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Global medical aesthetics company Merz Aesthetics Korea has aligned its corporate mission and purpose not simply with "appearance improvement" but with consumers’ "restoration of Confidence To Be" and "improvement of quality of life." From the perspective of Jobs to Be Done, formulated by Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen, this can be interpreted as Merz having read customers’ real job to be done as "living an authentic, self-directed life." This shift was executed across three axes of data, campaigns and safety infrastructure. The case of Merz shows that in the health care and beauty market, where it is difficult to create a sustainable competitive advantage through product performance alone, companies that define customers’ jobs to be done and align research, campaigns and safety systems accordingly can secure a comparative advantage. It illustrates "purpose-driven" marketing that uses products to move customers toward better self-awareness and attitudes toward life.
“For me, a better life is about ‘acknowledging.’ It means acknowledging when I fall short and accepting myself as I am, beginning with myself.”
Choreographer Monika, who became known through the women’s dance survival program "Street Woman Fighter (hereafter SWF)," said this at the "2026 Confidence To Be Conference" held April 16, 2026, at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul. Her appearance on SWF put her in the bright media spotlight and made her recognizable to the public, but that period was closer to a test than an opportunity for her. But she confessed that change was created by moments when she embraced her shortcomings, fears and anxiety over possible failure and took one more step forward. It means that confidence began with acknowledging "being oneself."
Similar self-confessions filled the stage. Mickey Kim, a YouTuber and individual investor with some 350,000 subscribers, said he has always made choices based on what he wants and his priorities in life and that this consistency made him who he is today. He defined confidence as "the attitude of being able to tell oneself, no matter what situation one is in, ‘I got this.’"
Kim Eun-seo, a strength coach who systematically helps people build muscular strength and power, recalled that the moment she moved beyond the standards of beauty set by society was the greatest turning point in her career. She said, "Even if it differs from the direction society prefers, everyone has their own beauty," and added, "It is important, at the very least, not to deceive myself and to find and reveal the beauty within."
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