Kakao’s characters appeal to users with relatable personalities
Frodo comes from a rich family who lives in the city, but he has a complex about his mixed heritage. He is currently dating Neo, the cat./ Neo is a coy yet wild cat. Nothing is more important to her than herself. Her confidence comes from wearing a bobbed wig./ Tube is a duck with a cowardly character. When he is in extreme fear he turns into a crazy duck. He has an issue with his small feet, so he likes to hide them by wearing large flippers./ Apeach is a peach that escaped from a tree after a genetic mutation. She lures others with her sexy back, but she’s impetuous and aggressive./ Muzi is a yellow pickled radish called danmuji who is disguised as a rabbit. Muzi doesn’t like taking her rabbit outfit off because she feels shy./ Crocodile Con grew the radish and turned it into Muzi. He now wants to grow a peach tree and chases after Apeach as a result./ Jay-G is a secret agent mole who longs for his home underground.
The initial designs for these seven flagship characters were sketched in 2012 by web cartoonist Hozo (real name Kwon Soon-ho) upon Daum Kakao’s request.
After the characters were developed, more and more realistic expressions and motions were added by the company’s designers, allowing users to express their feelings or actions in an aim to make conversation a bit less brisk and businesslike.
Kakao Friends, some of which are similar to a dog, a cat, a rabbit and a peach, can even be spotted outside mobile phones on items such as takeout coffee cups, soft toys and even bankbooks.
The characters have also been given names and personalities.
For example, the brown dog is called Frodo. He is a city dog and lives with a rich family but is a mixed breed so he gets sensitive when others talk about birth and origin. He is dating Neo, the blue cat, who is an overly confident character.
Most users of the app probably don’t know about the characters’ origins. But such storylines are important to the designers as they continue to develop Kakao Friends emoticons using different themes.
For the “Fashionista” edition of the emoticon series, Neo can be witnessed dancing in a tight red dress or looking elegant in a black evening gown while Frodo smiles broadly with sunglasses on or dressed up in a fancy-looking black suit.
On the other hand, as the timid duck, Tube, wants to be alone, he mostly wears tracksuits.
Daum Kakao continues to open pop-up stores across the country, selling goods related to Kakao Friends such as this one at Seoul’s COEX mall. Provided by the company
“We tried to portray the everyday situations most people face, even if they are trivial, so that anyone can easily empathize with the characters.”
The designer added that the special themed editions were added to appeal to certain groups such as office workers or students, “so that they can use specialized emoticons of their own.”
The popularity of the characters even led Daum Kakao to develop and collaborate with other brands to produce zany figurines and knick-knacks ranging from mobile phone covers and notepads to pens and socks.
Starting with a pop-up store in Sinchon, western Seoul, which opened last April, the company expanded into COEX in southern Seoul as well as in Busan and Daegu.
After seeing the Kakao Friends products selling out, Daum Kakao decided to open not just temporary pop-up stores but branded shops across the country.
The company also formed partnerships with other companies such as Samlip General Foods and developed Kakao Friends bread rolls that come with stickers for fans to collect while also joining hands with Dunkin Donuts to sell hot chocolate in Frodo-shaped takeout cups.
In Kakao Friends’ Fashionista edition, Neo can be seen wearing a tight red dress dancing while Frodo smiles broadly with sunglasses on. Provided by the company
Designer Kim said he doesn’t know when the Kakao Friends fever will die down but that he is trying to make sure the series doesn’t lose its attractiveness.
“We handle Kakao Friends characters as real people internally,” said Kim.
“That’s why they need their own characteristics and also to have consistency in order to make sure they don’t lose their charms - just like us ordinary people.
The designer added that unlike other emoticons, Kakao Friends have been developed to enrich mobile communication among people.
“This is the essence and it should not change,” said Kim.
As Kakao Friends were created to enhance online conversations, it seems that it is easy for users to empathize with the actions and feelings of the characters, which Kim believes is why the emoticons are so appealing.
“Adults also get drawn to Kakao Friends because the characters seem like they really exist in the real world and not the virtual world,” said Kim.
“That is why we focused on making personalities for the characters that are close to people rather than something hollow or wild.”
BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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