Cocaban Co. Ltd. and g.l.a.m. GmbH & Co. KG have signed an agency agreement for JAJA, a creation of Tong Communication. Cocaban, who owns worldwide rights to JAJA, selected the German licensing agent, g.l.a.m. as their local business partner for rights exploitation through Europe.
"We are pleased to work with g.l.a.m., a reliable and fully-experienced company, to predict where the target market is actually going and to develop the right strategy to exploit the property accordingly." says Tony Kim, founder/ceo of Cocaban Co., Ltd. "By collaborating with g.l.a.m., who will develop JaJa throughout Europe, we are excited to introduce a new and promising character property from Korea to Europe."
Kristin Ehring, director sales & account at g.l.a.m. GmbH & Co. KG, adds, "We are glad to represent a promising and exciting brand like JaJa on a European basis. In particular, the approach of a stylish Casual Sports brand for teens offers attractive opportunities for licensees in all product categories."
Upon signing the agency agreement for JAJA, g.l.a.m. started actively developing its merchandising business strategy and opportunities to approach potential partners to exploit the property throughout Europe.
JAJA, targeted at teens, is a character property consisting of JaJa and Dding as its main casts. JaJa is an energetic, healthy and extremely strong girl. This sun-loving girl loves running and playing on the beach all day. Dding, her partner in crime, is a lazy, overweight but adorable pet dog. He is constantly sleeping and when not sleeping he is looking for snacks. JaJa takes him everywhere she goes and trains him to get fitter.
Based on the story of JAJA's characters, Cocaban and g.l.a.m. developed a basic business strategy together to execute the licensing of JAJA, aiming at stylish Caports (Casual Sports) brand for teens, particularly teens that have the same fashion tastes of those older in age. They are going to launch the property through its key product categories such as fashion apparel, footwear, bags, accessories, stationery, gifts, etc. within the second half of year 2007 and also promote the property through witty and fun Flash animation and other digital content on its official website.
JAJA was initially introduced in the Korean market through Yoga books and soon expanded its merchandising and licensing business to apparel and accessories based on its initial success. Cocaban joined the property to extend the target market into foreign countries and successfully secured g.l.a.m. as the authorized local representative for Europe. They are also continuing to prepare for development of the property for North America, China, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and the rest of Asia.
"We have developed a differentiated business model and marketing strategy with reliable key local partners together so that we can create the brand awareness for JAJA within two or three years as one of the representative teen brands, especially for girls 12-16. At the same time, we are continuously developing new design sources to update style guides necessary for merchandising and licensing business," says Michelle Kim, licensing manager at Cocaban.
Once JaJa is successfully launched, Cocaban also plans to expand the product categories to grow the property and its brand awareness. They will also prepare for development of its animated TV series.
Tong Communication Co. Ltd. is a Seoul-based contents production company dedicated to characters, games and digital contents, including online and mobile. Properties in their catalogue are ARITTOWN. Additional information is available at www.tongcom.co.kr.
Cocaban Co. Ltd. is Korea-based production, distribution, licensing and marketing specialist dedicated to global entertainment contents including character, animation and game. In addition, Cocaban is also to develop its first animated series targeted at 5~7 years old, TINY FIVE (T5). Additional information is available at www.cocaban.com.
g.l.a.m. GmbH & Co.KG is a merchandising and licensing company with a 360-degree global full-service portfolio. Additional information is available at www.g-l-a-m.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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