Kakao Character Products in Multi-Sector Collaborations
Summary of Original Character IP Expansion Cases
Excerpted from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's "2022 Character Industry White Paper." Two major trends in original character IP in 2021: (1) Wadiz launched "FANZ MAKER" on July 20, 2021 — a platform selecting new IP monthly, recruiting startups and small businesses to challenge licensing businesses, providing IP product development and funding support. First collaboration target: "Janmang Lupy," a sub-character of "Loopy" from the animation Pororo. Janmang Lupy won the Presidential Award at the 13th 2021 Korea Content Awards. Through intense 30:1 competition, 7 startups were selected for 3-month consulting, resulting in 13 final licensed products including wireless chargers, snowglobes, clay miniature kits, wireless hair curlers, and camping equipment. KM Pharmaceuticals collaborated on Janmang Lupy-character hand creams and travel toothbrush/toothpaste sets.
(2) Kakao character products: KakaoFriends (launched November 2021 emoticon-based characters) developed diverse collaboration products including Apeach-themed household appliances, Ryan-branded camping gear, and Chunsik character food/beverage lines. Key insight: major character IP holders are directly entering online distribution, bypassing traditional licensing intermediaries — Roy Visual (Robocar Poli) and The Pinkfong Company (Baby Shark) exemplified this trend, developing new characters and direct online distribution channels to improve profitability. The collaboration ecosystem expanded to include pharmaceutical, food/beverage, camping equipment, and fashion sectors — demonstrating character IP's value as cross-industry marketing asset beyond traditional toy/media categories.
