Kakao Friends

Kakao Friends


Lineup of the characters figures
Type Characters
Inception November 2012
Manufacturer Kakao
Available Yes
Website kakaofriends.com

Kakao Friends (stylized as KAKAO FRIENDS) are featured characters based on KakaoTalk emoticons released in November 2012 by Kakao, managed by their subsidiary Kakao Friends Corporation. The company carries out character related businesses.[1][2][3]

The character illustrator is Kwon Soon-ho, also known by his pen name Hozo.[4][5] Kakao Friends has been used in various products and commercials, and has gained popularity and have become beloved characters in South Korea.[6]

Characters

Ryan of Kakao Friends
Kakao Friends dolls

Kakao Friends characters were developed in about two months after the idea meeting in July 2012 began. The Kakao Friends manager stated that he created these characters to make the KakaoTalk IM service easy and fun for the public.[7]

Muzi series

  • Muzi: Curious and playful, Muzi is actually a piece of takuan (also known as Danmuji in Korean) in rabbit clothes.[4] HOZO stated that he thought of a takuan while thinking about a character that could represent the colors yellow and brown, which are the corporate colors of KakaoTalk.
  • Con: Con, who looks like a small crocodile,[4] is the one who raised Muzi.[8] HOZO stated that Con is a character with a lot of secrets, always showing only the side of his face. The name Con is a combination of Crocodile and the korean word 콩알(pronounced as kongal), which means 'small'.
  • Apeach: Apeach has the setting of escaping from a peach tree after learning that she became monoecious due to a genetic modification.[4] She is a playful character, and also an adolescent character in her late teens to early twenties.
  • Jay-G: Jay-G is a mole character who was sent to find a rabbit's liver as an agent from the underground country. So, he chases after Muzi for his (or her) liver. He apparently renamed himself Jay-G, after looking up to the American hip-hop artist, Jay-Z.[4]

Frodo series

  • Frodo: Frodo is a rich-born dog from the city. He has a complex that he is a mixed-blooded dog. He usually wears a red dog collar or a tie. Frodo is officially a couple with Neo, the cat character, and shows affection.[4]
  • Neo: Neo is a cat character with a bob cut wig and she is the lover of Frodo.[4] The company stated that Neo is the representative fashionista of the Kakao friends characters who love shopping.
  • Tube: Tube is a cowardly, weak-minded duck. He has the complex for his small feet so he wears flippers. If he feels extreme fear or anger, he spits fire out of his mouth and turns into a crazy green duck.

Ryan series

  • Ryan: The character named Ryan was newly announced on January 22, 2016. At first glance, he looks like a bear but he is a lion that doesn’t have a mane. Ryan was a successor to the throne of the dung dung-island in Africa, but he escaped for a free life. A lot of people misunderstand him because of his expressionless face, but he’s the trustworthy mentor who has delicate emotions.[9][10]

Products

Introduction

Since Kakao Friend's character products have been growing mainly in the market of Kidult culture, Kakao Friends officials stated that they will make character goods by paying attention to these parts.[11]

Distribution

In July 2014, the Daum Kakao partnered with Samlip Food and launched four kinds of "Shanni Kakao Friends Bread". In the early four species, there were about 130 kinds of sticky cacao friends' strips. In February 2015, they launched a brand of toothpaste with Kakao friend characters on it, in collaboration with LG H & H. An industry official stated that although they had put their company's character on children's products before, this was the first attempt to put their characters on adult products.

Foods

In May 2015, Burger King collaborated with Kakao Friends and offered a Kakao Friend Doll if one made an order for more than a certain price in the store. [8] Baskin Robbins has also sold ice cream cakes that featured Apeach and Muzi's faces.[12]

Game

In August 2015, the Daum Kakao launched 'Friend's Pop', the first mobile game that utilized the Kakao Friend character, and launched 'Friends Run', the sequel, in May 2016. Both games were rated top 10 in the Google Play sales.[13]

Finance

In November 2014, the Daum Kakao collaborated with Woori Bank to launch the 'Woori Bank Wallet Kakao Bankbook', a design account book with a bank account and a Kakao friends character account.[14] In June 2015, in conjunction with Hana Card, KakaoPay's exclusive check card was launched using the Kakao Friend character.[15]

Friends shop

Beginning in Sinchon in April 2014, the company opened a store in the form of a pop-up store in major department stores in major cities such as Daegu and Busan, and several stores were established as regular stores. In addition to the character products sold in stores, KaKao Friends characters are used in collaboration with other companies in other fields.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "카카오톡&라인 연대기 - 같은 듯 다른 두 앱의 길을 돌아보다" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  2. ↑ "`카카오프렌즈` 탄생 세돌…조항수 대표 대한민국 대표 캐릭터 만들 것". mk.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  3. ↑ "카카오프렌즈 독립…캐릭터사업 승부수". hankyung.com (in Korean). 2015-04-26. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Pictures speak louder than words". The Korea Herald News. 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  5. ↑ "카카오톡 캐릭터 디자이너를 만나다" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  6. ↑ "Kakao Friends become most beloved characters in Korea". The Korea Herald News. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  7. ↑ "카톡 이모티콘 '노란 토끼'가 단무지라고?…카카오 프렌즈 뒷이야기" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  8. ↑ "Which Kakao friend are you?". The Manila Times. September 27, 2014. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  9. ↑ "카카오 '라이언' 디자이너를 만나다". brunch (in Korean). 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  10. ↑ "Ryan the maneless lion brings in big bucks". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  11. ↑ "'카톡개' 힘받은 다음카카오, 캐릭터 사업 확 키운다 - 더피알" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  12. ↑ 무단전재, Ⓒ 종합 경제정보 미디어 이데일리-상업적; 금지, 재배포 (2015-05-11). "식품 프랜차이즈, 캐릭터 활용 마케팅 `봇물`". edaily. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  13. ↑ "'프렌즈런'도 Top10 진입… 카카오프렌즈 연타석 홈런". hankyung.com (in Korean). 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  14. ↑ FNTIMES. "우리·하나 '뱅크월렛카카오' 앞선 출시". 한국금융신문. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  15. ↑ "다음카카오, 카카오프렌즈 담은 '하나 체크카드' 출시". 100세시대의 동반자 브릿지경제 (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  16. ↑ "KAKAO FRIENDS". store.kakaofriends.com. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
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