By Ko Dong-hwan
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| The Baby Shark character and its family / Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan City |
The news is neither a belatedly discovered truth nor a hoax ― it's what the city and the character's maker have recently agreed upon to establish as a lasting fact based on their latest business deal.
The Pinkfong Company and Busan Metropolitan City signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to cooperate on using the character as a marketing tool to promote the city globally. Lee Seung-kyu, the company's vice-president and co-founder, met Mayor Park Heong-joon at City Hall where the deal was signed.
Both parties believed that the globally popular intellectual property (IP) ― which recorded the most hits on YouTube ever with over 11 billion with its music video "Baby Shark Dance" ― has enough potential to accomplish their initiative.
"We have come up with this theme that Baby Shark was born in Busan, the biggest port city in Korea and a hub of cultural content in the country, and started traveling the world," Lee said. "We can support the city's tourism industry using the character and storytelling based on this theme."
"I want to thank the company, the creator of the country's most successful global IP character, for believing in Busan's potential as an international tourism destination and choosing the city as the home of Baby Shark," Park said. "I will make the city so that visitors can feel the presence of the character not only online but also in diverse physical environments across the city."
With the deal, the city and the company agreed to launch jointly new businesses using the character including storytelling, city branding, tourism promotion marketing, tourism infrastructure building, as well as promoting the city's bid to host World Expo 2030.
Busan has recently begun using the country's global IP assets to develop a local leisure cluster ― with experience facilities for all ages, English education facilities, family hotels and resorts ― and souvenir products as the city's new industrial growth engine. The mayor said that the city's latest deal will contribute to the new market and also help with the city's ongoing bid to host World Expo 2030.
Baby Shark has attracted some 100 million subscribers to The Pingfong Company's YouTube channel. The character was publicly introduced to over 164 countries and led to the company signing almost 1,000 licensing contracts all around the world. The company, established in 2010, is currently channeling the character's usage in diverse routes including YouTube, animation movies, music, licensing and performances.
With the latest signing, Busan has now formed partnerships with two Korean firms that were selected among the list of the world's 100 most influential companies by news magazine TIME this year, including mega K-pop act BTS' producer Hybe.
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