Inside Asia’s premium licensing market: social-first storytelling, YouTube-driven IP, retail turned content creator, and the Korean characters ready to cross into Europe

Attending this event every year gives us a clear read on where the market is heading. South Korea is a premium territory for licensing development in Asia and a trendsetter for what follows across the surrounding region, from China to Japan. These three markets, Korean, Japanese and Chinese, are in constant dialogue and influence one another, yet each remains distinctly its own. Together, with their particular characteristics, they are increasingly shaping international markets, including Europe and the United States.

From our visit to KCLF, we identified the following trends, which we want to share with our readers.

Using Social Media to Build Engagement and IP Awareness

Korean brand owners rely heavily on social media, particularly Instagram and Naver, the widely used local platform, and they do so in two distinct ways. The first is building engagement around the IP through content and products. Since most Korean IPs are character-driven, they are conceived from launch with mini or macro merchandising lines, where plushes often serve as a central, founding asset. These products are never simply put on display: they become the subject or the springboard for stories, gags, jokes and emotionally driven visuals. The product itself is never pushed to the forefront with a direct, hard-sell call to action. Instead, the consumer arrives at the purchase through storytelling.

The second approach, which we found particularly compelling, is to position the IP itself as an influencer within the specific topic or lifestyle niche it inhabits. The properties on display at the Korean Global Dream booth offered a particularly complete illustration of this dual approach. This strategy naturally builds strong familiarity with the character, which comes to embody Korean habits and customs relevant to its target audience, significantly strengthening consumer affiliation.

Crucially, the profiles stay consistent: a social channel run in “influencer mode” does not carry product storytelling, and vice versa.

Digital-First IP: YouTube Dominates

Here too, YouTube is the primary content driver for kids and families, and we are not talking about simple, low-quality influencer content. These are genuine animated audiovisual productions, made in both horizontal, long-form and short vertical video formats, one of the leading audiovisual trends of the moment. As in Europe, where this shift has in fact been driven by the Asian trend, these productions serve as a proving ground for future “traditional” small-screen releases.

From Retail to Content

At the fair, we came across a particularly compelling project from Lotte, Korea’s department-store giant, one that in our view could well set an example internationally. Lotte Department Store has invested in an educational initiative for children and families built around a high-quality, European-style animated production and an entirely new IP, titled Kinder Universe, and designed to speak directly to this audience. At the fair, the brand built an experiential space for young fans and families; and this is not a one-off event installation, but a permanent presence inside Lotte’s flagship shopping centre in the heart of Seoul. It is an investment aimed at a targeted audience, delivered in an innovative way that is not narrowly commercial. Lotte’s ambition for this purpose-built IP is that it could eventually move beyond South Korea and become a new business asset spanning audiovisual and licensing. It is a compelling model for European retailers to consider.

Customisation Between Major Brands

Mash-ups and customisation are another key driver in the Korean market. This goes well beyond the packed calendar of collaborations that Kakao & Friends, arguably the Korean IP of the moment, has lined up for this year and next, giving an extraordinary boost to the international franchises present in the territory. Companies such as PLAYMOBIL are also part of this story, creating customised, localised toys exclusively for South Korea, including pieces produced for the US coffee chain Starbucks‘ local market. Playmobil has also created characters that reflect Korean tradition, underlining the attention it pays to this region. This is not the first instance of product localisation for markets of this kind, but Playmobil’s local customisation strategy stands out as a genuinely interesting way of diversifying its offer for the territory.

The Art of Localising International IPs

Making an international IP work in South Korea, as in Japan and China, is no small undertaking. It takes far more than a standard licensing plan; it requires painstaking localisation work to make the IP feel genuinely native to the territory. Not every property succeeds, especially in a market as rich in successful local characters as South Korea. Still, we want to highlight three international cases from Europe and the UK that we consider real successes in this region.

The first is Miffy, owned and managed globally by Mercis bv, which is taking South Korea by storm as both a lifestyle and character-driven IP. We covered the opening of its Seoul store in the May issue of Licensing Magazine, and that is only one of several steps this IP is taking in the territory, alongside an extraordinary social media following.

The second, by now well-established, taps into Korean families’ strong focus on English-language learning for children: Number Blocks. This hugely successful English IP has found major success both at home and here in South Korea, much more than in Europe or in other territories.

New to the territory this year is Super Simple, the Canadian IP from Skyship Entertainment Company that began on YouTube and is now making significant strides beyond the digital space. Super Simple had a stand at KCLF thanks to their local partners, once again offering experiential events during the show and showcasing plush and publishing samples soon to launch on the market.

Scouting for the International Market

Scouting for Korean IPs poised to move beyond Asia and into Europe was very much part of our experience at the fair. Among our personal favourites are the vividly coloured little monsters of Tomarmon, a Korean IP we return to from time to time in our reports from this region. It is growing fast, with dozens of licensing deals already secured across Asia, and is now beginning to explore bringing its colourful plush line to Europe. In particular, they are looking for a toy distributor.

We are also personal fans of Monday Bruce, quite possibly the most depressed rabbit around, who playfully embodies the frustrations and bad luck of the average office worker, a theme with cross-territory appeal. Born in Taiwan and later acquired by a Korean company, this IP leans heavily on collectable figurines and the unboxing trend, speaking to distinctly adult and Gen Z audiences.

For more information on these IPs, you can visit their websites, or write to us and we will be happy to put you in touch! We love to network professionals and bridge new business opportunities.

Attention on what is happening in Asia is running high across the European market, and the next big success story will very likely emerge from here. Perhaps now is the moment for a European retailer, licensee or agency to take a bold step and bet on Asian IP, starting with what South Korea has to offer.