Q As a humanity scholar, you founded K-Cense. What made you establish K-Cense?

As a humanity scholar, I studied “incense and literature” for a long time at university. By studying the records of incense and fragrances in literature, and the fragrances that appear in the history of mankind and religion, I got to know Korea’s traditional incense. My interest in traditional incense became a foothold, and I founded K-Cense. As a traditional culture convergence startup, K-Cense develops content products for people worldwide to enjoy by sublimating Korean cultural heritage and stories in a modern way. I have a sense of duty to reproduce, restore, and preserve the forgotten Korean traditional fragrance and culture.

Q Is Booyong incense the traditional incense of Korea?

According to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and the Seungjeongwon Ilgi (the diaries of the Joseon Dynasty’s royal secretariat), Booyong incense was used for weddings, installation, and coming of age ceremonies for its excellent fragrance and antibacterial effect. It was also a luxury item that envoys visiting China and Japan took as gifts. Inspired by it, I reproduced Booyong incense as an incense stick according to the method described in Donguibogam. It uses ten natural herbal ingredients, and no chemical dyes, artificial perfume, or preservatives are added.

Q What made you participate in 2020 LOCAL BRAND DESIGN AWARD FOR KOREA TOURISM?

In 2019, I was selected to receive support under the mid and senior-aged pre-startup support project by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. I wanted to objectively verify the merchantability, design, locality, and creativity of Kara Young Booyong incense and receive advice and training for improvement. I didn’t expect much as incense is one of those items receiving “extreme likes” and “extreme dislikes.” I was thrilled to advance to the final.

Q What are your memorable moments while participating in the award?

The feedback I received from the judges is memorable. “Set marketing targets in detail. Improve the product with an elegant package design that fits the product’s class. Focus on core points by eliminating irrelevant details. Develop ideas to coexist with the local community. Express collective intelligence and collaboration.” These were specific comments offered from an objective point of view. Following the advice of a patent attorney, I applied for the registration of three packaging designs to secure intellectual property rights.

Q Please tell us more about your plans.

In addition to selling, we will create online content that helps consumers make personalized incense at home. Focusing on developing non-face-to-face experience package products, we will create herbal sachets in collaboration with local boudoir craftspeople.