile, its steady promotional
activities since the mid-1990s have
helped raise brand recognition.
By Lee Ho-jeong
[JoongAng Ilbo]
One Innovator’s Vision of Digital Security
You may not know IDIS by name,
but those in the security business
do. The monitoring systems
developed by the small Korean
company have been installed in
important buildings around the
world. Clients include the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) in Houston, the Sydney
Opera House and Pudong International
Airport in Shanghai.
That makes IDIS a “hidden champion.”
As of last year the firm had the top
market share in the world for digital
video recorder security systems at
31.5 percent, higher than General
Electric, Sony and even Mitsubishi.
The company has seen aggressive
growth of over 30 percent per year.
Behind the success of this small
security firm is Kim Young-dal, who
founded the company in 1997 after
preparations made while studying for
his doctorate at the Korea Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology.
Back then many bright young
minds rushed to cash in on Korea’s
dot-com boom. His classmates included
Lee Hae-jin, who developed the
Web portal Naver. Kim’s idea for a
security company seemed outdated.
But he went ahead, and digitized an
analog industry.
IDIS developed a DVR system that
could record 30 days of footage on a
40-gigabyte hard disc, revolutionary
compared to conventional VCRs that
could only record on 12-hour tapes.
IDIS was also the first company in the
world to develop DVR systems that
would automatically set off an alarm
when the camera detects unusual
movement.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
boosted demand for the DVRs, and
IDIS was named among the top 200
small or mid-size companies by
Forbes Magazine in 2002 and 2004.
Success came thanks to aggressive
R&D. According to the company, 46
percent of its employees work in that
Kim Young-dal, above, decided to found
IDIS while studying at the Korea Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology.
department. As a result IDIS DVR
systems are known to be stabler and
cheaper than the competition.
Despite the economic downturn,
exports make up more than 70 percent
of IDIS’s sales, while domestic
market share has risen from 14.5 percent
in 2006 to 20.7 percent in 2008.
By Lee Ho-jeong
December 2009 korea 15