"Delicious Things Next to Fun Things" Food Industry Increasing Collaborations with Game Companies

'Fun-sumer' Targeting Food and Game Collaboration
From Packaging to Game Coupons and Goods
Main Consumer Group MZ Generation Interest

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] As collaboration between different industries becomes a constant in marketing, food companies are increasingly partnering with the gaming industry to capture the attention of 'Funshumers (Fun+Consumer)' who seek enjoyment even in consumption.

According to the industry on the 1st, Samyang Foods officially launched the 'Carbo Buldak Bokkeum Myun Mabinogi Package' last month in collaboration with Nexon. The collaborative product features the representative character 'Irusha' from Mabinogi in its design, and includes a coupon that allows users to obtain Mabinogi items. After the event, shipments of Carbo Buldak Bokkeum Myun rose by about 38% compared to the previous week, and sales increased by 40% compared to before the event.

CJ Freshway partnered with Krafton, the global game company famous for 'PUBG: Battlegrounds,' to develop food and beverage products utilizing game intellectual property (IP). CJ Freshway introduced the '+350 Heal Box' lunchbox and popcorn 'Newbae Pangcorn,' incorporating the 'New State Mobile' IP, and plans to continue releasing Battlegrounds-themed food and beverage products.

Additionally, bhc Chicken ran a promotion in August offering game coupons for 'Com2uS Pro Baseball V22' in collaboration with Com2uS, and Paldo released a 'Puyo Soda Limited Edition' last week that includes coupons to customize characters using the mobile game 'KartRider Rush Plus.' Earlier, Lotte Chilsung Beverage also collaborated with the online game 'MapleStory,' selling Evian package products that include picnic goods such as picnic mats, eco bags, and embroidered badges featuring related characters.

The overlapping main consumer base of the food and gaming industries is seen as the background for these recent consecutive collaborations. The food industry has focused on the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), the main users of games, who are Funshumers seeking enjoyment in their consumption habits. They are actively leveraging the advantage that it is relatively easy to utilize game characters and events in the food industry.

Above all, food and gaming share commonalities easily found in daily life, which helps reduce psychological distance with consumers, making these collaborations successful marketing cases. A food industry official said, "We are promoting collaborations with game companies to expand customer touchpoints and create differentiated customer value," adding, "Through collaboration, we expect to capture the interest of the MZ generation, the main consumers of both games and food, who lead trends."

Recently, collaborations have evolved beyond simply using game characters on packaging to various forms emphasizing user convenience. Mountain Dew created a product with a lid that prevents slipping and allows easy opening and closing to avoid hands slipping due to moisture on the beverage surface, and Doritos introduced packaging made of cloth to easily wipe off seasoning from hands after eating the snack.

As the gaming industry continues to grow steadily, collaborations between the food and gaming industries targeting Funshumers are expected to expand further. The global gaming market size grew from $148.8 billion (approximately 194 trillion KRW) in 2019 to $175.8 billion (approximately 229 trillion KRW) last year, an 18.1% increase over two years, and is projected to continue growing to $203.1 billion (approximately 265 trillion KRW) this year.