Soosung Webtoon noted on the 29th that in a recent 'Domestic Webtoon Industry Awareness Survey,' the most important factor for the success of domestic webtoons' audiovisual works is collaboration with over-the-top (OTT) platforms. The second factor identified was the completeness of the original work.
This survey was conducted to gauge public perceptions of the global strategies and growth drivers of domestic webtoon corporations. It was carried out with 1,000 men and women nationwide through the mobile survey platform Kratos.
According to the survey results, 45.6% of respondents indicated that the audiovisualization of webtoon intellectual property (IP) could expand the overseas viewer base and foster a global fandom. The success factors identified were ▲Ability to collaborate with OTT platforms (38.9%) ▲Popularity and completeness of the original IP (34.0%). The highest expectations by genre were in action and fantasy (45.6%).
Regarding the Chinese market, 61.4% of respondents stated that the lifting of the 'Korean Wave Limitation' would lead to the most significant change for the expansion of cultural industries associated with K-webtoons. The core strategic success factor highlighted was the localization of content tailored to local consumer tastes and cultural characteristics (43.3%).
Soosung Webtoon is strengthening its strategy in the Asian market, including China. Currently, the number of Chinese-speaking members has surpassed 2 million, and it is achieving results in Japan and Thailand as well. In Japan, works such as 'Trash of the Count's Family' and 'I'm getting raised by villains' are gaining popularity. According to Soosung Webtoon, the Thai language service has recorded an average monthly growth rate of 108% since its launch in January, surpassing 60,000 members as of August.
Additionally, it is preparing audiovisualization projects based on its subsidiary Terapin's IP. Representative titles include ▲Dr. Fresh: A Doctor Who Sees the Future (fantasy, Jeon Jakga and Yoon D) ▲Geumnakri (romance, December 21) ▲Have You Been Treated Unfairly? (BL, Ha Tae-jin).
A representative from Soosung Webtoon said, 'The market expectations for the audiovisualization of webtoons and their global expansion were confirmed in the survey.' They added, 'We plan to leverage our high-quality IP and production capabilities to expand our distribution network to the Asian market, including China, and North America and Europe, contributing to enhancing shareholder value.'
Meanwhile, Soosung Webtoon achieved a turnaround with consolidated revenue of 62.8 billion won and an operating profit of 6 billion won in the first half of this year.