As pet creators become more active than in the past, the production of merchandise has also become a trend. In addition to simply using photos, there are more and more cases of creating merchandise by developing new IPs, such as pet features and buzzwords in the content. In particular, there are many cases of creating pet characters and using them for merchandise. Today, we would like to share a case where DiiVER worked with character development and merchandise production.
1. 'My dog is Wairano.' Mungchi Character Development
Pet dog YouTuber Mungchi's GaePalSangPal, worked with DiiVER to create his first official merchandise. The idea was to develop a character rather than a live-action image of Mungchi so that he could be utilized on the channel and in merchandise design. As the target audience for the merchandise is the fans who love and cherish Mungchi, we aimed to create a character that resembles the actual Mungchi in terms of appearance and expression.
1) Finding the right style for Mungchi, sketching
We sketched him out to capture Mungchi's personality as a bright and energetic golden retriever. We completed the first round of sketches with three versions that captured the cute, colorful, and energetic images that Mungchi evokes. We sketched a toon-style version, an emoji-style version, and a version that reflects the active nature of Mungchi, which is popular on social media. We decided to go with the energetic version for development as it was the most similar to Mungchi.
2) Developing a true-to-life version of Mungchi
Given Mungchi's popularity through his YouTube content, we needed to capture the character's facial expressions, appearance, and extensive dog features. We scaled him up from the original sketch to fit his enormous size. We developed him in colors similar to his fur color.
3) Incorporating signature poses and buzzwords, final draft
Once the strands of the character were captured with the development bone, we worked on the final draft. We incorporated the signature poses, facial expressions favored by the channel's subscribers and fans, and situations that reminded us of the "My dog is a Wairano" buzzword. In particular, we incorporated Mungchi's open-mouthed and energetic appearance into the character to emphasize the characteristics of the channel. We also varied the facial expressions to use them on merchandise and channel artwork and content.
2. Creating merchandise that showcases the character's charm and managing the store
After completing the character creation, we began the planning process to create merchandise. We decided to produce T-shirts and smart toks as our first official merchandise by suggesting merchandise items that highlighted the characters and were highly preferred by fans. We applied the developed characters to all the merchandise and proceeded with the design work.
For the T-shirt, we used the frontal image of the Mungchi character to make it easy to wear. We designed the Munchi name as an English text logo to make it a casual everyday item. For the smart tok, we used Mungchi's cheeky signature facial expressions, recognizable to Mungchi fans, to make it a witty merchandise.
The project didn't end with creating Mungchi characters and merchandise; we also managed the online store to make it faster and more convenient for customers to purchase the merchandise. In addition to renewing the store to match the mood of the merchandise, we also created detailed pages to sell the merchandise. We provided overall store management services such as sales, shipping, and CS support.
Communication through characters is becoming a trend not only for creators but also for brands. In particular, it is emerging as an essential element of marketing communication for Generation MZ, such as merchandise projects and pop-up stores. Like the case introduced today, DiiVER can develop characters and produce merchandise. For more examples, check out the links below.
