Korea's major fashion firms rush to embrace content marketing

Major South Korean fashion companies are speeding up their investment in content startups. F&F Holdings, the distributor of the US outdoor brands Discovery Expedition and MLB, invested 23.5 billion won ($19.3 million) in Korean drama and film production company Victory Contents last week. Handsome Corp., which imports and distributes Lanvin, Bally and other global fashion brands in the country, invested 5.4 billion won in Korean sports content company Wagti early this month. 

Including Victory Contents, F&F has proactively acquired six Korean content platforms and production firms such as Channel OCT, Bamboo Network, Whynot Media and By4M Studio.

F&F Chairman Chang-soo Kim is said to have a deep understanding of the power of content thanks to his family background. His father Bong-kyu Kim is the founder of Samsung Publishing Co., a Korean major publisher for children’s books; and Min-seok Kim, chairman of The Pinkfong Company known for the YouTube mega-hit content Baby Shark, is the F&F chairman’s cousin.

“The popularity of Korean dramas was behind MLB’s rapid growth as one of the hottest outdoor brands in China,” said a fashion industry source. “F&F understands the synergy of the content and fashion businesses very well through its experience,” the source added.   

Handsome’s investment in Wagti came before its launch of golf clothing brand Lanvin Blanc in the second half of this year. The fashion company’s bet is understood as a differentiated marketing strategy in preparation for the sportswear brand launch. Wagti is selling products related to the history of the World Cup and the Olympics, in partnerships with The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and The International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Musinsa, a leading online fashion retailer in Korea, is using non-celebrity influencers for marketing. The fashion platform operates Street Snap, which features street fashion photos, to woo young consumers. The company privately manages about 1,000 fashionistas across Korea in a bid to grow the category, another fashion industry source said.

LF Corp., a fashion retailer and former LG Group affiliate, set up a live commerce team with 10 professionals last year to produce live broadcast and YouTube content to promote its fashion brands. Also, Samsung C&T Corp.’s fashion unit added the fashion community Diver to its application in February, in an effort to attract younger generations keen on street fashion.

Write to Jeong-Cheol Bae at bjc@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.