Maeil Dairies’ merchandise made jointly with Born Champs. (image: Maeil Dairies)
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Food businesses are scrambling to come up with limited editions of character merchandise to promote their brands and boost sales.
Maeil Dairies Co., a major Korean dairy company, announced Monday that it will release 31 kinds of merchandise made jointly with Born Champs, a casual fashion brand, that includes hoodies, sweatshirts, blankets, and smartphone cases, using the dairy company’s milk product designs from the 1970s.
Another food company Dongsuh Foods Corp. introduced four kinds of instant coffee mix Maxim Coffee Mix packages last month, including seven kinds of merchandise such as bags, tumblers, mugs, and picnic mats.
Liquor maker Hite Jinro Co. opened a character shop in Seoul’s Seongdong District last August that sells various merchandise representing the company’s lead drinks, Terra and Jinro.
Open until Oct. 25, the shop sells figurines and slippers designed after a toad, Jinro’s leading mascot.
Oriental Brewery Co., a wholly owned unit of global beer giant AB InBev, joined hands with Guess, a major fashion brand, to release t-shirts and hats designed after Lala Bear, the brewery’s leading mascot, last July.
Last month, the brewery also introduced a limited edition Chuseok holiday package that comes with pictures of Sehun and Chanyeol from the popular boy band EXO.
“Food companies are coming up with eccentric marketing strategies to meet the demand of consumers looking for new products,” said a source familiar with the food industry.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
