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"Sanrio," "Chiikawa," "Kakao Friends," "Line Friends," and more. Many people have at least one favorite character of these. Beyond Korea and Japan, the character industry is competitive worldwide, and recently, there's been major attention on combining characters with brands to use them as content. Offline stores of popular characters become hot places, and various character goods and contents capture people's hearts. Let's understand why the character industry is so popular and find out the success stories and reasons, focusing on characters from Japan and Korea.
The Popularity of Character Content Industry
Companies that have popular characters and built brand images around them are leading the content industry. Especially in Korea and Japan, character marketing plays a key role in creating a wide content industry structure. Tourist destinations in Japan are lined with offline stores and goods featuring collaborations between the regions and popular characters. For example, in the famous tourist destination of Kyoto, Japan, there are many collaboration stores with characters that take advantage of the characteristics of the tourist area, such as ‘Rilakkuma’, ‘Sanrio’, ‘Opantju usagi’, and ‘Chiikawa’. These designs have become Pronounced attractions to tourists and places to stop by. Additionally, Korea's Kakao Friends and Line Friends turned the messenger app's emoticons into characters. The two brands' flagship stores have attracted many visits since their opening and have become representative locations for young consumers who value experiences.
However, cute design alone is not enough to explain its success. There are many reasons why people consume characters. Characters expand into various products and content like webtoons, animations, and games to get fans and recognition before more diversification. Using characters through various media not only increases the brand's value and understanding but also fosters familiarity with consumers. Characters like "Hello Kitty" from Sanrio or "RYAN" from Kakao Friends hold more importance than just being cute; they have been crucial in building brand images for a long time. Moreover, various products and content associated with these characters have turned their fans into consumers. These successful cases contribute significantly to the development of the character industry.
IP Business and Pop-up Stores
To succeed in character marketing, companies must make good use of IP business and create copyrights for the characters, including their design and storytelling. Building a brand's identity with characters and making a story with them are essential steps. In addition, it is necessary to contact consumers and establish a brand image through short-term offline stores called pop-up stores. Pop-up stores have now become a winning marketing method. As of April 2024, the search rate has increased about 1.6 times and is expected to increase further from now on. The reason for this is as follows. The MZ generation, the main consumer of character content, is pursuing a culture that prioritizes experience over consumption. With these changes, pop-up stores have come to play an important role in providing brand experiences to consumers. Pop-up stores, which combine offline promotions and sales with new content, are expected to continue to grow in popularity. The pop-up store concept has now expanded into a brand playground. By running pop-up stores, which are temporary offline stores, the brands can effectively deliver their message, enhance visibility, and strengthen the interaction with fans.
The character industry is growing steadily, and cute designs are not the only secret to its popularity. The combination of brand and IP business plays an important role in making characters the core of a brand and leading it into future industries. Consumers tend to spend on experiences with their favorite characters and experience them in the field. Because of this, the character industry can continue to develop and discover new possibilities in the future.
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