[Courtesy of Lotte]

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Lotte Group is aiming to put its content business on track and further monetize its various intellectual property assets across its retail, food, and culture businesses.

The South Korean conglomerate said on Monday that it would be hosting “Pokémon Town 2024 with Lotte” from April 26th to May 19th, 2024, at the Seoul Lotte World Tower and Mall, the first comprehensive content business project that it will be conducting at a group-wide level.

This pioneering project will see ten Lotte affiliates participate, including Lotte Corporation, Lotte Shopping, Lotte Wellfood, Lotte GRS, Lotte Department Store, and Hotel Lotte, signifying a united front in leveraging the content business model.

During the event, the Jamsil area, which is home to the Lotte World Tower, will be adorned with Pokémon-themed attractions, including giant art balloons of Lapras and Pikachu at Seokchon Lake alongside a range of Pokémon mini-games and parade events at the tower’s Arena Grass Square.

In a move to capitalize on the Pokémon intellectual property even further, Lotte affiliates such as Lotte Wellfood, Lotte Chilsung Beverage, Lotte GRS, and Hotel Lotte are set to launch exclusive licensed products. Lotte Cultureworks and the Lotte Concert Hall are also preparing for the theatrical release of the animation movie “Pokémon: Stories from the Johto Region - The Final Chapter,” accompanied by an animation concert, to commemorate Pokémon’s 25th anniversary.

Content business, which involves planning products, services, and spaces linked to IP to provide customers with content experiences, is increasingly seen as a key driver for attracting customers to proprietary channels within the retail industry.

Lotte has already successfully used content IP across its subsidiaries, examples of which include Lotte Foods’ Ghana Chocolate House and Lotte Department Store’s Christmas Market.

To spearhead these efforts, Lotte formed a dedicated team within Lotte Corporation’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Management Innovation Office. The team is tasked with designing large-scale campaigns, forging partnerships with global content companies, and discovering new content business models, or activities that would be challenging for individual affiliates to execute on their own. This structure not only fosters synergy among various Lotte affiliates but also enables the exploration of diverse business models beyond specific business domains.

The collaboration also opens avenues for IP-holding companies to diversify their revenue streams via Lotte’s integrated marketing strategies spanning food, retail, culture, and services. Building on its experience with Korean and international IP owners, Lotte plans to develop new IPs further and pursue various IP-related business ventures for an innovative blend of content and commerce.