Enpop has been appointed by global content creator, producer and distributor Endemol Shine Group as the Korean agent to represent the popular animated series, Simon’s Cat for licensing and merchandising within the market.
The deal marks the first market to launch Simon’s Cat licensing and merchandising in Asia and will cover a large number of categories such as apparel & fashion, accessories, toys and beauty products.
As part of this roll out, Enpop will also manage and launch Simon’s Cat Korean social media platforms to grow brand awareness in the region. This will support the positive growth seen in worldwide social media channels for Simon’s Cat in the last year with 80% and 16% increase in fanbase on Facebook and Twitter, respectively. In addition to this, the YouTube channel for the show remains the largest cat channel with more than 920 million views to-date and 18% growth in the last year.
Endemol Shine Group recently entered the Korean market, and is a key market for expansion for 2018, having already launched successful co-developments Perfect on Paper (JTBC) and The Society Game (CJ E&M). This partnership will further the relationship within the market and allow Endemol Shine Group to deliver popular worldwide formats to a new Asian audience.
Jane Smith, Commercial Brand Executive, Endemol Shine Group, comments, “Simon’s Cat is seeing incredible growth as it continues to find new audiences around the world across multiple platforms. We are delighted to partner with Enpop to offer an extensive range of products and new ways for our Korean fans to enjoy their favourite cat brand.”
Kang Moonju, CEO of Enpop says, “We’re delighted to become a part of the Simon’s Cat world. Korea’s cat lovers are increasing each year, and have a strong tendency to mingle online and create social networking communities. This gave us confidence to introduce the most creative and widely-loved cat content brand in the world, to the Korean territory. As an animation producer ourselves, we as a company are huge fans of Simon Tofield and his works. We have a firm belief on the content itself and are excited for the future with Endemol Shine Group.”
The format has also proven itself to translate effectively on digital platforms with various app and online extensions. This summer, Simon’s Cat teamed up with leading app and game developer Strawdog Studios, to create the hit match-three puzzle game, Crunch Time, which has since reached over 3.25 million downloads in five months. The app was recently launched in Korea, now with over 10,000 downloads to date.
