Recently, online marketing professionals have been focusing on "Affiliate Marketing." This is a partnership marketing technique where advertisers (specific brands or shopping malls) provide product links to partners (SNS influencers), and revenue is shared when user visits or product sales occur through these links. As it is performance-based affiliate marketing, advertisers can save on advertising costs while maximizing efficiency. Partners also strive to increase their earnings, making it beneficial for both parties.

However, many advertisers still find it challenging to engage in affiliate marketing. This is due to the need to establish performance criteria, different commission structures for each product or link, and the effort required to search, contract, and manage the most suitable partners. Major global online shopping platforms have established their own affiliate marketing systems and partner pools, but these are only available to advertisers on their platforms.


The startup LAF:D has taken note of this aspect. They aim to help everyone utilize affiliate marketing, which is challenging to start but yields good results. Thanks to the collaboration of CEO O Se-yong and the development team, they quickly completed their first solution, Link:D, and achieved success in the market.

At the Mapo Business Center, where LAF:D is headquartered, CEO O Se-yong was interviewed about the motivation behind the startup, the reasons for devising the service, the achievements after the startup, and the challenges faced.


"Having worked as a developer for a long time, I wanted to create and operate a subscription service myself. When starting the business, I judged that dealing with micro SaaS, which covers a narrower area than general SaaS (subscription-based service), would be advantageous for market entry. While researching which sector of micro SaaS to develop, I found affiliate marketing. It has been a notable technique overseas for a long time, with many companies handling it. However, in Korea, there are very few companies specializing in affiliate marketing, making it difficult for both shopping mall advertisers and partners. So, I gathered fellow developers I had worked with for a long time to establish LAF:D and immediately started developing an affiliate marketing solution.

Although LAF:D is a relatively new startup, it has achieved notable success in the affiliate marketing industry. Many popular companies use our solution, which has helped us gain recognition. This is thanks to the capabilities of our employees. Including myself, the average experience of all employees is 13 years. Having worked together for a long time, our teamwork is strong. LAF:D shares values of sincerity, responsibility, and laughter. We have built our development careers with sincerity and have a sense of responsibility to see projects through to the end. Despite many challenges, we always think about the next step with a smile. This is how we developed Link:D in a relatively short time and distributed it in the industry."

This is how LAF:D's Link:D was born. Link:D helps not only medium and large shopping malls but also small shopping malls and direct-to-consumer advertisers easily engage in affiliate marketing. By installing Link:D like a SaaS on shopping mall platforms or direct-to-consumer sites, a partner management page is created. Here, advertisers can easily recruit partners, set revenue criteria, and share performance. With no installation restrictions, anyone can use it. Notably, it helps small shopping malls or direct-to-consumer advertisers conduct affiliate marketing independently without relying on shopping mall platforms. A cash settlement feature is also planned, which will allow revenue sharing within Link:D.


"All major global shopping malls or travel platforms, as well as major portals and service platforms in Korea, operate their own affiliate systems. However, few have built this as a service system. The system itself can only be used within the respective platform. For example, Naver's system can only be used on Naver, Coupang's on Coupang, and Amazon's on Amazon.

In contrast, LAF:D's Link:D helps smoothly use affiliate services simply by installing it anywhere. Additionally, it supports collecting and managing useful data based on performance. In the case of direct-to-consumer sites, advertisers want to secure performance and related data from affiliate marketing. Link:D makes this easy. Thanks to advertisers recognizing this advantage, the number of brands that have installed Link:D has grown to about 900."

CEO O Se-yong introduced cases where LAF:D's Link:D was adopted and yielded results. A shopping mall that applied Link:D to group purchases is managing sales volume by time as data. It is more accurate and versatile than managing manually or with Excel files. Another shopping mall used data collected through Link:D to sell related products, building consumer trust. Even in closed malls like employee stores, Link:D is highly effective. It applies discounts directly without cumbersome procedures like entering discount codes, or it encourages the use of employee stores by disclosing product sales data internally.


LAF:D has navigated various challenges, such as the unfamiliar field of affiliate marketing and the technical issues of connecting diverse advertiser demands with partners. Meanwhile, CEO O Se-yong emphasizes that they have meticulously ensured data processing safety and compatibility, which are essential conditions for SaaS.

"Handling the data of shopping malls with numerous variables such as activity areas, product attributes, and platforms was not an easy task. After founding LAF:D, we spent over two years conversing with major shopping mall platform companies, repeatedly developing and modifying app access tools. We are truly grateful that the developers of major shopping mall platforms collaborated with LAF:D to enhance the service's completeness. Thanks to this, we successfully resolved difficulties and applied technology for tracking and processing sales data 24/7, 365 days a year, to Link:D. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the shopping mall platforms for listening to LAF:D's requests."

Based on its achievements, LAF:D is further solidifying its foundation for development. While introducing subsequent services following Link:D, it is also discussing data utilization plans by signing business agreements with various technology companies, including those in artificial intelligence and content. CEO O Se-yong stated that despite the challenging market environment, they will always smile and progress, as their company name combines the English word "Laugh" and a smiling emoticon (:D).


"A mega partner with a large number of likes or followers does not always yield results. In some cases, a micro partner with fewer likes or followers can bring greater results. LAF:D aims for the right fit. We help advertisers find the most suitable partners and conduct affiliate marketing most conveniently. As a result, a diverse range of advertisers have sought Link:D, improving both the quantity and quality of our client base. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Youth Startup Academy admission and the Ministry of Science and ICT's SaaS development environment support project have also aided LAF:D's growth.

LAF:D is further solidifying its foundation for development by signing business agreements with companies in various fields, including artificial intelligence and content. We are soon to introduce 'Link:D Connect,' a follow-up service to Link:D. While Link:D was a tool connecting advertisers and partners, Link:D Connect is a tool connecting advertisers and web services. By consistently introducing services desired by the market, we aim to establish ourselves as a technology SaaS company contributing to industry development."

IT Donga Reporter Cha Joo-kyung (racingcar@itdonga.com)

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