Lacoste L!VE introduces its new collection Lacoste L!VE SS’13!

A new occasion for Asiance to collaborate with Lacoste on their Asian digital campaign: presenting a colorful collection corresponding to youth spirit through the theme ‘unconventional Japan’. Discover and immerse yourself into the very alive world of the dancer Sonoya Mizuno and of the surfer Yusuke Hanai, unconventional talents ‘from Tokyo to the beach’.

Visit www.lacoste.co.kr.

KakaoTalk is the most popular social networking app in South Korea.
This mobile app gives users the possibility to send messages, make free WIFI phone calls, play games, share photos and videos and follow their favorite brands and artists. On a daily basis over 2.3 billion messages are being send and over 90% of Korean smartphone users use KakaoTalk. KakaoTalk is spreading its wings and is on its way to become a serious competitor for other social giants like Facebook, Twitter, Path and WhatsApp.

History

KakaoTalk was launched in 2010 by Korean entrepreneur BeongSooKim. The services Kakao is offering are far from innovative but the app still managed to pass Facebook in becoming the most used mobile app of South Korea. There are multiple reasons for this success, from offering local content (eg. Kpop stars), Kakao’s strong focus on Android (90% of Koreans own an Android mobile phone) and because KakaoTalk is a truly mobile app. Chatting through KakaoTalk is free of charge and easy. Smartphone users in South Korea are therefore using KakaoTalk to send messages more and more and are making less use of (paid) SMS messages. A potential disaster for telecommunication companies who see their profits shrink fast. Several telco’s have sued Kakao over this but so far without results.

Business model

KakaoTalk has a smart business model that consists of several ways of monetizing. Downloading and usage of the app is free of charge. Unlike WhatsApp, users do not have to payfor the use of basic services. KakaoTalk makes a profit by letting brands pay for using the app as an online marketing tool and by selling digital goods to users.

Kakao’s ‘plus friend’ functionality gives brands the possibility to communicate with their followers. Brands can send messages and offer coupon deals. Similar to Facebook, except that for everymessage send the brand has to pay KakaoTalk a fee. An example of a brand that uses the app for their marketing purposes is fashion retailer Uniqlo. It puts up posters in shops that ask customers to add Uniqlo as a ‘plus friend’, the customer will then be entitled to a discount and will receive regular updates from the brand.

KakaoTalk also sells digital items like emoticons that users can add to their messages. Brands and artists can cooperate with Kakao to create their own set of emoticons and sell them to their fans. Profits will be shared between the brand and Kakao. Examples of this are emoticons of Kpop sensation Girls’s Generation and of course Psy has his own exclusive emoticons.

Another source of income is mobile commerce. Users can give online goods as gifts to friends through the app and brands can sell digital items. And last but not least Kakao makes a good deal of money through their integrated game platform. KakaoTalk users can download games and play against friends within the app’s environment. High scores can be shared and compared with friends. Anipang is the most popular game and is played by 10 million Koreans (20% of the total population!). It is a highly addictive game with a total daily average playing time of 54 minutes per user. To play you will need credits, these can be purchased from Kakao or you can request your Kakao friends to give them to you.

KakaoStory

In 2012 Kakao released KakaoStory. This app is basically a mix of Instagram, Facebook and Path. Within three months after its launch KakaoStory passed Facebook as Korea’s most used mobile social network. With the app users can share messages, photos and videos through a mobile mini blog. KakaoStory is not unique and shows resemblance with other social networking apps, but its strong focus on mobile and tie in with KakaoTalk made this app very popular among Korean smartphone users.

The future

Since september 2012 Kakao is profitable and the company is now trying to expand outside of Korea. The company is partnering with local players in Indonesia and Japan in its quest to conquer other parts of Asia. It also looking to partner with a major player in the USA like Google or Facebook. The app is now available in 12 languages and Kakao is planning to release a pc version in 2013.Recently Kakao announced that it will add more functionality soon. The first example being freshly launched KakaoPage, an online platform for sharing digital content like music, video and ebooks. Artists, writers and other creative people can use this platform to sell digital content. Again, this has been done before, but with Kakao’s devoted users this might become another big hit for the company. In a short amount of time Kakao has become one of Korea’s biggest social players and serious competition for Facebook and Twitter. The future will show if they manage to achieve the same in other parts of Asia and Europe.

Asiance is proud to be sponsor of Digital Peace 2013. This unique happening is an artistic celebration of the 50th anniversary of the commemoration of the FRANCO-GERMAN FRIENDSHIP TREATY (1963 – 2013). Digital Peace is a series of four events that will be hosted in Seoul, between March and June 2013. Asiance is proud to be sponsor of this unique happening.

The program includes a selection of Franco-German works, artists,  designers, expositions, schools and DJ’s. The common thread is the notion of peace expressed through the broadest variety of digital approaches, forms, and expressions. All the events are organized in collaboration with Korean artists, galleries, institutions, schools, and labels.

The opening event March 9th features Radiomentale, a band from Paris that will present a mix of music, video and web content. The second event on April 13th will take place overnight and show independent movies from Germany, France and Korea. At May 11th the third event will take place which will be about digital art projects. The final event on June 22nd will be a big party with electronic music. The venue for all the events is Platoon Kunsthalle in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul.

Don’t miss these mind blowing events! Check the website for more details: http://www.digitalpeace2013.com/en/

Asiance helped luxury leather brand Coach launch its first Facebook campaign in Korea.
Fans of the brand could download a coupon that entitled them to 20% discount in selected Coach stores and a free gift with every purchase.

Facebook is the perfect marketing channel for this kind of campaign since it allows brands to target specific consumer groups. In the case of Coach Korean females were targeted. Coupons could be downloaded to a mobile phone and used when visiting the selected Coach store. During the campaign period of one week 900 people downloaded the coupon offer and the number of Coach fans on Facebook increased with over 2000.

Together with Royal Dutch Airlines KLM we launched the world’s first NFC airport game at Incheon airport in Korea. Travellers were invited to play a mobile quiz and could win access to the airport’s VIP lounge or shopping vouchers

KLM operates daily flights between Seoul and Amsterdam. To make more people aware of this and also promote KLM services, the airline organized a mobile game for travellers waiting in line at Incheon airport. The concept for the game was created and designed by Asiance. Travellers were invited to play a short quiz on their mobile phone. The time to complete the game was kept short on purpose so travellers could play while waiting in line to check in their luggage. If they managed to answer all the questions right they had a chance win access to the VIP lounge to spend some quality time before take-off.

Near Field Communication (NFC) was used to provide easy access to the game. By waving their smartphone over the NFC tag on the campaign billboard at the airport, the game was launched on the traveller’s mobile instantly. Besides NFC it was also possible to start the game by scanning a QR code or entering the mobile web address.

The campaign kicked off on Mid January and will end on Mid March. During this period new winners will be announced every day.

To start the new year with fresh spirits and a good vibe Asiance organized a new year party for the whole team.

The executive committee shared the company plans for the coming year. Asiance is growing fast and is planning to move to a more spacious office before the summer. We are all very excited about this and are already dreaming about our future inspiring workplace!
At the beginning of a new year it is good to take a moment to think about what you want to accomplish. Everyone at Asiance shared their plan which varied from creating different styled designs and learning about new technology to delivering a happy baby. After this it was time to hit the buffet and stuff ourselves with delicious food accompanied by some good wine.

All of us at Asiance are looking forward to a year filled with creative and interesting projects!