Business

Merchandise, emoticons, collaborations and the character economy30 stories

Grand Hyatt Seoul Sells 'Winter Hy,' a Winter Edition of Its Mascot Hy

The hotel sold a winter edition of its puppy hotelier from Namsan. The keyring version proved popular.

Archive · Nov 11, 2024

Public Mascots That Gave Away Free Emoticons in 2024

Cheongju National Museum, Seoul's Yangcheon District, Gunsan City and the Gyeonggi Northern Autonomous Police Committee gave away free character emoticons in 2024.

Archive · Sep 2024

Shinsegae Duty Free's Paul and Bani Open an Art Space at Incheon Airport

Paul and Bani teamed up with painter Park Seo-bo on a space that ran at the Terminal 1 Transportation Center of Incheon Airport in August and September 2024.

Archive · Aug 27, 2024

Donghae City Character Goods Shop Sells 1,409 Items in One Month

The goods shop at a tourist information center took in about 9 million won ($6,500) in its first month. In November, the city announced plans for a character mini park along the Jeoncheon stream.

Archive · Aug 22, 2024

Brief

Ulsan Keunaegi Opens Pop-Up on Gyeongju's Hwangridan-gil

Jung District, Ulsan ran a pop-up in Gyeongju from March 29 to April 7. It sold plush dolls and key rings and offered a craft activity.

Archive · Mar 29, 2024

bhc Chicken's Ppuring Emoticons Sell Out 50,000 Units in 19 Minutes

bhc Chicken is using emoticons and Outback is using digital goods. Dining Brands Group plans to keep up its character collaborations.

Archive · Feb 26, 2024

GS25's Mr. Mumu Merchandise Tops 1 Million Units in Just Over a Year

Sales of the goods reached about 1.6 billion won ($1.2 million). A pop-up store in Seongsu drew 35,000 visitors in two weeks.

Archive · Feb 22, 2024

Feature

Brand Characters That Fronted Pop-Up Stores in 2023

From SK Telecom's A. to Sunyang's Whale, four brands from different industries opened character pop-ups within four months.

Archive · Dec 2023

Toss Opens Preorders for Two Catch Plush Toys, Limited to 5,000 Each

Catch, the chick character in the Toss app, is now available as two plush toys. About 540,000 people took part in a vote to choose the design.

Archive · Oct 18, 2023

Daewoo E&C's Manager Daewoo Jeong Joins Character Licensing Fair

Daewoo E&C opened a Daewoo Jeong booth at a character licensing fair. All proceeds from merchandise sales will be donated.

Archive · Jul 14, 2023