CAST:ING, a project supporting the planning and development of collaborative content linked to the Korean Wave, announced that it will hold a comprehensive online promotion from May 14 to 28.
This promotion will showcase a webtoon titled "Brave Sister Will Help You," starring the legendary comeback group Brave Girls, Momoland’s fusion hanbok, gaming products produced by the popular domestic esports team DRX, and more. The event is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Hwang Hee) and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (President Jeong Gil-hwa, hereafter the Foundation) under the Hallyu-linked up-content planning and development support project, "CAST (Connect, Accompany to make Synergy and Transformation)" (hereafter the CAST project).
Jeong Gil-hwa, President of the Foundation, stated, "We expect this project and the upcoming promotion to serve as an opportunity to support domestic small and medium-sized enterprises and introduce the potential of various Hallyu contents." He added, "We will strive to discover and expand better cases so that participants in the project can achieve fruitful results and, furthermore, our proud Hallyu contents and domestic SMEs can establish a sustainable foothold for overseas expansion."
Meanwhile, the CAST project supports the entire process of planning, development, promotion, and distribution of SME products linked to Hallyu IPs across various genres, including popular arts, pure arts, tradition, and lifestyle culture. In 2020, about 60 companies participated, developing 220 products and contents. From May 14 to 28, the approximately two-week comprehensive online promotion "CAST:ING" will reveal the developed products and the stories behind the project, aiming to get closer to domestic and international consumers.
According to officials, the 2020 CAST project produced creations such as the webtoon "Brave Sister Will Help You," starring the legendary comeback group Brave Girls; "Modern Fashion Hanbok," featuring Momoland, KARD, and ATEEZ; and the puzzle game "My Dream House," created in collaboration with the popular webtoon "Yumi’s Cells." Additionally, gaming apparel planned and developed with participation from top domestic esports team DRX players and the joystick "KNEE Lever," which incorporates strategies from Tekken champion Bae Jae-min, demonstrated the potential for co-growth in esports and related industries. Furthermore, desk accessories linked to BTS’s character "TinyTAN" and a bag series featuring the popular character and Fire Department ambassador Coco Mong are expected to captivate consumers both domestically and abroad.
The comprehensive online promotion "CAST:ING" will feature sector-specific exhibitions and online forums through domestic and international distribution platforms such as SSG.com, Kakao, and Shopee, as well as KakaoPage. It will also release video content sharing development stories, creating a vibrant stage to establish a foundation for global consumption and distribution, according to company representatives.
On May 14 at 2 PM, the online forum "CAST:ING ON LIVE," streamed via the official project YouTube channel (Be CAST Official), will present experts from IP and distribution fields such as Gong Games, Copan Global, and Kakao Commerce. They will introduce cases of value creation in content through collaboration with Hallyu content and global distribution strategies in the untact era across three sessions. The fourth session will feature a sharing session of outstanding cases by project participants in various fields, making the promotion enjoyable for industry professionals and anyone interested in the sustainability of Hallyu.
From May 17 to 28, the online commerce-linked exhibitions held on SSG.com, Kakao, and Shopee will showcase about 30 companies’ products in traditional, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle goods sectors, combining design and functionality. These exhibitions will also present stories linking the products to Hallyu content. Actual purchases will be possible, and the promotion is expected to attract consumers interested in Hallyu both domestically and internationally.
The KakaoPage exhibition will introduce seven webtoon works produced through this project, the first attempt in the public sector. Various genre webtoons featuring emerging K-pop artists as protagonists will be presented, accompanied by diverse events to bring the works closer to readers. Especially, fresh collaborations in webtoons starring promising new K-pop artists such as Brave Girls, A.C.E., MustB, and Busters are expected to excite many K-pop fans.
Additionally, the official project YouTube channel (Be CAST Official) will sequentially release introductions and development stories of products in the gaming (esports) sector. Five games launched through the project will be introduced and demonstrated by the K-pop group W.A.O. (We Are One) and developers, who have recently gathered many fans domestically and internationally. They will highlight the Hallyu content embedded in the games and key points for gameplay. Moreover, DRX, player Bae Jae-min, and Jo Seong-ju, the first esports gold medalist introduced as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, will share development stories and provide information alongside company representatives, offering professional insights into the products.
For more detailed inquiries, please refer to the official project online website.
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