Sungwon(Jude) Song
Marketing Leader | Growth & GTM Strategy
Growth-focused marketing leader with 10+ years of experience scaling consumer and B2B2C products in the mobile app industry. As Marketing Manager at NAVER, I led the growth of BAND, a group communication platform, from 250K to 8 million MAU, owning growth strategy, go-to-market planning, and cross-functional execution across Customer Success, Product, Partnerships/BD, and Content Marketing. My work expanding BAND into schools and their sports teams helped BAND become the primary communication tool for 30–40% of U.S. middle and high school sports teams.
Earlier in my career, I worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative, where I hit my sales target in my first year while managing and growing a territory of clinics and hospitals across 5 cities in South Korea.
Professional Experience
NAVER BAND Inc.
Marketing Manager for the BAND app
Los Angeles, CA
2017 - Current
BAND is a group communication app serving over 20 million users worldwide. As Marketing Manager, I owned growth strategy, GTM planning, and led execution on the ground, scaling the service from 250K MAU to 8 million MAU.
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Drove 32x user growth, taking BAND from 250K to 8M MAU as the marketing lead responsible for growth direction, GTM strategy, and hands-on execution.
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Operated cross-functionally beyond traditional marketing, taking on Customer Success, Product Management, Partnership/Business Development, and Content Marketing responsibilities to support growth across the full user lifecycle.
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Identified and developed new verticals — schools, sports teams, SMBs, and church/community groups — introducing BAND to each segment and building sustained user adoption.
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Built BAND's presence in the U.S. sports and education market from the ground up, personally running channel research, outreach, negotiation, and execution to secure partnerships with associations, organizations, and education conferences aligned with BAND's growth targets.
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BAND became the primary communication platform for an estimated 30–40% of U.S. middle and high school sports teams.
Abbott Korea
Marketing / Sales Representative
Seoul, South Korea
2014 - 2017
I first joined Abbott as a marketing specialist and developed promotional materials for prescription drugs. 2 years after working as an office staff, I wanted to experience the field and learn one of the most essential skills of a marketer: sales. I went door-to-door to generate leads and make new clients, and managed 50+ clinics and 10 community hospitals. I hit the target for two consecutive quarters, and decided to move on to pursue my passion in the IT industry.
Hankook Research
Market Research Specialist
Seoul, South Korea
2014-2014
Hankook research is the leading research company in South Korea. I worked at a division that provides market insights and product development direction to clients such as Samsung Electronics and LG. This was a great opportunity for me to learn about quantitative / qualitative research methods, how to design research projects, how to analyze data, and shape my arguments based on findings.
GTxcel
Account Manager
Berkeley, CA
2012-2013
GTxcel provides an online publishing software for local magainze publishers.
As an account manager for the "Top of the Town" product that provided a digital/SMS marketing solutions to over 150 small-to-mid sized business advertisers, I developed listing pages, planned/executed SMS marketing campaigns and messages that increased foot traffic to their businesses.
Education
University of California, Berkeley
B.A. in Media Studies
Berkeley, CA
Graduated in 2012
Fun Facts
Guitarlist
Since 2002
As a huge fan of classic rock, I can play the full tracks of "Back in Black" album by AC/DC for the both 1st and 2nd electronic guitar parts. I was a founding member of "b_lank" band in my high school, which now has 12 years of tradition. And of course, I can play and sing "Hey Jude."
Army of R.O.K
2005-2007
I served my country for 2 years in the Army.
In my last 6 months of the service, I served as a squad leader of 12 soldiers who all came from diverse background. I'm proud of leading them with 0 case of incidents/accidents until my discharge.