[Camatt] Receiving Sincere Feedback from Supporters Who Love Innovation

#20

Ideal Maker’s 
car accessory funding campaign was a success.

"Thanks to funding, we were able to produce samples of 1,200 different types of car mats." 
“Wadiz is a great platform for showcasing products that involve high variety and low-volume production.”

 <Kim Dae-seop, CEO of IDEAL>

First, could you please introduce “Ideal”?

Hello. I’m Kim Dae-seop, CEO of the brand IDEAL. I created the brand IDEAL because I wanted to build an “ideal” company—one that seemed almost too good to be true. IDEAL is currently developing and planning two car mat products: “Outdot” and “Black Hole.” 

As an automotive accessories brand, was there a specific reason you chose wadiz?

SinceIDEALis a new brand, raising awareness about our products was crucial. To that end, we participated in various trade shows, and it was during one of these events that I met a project director from wadiz and learned about crowdfunding and the platform itself. 
Since many consumers were unfamiliar with car mats at the time, I felt that wadiz’s service value—"New Discoveries in Everyday Life"—was a perfect fit for showcasing our products.

Additionally, one of wadiz’s major advantages—the absence of inventory burdens—seemed like a great fit for our brand.Since Idealoffers car mats, dashboard covers, and trunk camping mats, we often need to produce custom items for specific car models. With over 1,200 different car models to account for, it was structurally impossible to plan production through general retail sales.

However, with wadiz,we can identify the car models and quantitiesthat supporters want during the funding periodand secure the necessary manufacturing time. Once we ran the campaign, we found that it actually shortened manufacturing time and reduced the burden of inventory and warehouse costs. That’s when I realized, “Car mats and crowdfunding are a great fit.”

Based on your experience, did you achieve the results you expected?

To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations at first. We’d tried promotions and participated in many trade shows before, but the results weren’t great. I also felt that other car mat makers hadn’t been very successful. Since car mats are off-the-shelf products easily available on the market, I assumed that was the reason, so we decided to give wadiz a try without setting specific goals or having high expectations.

However, we spent two months preparing with the mindset of “Let’s clearly show how our product differs from other car mats.” We believed our product stood out because it offered greater comfort, convenience, and stability compared to standard car mats. So, instead of hiring an agency, we created the product detail page ourselves and used GIFs more frequently than “before-and-after” images. We also structured the Story so that supporters could grasp the appeal of our product and recognize its advantages at a glance within the 2–3 seconds it takes to scroll through the page.

As a result, we raised 9,870만원 in our first funding campaign, which I consider a higher-than-expected result. So, when we launched our second funding campaignjust three months later, we raised 1억 2690만 원. We’ve since run a total of 10 funding campaigns and are currently active as a SUPER MAKER. 

The “SUPER MAKER” label displayed at the top of the Ideal Maker profile

What do you think was the reason you were able to continue achieving successful funding campaigns?

At first, I kept running funding campaigns with the same product. But at some point, the results started to plateau. That’s when I realizedthat “wadiz isn’t just a regular e-commerce platform—it has a different character.” So, for subsequent funding campaigns,I incorporated the fact that the product’s durability had been improvedinto the Story so that supporters could clearly understand it. As a result, supporters began to recognize the product again, and I was able to consistently achieve good results with my funding campaigns.

I definitely felt that wadiz’s consumers—that is, the supporters—are different. There’s a reason wadiz emphasizes “novelty.” The supporters also seem to love “novelty.” Even if it’s the same car mat, if we incorporate the specific differences into the Story so they can feel them, the supporters recognize this and respond positively. 

Looking at their responses, I can see they’re giving sincere feedback on the product. It’s not just about making complaints; they point out both the product’s strengths and its weaknesses. In fact, one supporter, after discussing the product’s quality, said, “Since I consider this an investment in the product, you don’t need to send me a replacement.” That’s how deeply supporters connect with the Story and genuinely choose the product. So, with the supporters who gave feedback in mind, I decided to incorporate their suggestions into the product and launched the funding campaign with these improvements. 

Ideal has run 10 car mat funding campaigns and pre-orders, and today, May 11th, we’re launching our 11th funding campaign.

Could you offer some advice to aspiring makers planning to launch a funding campaign?

If you’realready familiar with wadiz and understand crowdfunding,I’d say go ahead and launch your project without hesitation. However, since wadiz is different from other e-commerce platforms, there are some factors you need to consider beforehand. It’s a good idea to conduct an objective assessment of your product to determine what aspects to highlight and discuss with your supporters. Wadiz supporters have distinct characteristics—some are looking for new products, while others enjoy trying them out and providing feedback. I hopeaspiring makers will make smart use ofthesestrengths of the wadiz service. 

We’d like to recommend wadiz because we’ve personally seen many benefits from the platform. By the way, we plan to participate in the upcoming Auto/Mobility Week as well. 

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Makers, check out the services you need! 

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Interviewee Kim Dae-seop, CEO | Written by Kamin | Edited by Maker Growth Planning Team