Overseas Marketing Suggestions for the
Korean Animation Industry

by Joe Jo

For many years, Korea has been recognized as a peculiar country in that she is famous for her experienced animators and has participated in many of the global animation industry's projects. However, she has remained predominately a work for hire location used by Hollywood and Japan. Now could be the right time for Korean companies to change their role. In the 1990s, there were many projects which Korean companies produced from their own creative ideas; so far they have not been so successful. However, upon seeing that many Korean companies are still launching new projects, they seem dedicated to broadening the domestic industry's horizon. For their success, I would like to make a few suggestions about the overseas marketing/fundraising techniques used by Korean animation companies, as this is the key to opening a better future.

The Need To Reach Out
Basically, the reason why the Korean animation industry requires "overseas marketing" is because the Korean domestic market is not big enough to compensate for a production's expense. International sales must be obtained to make ends meet! In Korea a standard animation series for television (30 minutes x 13 episodes) requires an investment of around US$2 million, and an animated feature film destined for theaters requires the same. However, most of the time, it has been difficult to earn back the original investment of $2 million solely in the Korean market. The licensing rights for free network television sell at the low price of $100,000 to $200,000. Video rights sell at around $100,000, and merchandising rights cost around $500,000. Usually the sum of the income is $2 million at best. Furthermore the prices are never guaranteed as the animation film business is part of the unpredictable entertainment business. Therefore, if Korean animation companies want to earn a stable income from their creative projects, there is no way but to develop the overseas markets.

However, the animation companies of Korea do not seem to deal with this fact properly. Although Korean animation companies have experienced overseas sales over the last 10 years since the television animation boom began in the late 1980s, their projects have hardly succeeded in the international film markets. Because Korea's animation companies have been predominately "work for hire" for foreign studios for such a long time, they couldn't quickly adjust in the 1990s to become creative animation studios as lead by the Korean broadcasting networks. Korean animation companies need to take a systematic approach to overseas marketing, for only an organized approach will ensure a stable income from now on.

Needless to say, "pre-sales" are the most important strategy in overseas marketing for countries like Korea, as pre-sales are not only the way to reduce the possibility of failing in the market, but also help to estimate demand in the market. Therefore whoever desires stable income in the animation business had better give up the project, especially in South Korea, unless he can substantially pre-sell the work in overseas markets before production begins. However most projects in Korea have been made without international pre-sales, which is like walking toward a cliff with closed eyes. Yonggary, a 3D theatrical feature that stars a dinosaur of the same name, is the exception which I have seen in Korea. It made the newspapers and broadcasting networks because everyone in Korea was surprised that it had procured $3 million from overseas markets, before they had even finished the production. Unfortunately, it was a good attempt, but not an excellent final product. The story's ending fell short of the industry standard. Bungabu is another example of successful overseas marketing. Bungabu is a 3D CGI animation series for television (30 minutes x 26 episodes). The producers have been trying to promote the show at international markets like MIP-TV for the past 3 years, while making a special feature film version for KBS (Korea Broadcasting Systems).

Overseas Marketing Suggestions for the Korean Animation Industry

Overseas Marketing Suggestions for the
Korean Animation Industry