Thinking of gifting Soonyangju from a chaebol family this Lunar New Year? Adding stories to IP boosts sales

[Financial News] An unusual item has appeared in the liquor section of online shopping malls ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. It is a limited edition called "Soonyangju – Reborn Rich Jin Yang-cheol Edition," created using the popular webtoon "Reborn Rich." The phrase "If Chairman Jin Yang-cheol were to present New Year’s greeting liquor to Soonyang Group employees" immediately catches the eye. One buyer laughed and said, "I bought it as a gift, but it felt like it had collectible value, so I decided to keep it for myself."
Products based on Hallyu IP are evolving beyond simple "merch" into full-fledged brands and experiences. Companies that took part in the Hallyu IP Product Planning and Development Support Program run by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) embedded the narratives of content into their products and generated visible sales results in a short period of time.
According to KOCCA on the 12th, 28 companies across various sectors such as traditional liquor and K-beauty (22 projects in total) participated in last year’s program, which was run in both autonomous and matching formats. They created new added value and strengthened their global competitiveness.■ "We didn’t want to make liquor with just a logo slapped on"The traditional liquor edition launched by liquor specialist Daedong Yeoju-do using the webtoon "Reborn Rich" on the platform Munpia is a representative case showing that Hallyu IP can expand into food and beverages, especially traditional liquor.
Lee Ji-min, CEO of Daedong Yeoju-do, said, "We ruled out the approach of simply sticking a logo on the bottle," and added, "We wanted to connect the work’s core keywords—'chaebol family' and 'succession across generations'—with the historical depth and craftsmanship of traditional liquor."
The resulting product, Soonyangju, was placed in major distribution channels such as Dailyshot and Wine25 Plus (GS25), and a pop-up store was opened at Starfield. At the venue, drama fans and traditional liquor enthusiasts could be seen tasting the drink together.
Lee noted, "By releasing a limited-edition product, we generated tangible sales in a short period of time and confirmed that we were attracting a new customer base in the form of drama fans."
In fact, products created through IP collaborations have grown to account for as much as 30% of total sales. This performance has led to follow-up collaborations. Jaga Soju, launched in partnership with the web novel "The Dream Life of Mr. Kim," once again proved the potential of IP expansion by ranking No. 1 in traditional liquor orders at GS25 at the end of last year.■ Turning a choreographer’s recovery routine into cosmeticsDance content company 1MILLION Dance Studio and cosmetics manufacturer UBI Corporation developed a narrative under the concept of "Move on Your Skin," portraying the irritation and recovery that skin goes through after intense performances. The result is a cleansing balm in the Lia Kim edition, named after the choreographer.
At the start of the project, they were considering a renewal of a travel kit. However, by leveraging the flexibility of the matching-type structure, they shifted direction to a new cleansing balm product.
Han Moon-kyung, director at UBI Corporation, said, "In this project, the choreographer was directly involved throughout the entire product development process. The IP holder and the manufacturer co-designed the universe and brought it to life through content, which showed us the potential for industrial expansion."
Around 3,000 sets of this product were planned as a limited run and are scheduled to be released exclusively at Olive Young later this month. Related branded content has surpassed 200,000 cumulative views, and brand inflow and conversion rates through social media have more than doubled.
Han added, "We plan to discuss follow-up products for the global market, reflecting the sales performance and reviews of the cleansing balm."■ Expansion from K-pop to drama and actor IPContent commerce platform Makestar rolled out a pop-up store and official merchandise business targeting global fans last year, using the IP of the drama "Gyeonwoo and Jingnyeo," produced by Studio Dragon.
A Makestar representative recalled, "We pushed ahead with this project as we expanded our existing business, which had focused on K-pop idols, into drama and actor IP," and continued, "Drama pop-ups come with risks, but we made our decision by looking comprehensively at the cast lineup and buzz data."
The classroom-themed exhibition, reflecting the drama’s main setting, and 29 types of merchandise offered visitors an experience "as if they had stepped into the drama." The pop-up in Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, drew a broader range of visitors than expected, including overseas fans and family groups.
Makestar explained, "IP-based products involve high upfront production costs and significant risk, but with this support we were able to build out our product lineup more stably," adding, "We were also able to pursue more aggressive marketing in the process of entering overseas markets." The company went on, "Beyond simply selling products, we focused on designing IP experience spaces, incorporating fan-participation elements, and considering accessibility for global fans, which makes this project all the more meaningful."
Other achievements included PLAVE’s Japan debut single and concert merchandise, a medical education kit based on the webtoon "Severe Trauma Center," global pop-ups built on K-pop IP, and collaborations in character and kids’ consumer goods.
Participating companies commonly pointed to the organic linkage between planning, development, and networking—leading directly to real business outcomes—as the key strength of this program.
CEO Lee Ji-min said, "It was a highly polished support program that translated the industrial expansion potential of Hallyu IP into concrete business results," and added, "If future networking processes allow for more in-depth exchanges, such as pre-matching or longer meeting times, we expect to see more cases that develop from short-term collaborations into mid- to long-term projects."
Son Tae-young, Head of the Content IP Strategy Team at KOCCA, analyzed, "By trusting in the IP and the capabilities of the companies, and by guaranteeing as much autonomy as possible in the course of project execution, we were able to achieve these results," and added, "These cases show that a wide range of products and services derived from popular content can generate significant economic ripple effects."
KOCCA, for its part, plans to continue supporting Hallyu IP so that it can take root as a sustainable business model across diverse industries.


jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-a Reporter