'Gen Z loves flashy': How Korea's 'Teenieping' has found so much success overseas

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'Gen Z loves flashy': How Korea's 'Teenieping' has found so much success overseas

Published: 10 Jun. 2025, 10:18 Updated: 10 Jun. 2025, 22:48

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Winter of girl group aespa unboxes Teenieping dolls in a YouTube video. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Cute is just the start — collecting is the real thrill. There's a character brand that captivates not only children but also their parents, tapping into a deep desire to collect. That character is “Catch! Teenieping,” or just Teenieping, from the domestic 3-D animated series that created characters like Hachuping and Auroraping, which have sparked sell-out frenzies.

Having debuted quietly on children's television channels in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, Teenieping has rapidly grown into a national phenomenon. For the past two years, it has ranked No. 1 among favorite characters for children 3 to 9, according to the 2024 Character Industry White Paper from the Korea Creative Content Agency. It has dethroned Pororo, the long-reigning king of Korean animation characters.

The key to Teenieping’s success lies in its complexity. Becoming a beloved “culture” requires more than just popularity — consumers must engage, relate and grow into fans. With over 140 interwoven characters, a sophisticated universe and fandom-focused planning, Teenieping’s strategy closely mirrors K-pop marketing.

Much like entertainment companies attract mass audiences through idols’ self-produced content — content made by an agency or the company itself, rather than TV broadcasters or other media — Teenieping has designed a system to organically grow its fan base.

And behind the not-so-teenie success of Teenieping is Kim Su-hoon, CEO of SAMG Entertainment — the company that produced Teenieping.

Teenieping’s global ambitions and unconventional rise

Founded in 2000, SAMG Entertainment previously created hits like "Miniforce" (2014-) and "Metal Cardbot" (2023-), which found success in both Korea and China.

Teenieping began development in 2017 with a clear goal: to target girls aged 4 to 7 after years of focusing on content for boys. At the time, Asia’s animation market was dominated by action and robot stories for boys. Fairy tale-style stories starring princesses — which required more delicate graphics for costumes, hair and expressions — were far less common.

A still from Teenieping animinated film “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” (2024) [SHOWBOX]

Teenieping flipped the typical “girls’ genre” on its head, featuring a princess character as the lead while breaking conventional storytelling molds. Upon the success of Teenieping, SAMG is fully invested in building Teenieping as a global brand. In April, it hired global strategist Bae Jung-hyoun, formerly of TikTok, to lead its international efforts.

“In the past, we had to rely on television,” Kim said. “But now, we have direct pathways to global fans through platforms like YouTube, Netflix and TikTok.”

Teenieping content has already racked up over 32.3 billion views across those platforms and built fan bases across Asia, North America and Europe.

Last year’s theatrical release, "Heartsping: Teenieping of Love," (2024) played a pivotal role in boosting Teenieping’s recognition. Centered on the coming-of-age story of Princess Romi — the protagonist of the Teenieping universe — the film emotionally resonated with both Gen Z and parents in their 30s and 40s, sparking a trend of repeat viewing.

Kim Su-hoon, CEO of SAMG Entertainment [SAMG ENTERTAINMENT]

It drew 1.24 million viewers, making it the second highest-grossing Korean animated film of all time, behind "Leafie, A Hen into the Wild" (2011). The original song “The First Moment” (2024), performed by Winter of K-pop girl group aespa, was even dubbed the Korean version of "Let It Go" (2013).

As the character gained popularity, collaborative products became widely available in major supermarkets and convenience stores. More recently, SAMG produced a spinoff animated film in partnership with Hyundai Motor — the first example of a character and corporate brand fusing into a single piece of content. The company sees this as a shift from simply “watching

The JoongAng Ilbo sat down with Kim to talk more on the secret behind Teenieping's success and the company's ambitions. The following are excerpts of the interview, edited for length and clarity.

A still from Teenieping animinated film “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” (2024) [SHOWBOX]

Q. Teenieping’s rise seems to differ from those of characters like Pororo or Baby Shark. What’s its unique selling point?

A. Teenieping doesn’t rely on a single character. Each season expands the universe with new ones. Because each character has different personalities and traits, we’ve built a strategy around collecting them.

Back in 2020, there was a global craze for character collectibles, and we saw a chance to lead the Korean market with a proven format. We also embraced memes like “Bankruptcy-ping” (used by adults to describe children's yearning for Teenieping toys driving their parents to bankruptcy) because they show people are genuinely having fun collecting and engaging with the characters.

A child looks at a Teenieping doll at a character fair held in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on May 5. [NEWS1]

To trigger a collecting instinct, the characters themselves must be appealing. How do you approach that?

It requires in-depth market and trend analysis. Some creators, like Hayao Miyazaki, draw fans into their personal worlds. But as a company, we have to approach it differently — with a precise understanding of the market and culture.

Animation is a cultural product. For it to work, everything — from cutting-edge tech to trendy design and fandom-building — must move in sync. We analyzed the logic, emotions and behavior that drive kids to love characters and built from there.

“Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” (2024) digital posters on display at a theater in Seoul on Aug. 21, 2024 [NEWS1]

How did "Heartsping: Teenieping of Love," the film, help Teenieping’s popularity explode?

Animated films usually take one of two paths: expand a TV series or create a completely independent family movie like Disney does. We aimed for the middle.

Extending the series is a safer choice with clearer budgets and audience projections. But with the movie, we wanted a more universal story and deeper emotional resonance. Though the characters are cute and child-oriented, the movie focused on moments like “making your first friend” or “meeting a pet for the first time.” That helped us reach a wider age range.

Teenieping dolls [SAMG ENTERTAINMENT]

How did you turn an expanded audience into a sustainable business?

We built our own toy planning team and a distribution system tied to our IP [intellectual property]. As visibility increases, brand collaborations follow naturally. That’s how it worked with Pokémon, too. Our project with Hyundai Motor is a great example. Big brands are shifting from pushing their own image to partnering with character brands for family marketing. Teenieping works well for that because it appeals to the whole family.

We’re even seeing fandom grow among women in their 20s and 30s, leading to collaborations with cosmetics and fashion brands.

A Teenieping collaboration with Hyundai Motor [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

As one of the leading voices in K-animation, how do you see the market evolving?

It’s a lot like K-pop. Global Gen Z loves flashy and cute things. They find characters through platforms like YouTube, form fandoms and create communities themselves. Korea already has the animation tech, trend insight and distribution infrastructure.

The challenge now is building sustainable brands. Selling videos is one thing, but localizing emotional branding is what really matters for global expansion.

What’s SAMG’s long-term goal?

To create a global IP powerhouse like Nintendo. If we build a strong value chain, like we did with "Heartsping: Teenieping of Love," we can use the fandom and data to launch even more content. We want Teenieping to become a cherished memory even after 10 years. If we keep expanding and nurturing that emotional bond, we believe the brand can last as long as Mickey Mouse.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM SE-RIN [[email protected]]