Under the "One Lotte" strategy, Lotte Group, which is strengthening cooperation between its Korea and Japan entities, is expanding collaboration for its intellectual property (IP) business.
According to the industry on the 26th, Japan's Lotte Holdings signed a global master license agreement centered on Korea on Jun. 27 with Eiken Co., Ltd., the producer and rights manager of the popular Japanese comic "Bonobono." This goes a step beyond the character IP use agreement it made with the company in May last year, giving it the right to grant licensing authority to specific regions or other corporations.
Lotte World will serve as the Korea master licensee and carry out activities such as hosting events that leverage Lotte's asset. Lotte Holdings plans to expand its Bonobono character-related business in overseas countries outside Korea, such as Vietnam, together with local Lotte entities and partner corporations.
Lotte Holdings said, "Japan is a treasure trove of compelling character content, and Korea's entertainment content, represented by K-pop, is also popular worldwide," adding, "By combining the content held by both countries with the strengths of the diverse businesses that Lotte Group operates globally with a focus on Korea and Japan, we aim to contribute to market revitalization and expand our business."
This Korea-Japan Lotte IP business collaboration was made concrete through a yearlong trial. According to Lotte Holdings, starting with the "Outing to the Aquarium with Bonobono and Friends" event at Lotte World in Jamsil, Seoul, in May last year, it drew more than 60,000 visitors by opening a pop-up store (temporary shop) at Lotte World Mall in Jamsil in September.
Bonobono, which began serialization in Japan in 1986, aired on Tooniverse in Korea in 1996 and gained fans domestically.
Lotte in Korea and Japan plan to create synergy through content businesses that utilize the Bonobono character. They will jointly pursue related businesses around pillars such as rolling out Japanese IP in Korea and Korean IP in Japan, and jointly developing Korea-Japan IP.
In this regard, Japan's Lotte Holdings secured the local master license for the Lotte Homeshopping in-house character Bellygom IP and operated a Bellygom pop-up store in the Kansai region, including Osaka, in April.
Market analysis says the background to the Korea-Japan character IP-based cooperation reflects the firm resolve of Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group and head of Lotte in both countries. Earlier, Chairman Shin asked, "Work to strengthen the content business by collaborating with leading content IP corporations around the world and develop a mid- to long-term sustainable model that can enhance the value of Lotte's asset."
Accordingly, Lotte set up a dedicated organization within LOTTE Corporation early last year to develop content businesses. Belonging to the ESG (environment, social and governance) Management Innovation Office at LOTTE Corporation, this organization is creating synergy among affiliates by designing large-scale campaigns that are difficult for each affiliate to execute, signing partnerships with global content corporations, and discovering new content business models.
Since last year, about 10 affiliates, including LOTTE Corporation, Lotte Property & Development, LOTTE Wellfood, LOTTE GRS, Lotte Department Store, Hotel Lotte, and the Lotte Giants, have taken part in the companywide "Pokemon Town" project held annually as part of these efforts. The Pokemon Town event held around Lotte World Mall in Jamsil in April this year attracted more than 4 million visitors, 20% more than last year's event.