Poporo the Little Penguin and Silkroad Online, star projects of the Korea Culture and Content Agency (KOCCA, CEO: Seo, Byung-Moon) and selected in 2003 and 2004, respectively, have been receiving great attention in Korea and abroad. What could be the secret behind the immense popularity of these two star projects?
"The key is consumer-driven OSMU", said ICONIX on Pororo the Little Penguin.
"Only products that consumers demand survive in the market".
Children love Poporo. They love it on clothes and stationeries and they love to read books about this character. Children go crazy about travel packages with Poporo, and they are anxious to see the Poporo musical. Even eggs that bear Poporo images sell like candy. The secret of Poporo's popularity is clearly the consumer-led OSMU.
According to ICONIX, Poporo licensing sales last year amounted to about KRW 3 billion. Since its debut in 2004, sales revenues have increased by 30?40% each year. Having contracted with over 100 licensee companies in Korea, making Poporo the best-selling character so far, ICONIX sells about 400 products in the Korean market.
Poporo products, which started from the same titled TV series in 2003, continue to be hugely popular since its debut in 2004. This short but brilliant growth is "the result of aggressive investment", said Jeong, Mi Kyeong, executive director of ICONIX. The company spent all its initial earnings from Poporo on further investments and promotion of the character. Consistent development and upgrade of the series seem directly connected to the on-going demand for Poporo products.
"While many Korean-made characters have the potential to become a strong character product, consumers would not continue to desire to purchase the product unless the product is continuously developed and consumers are constantly exposed to various related content such as animated films", Jeong says. "Therefore, we actively develop new series and expose consumers and TV viewers to our content to keep them satisfied". To date, there are now 104 Poporo animation episodes including a 70-minute Christmas special, and 26 music videos have been made.
Particularly, ICONIX runs a strategy called "4P" for its merchandising activities, which aims at providing high-quality products at a middle to high price. This is to meet recent consumer trends indicating that consumers would rather purchase high-quality goods even though they may be expensive. Also, ICONIX prefers to sell its products in marts. The company has also introduced a premium system for promotion.
During its initial stage, ICONIX focused on so-called "killer items", such as stuffed dolls, books and videos. It then gradually expanded its product line to daily necessities, sports goods, and clothing. Recently, ICONIX further expanded its business to include the production of musicals and exhibitions, games, food and beverage, and bedding goods.
"The strength of the content is most crucial", Jeong explains. "If the content is strong, OSMU comes naturally. Differentiated investments and thorough quality management are the power of OSMU, and it is not run by manufacturers, sellers, or creators, but by consumers. In the future, ICONIX will continue to promote this consumer-led OSMU".
The Source : Koreacontent News Team
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