Doing MICE business using K-contents in Asia

3 things to know about MICE business using K-contents

When the drama "Squid Game" topped Netflix, I was still in doubt. It could be happened that Korean drama hits just once, but I thought it would not be possible Korean dramas would be No.1 continuously among global premium contents. However, my thought was changed as soon as the "All of us are dead" topped Netflix again.

From K-pops to movies and dramas, K-contents seems to be a constant factor for a success in contents business worldwide.

As Covid-19 virus is changing into Omicron, hospitality businesses like travel, hotel and MICE are ready to reopen. Even we still don't know when the market would recover, I believe that it is time to be ready for doing business again.

Korean contents are definitely booming. Not only dramas but movies and songs are popular worldwide. Especially Asian people can feel Korean stories better based on similar cultures. So MICE business players including venue owners, event organizers and MICE cities in Asia can also use K-contents for attracting visitors.

How to do MICE business using K-contents in Asia

I had an experience to feel the power of K-contents for the first time. When I held an exhibition in 2014 as the organizer of SBS drama 'My Love from the Star', more than 100,000 Chinese tourists visited our exhibition during 3 months in Seoul.

Actually they all hoped to be lovers of the main character. In addition, the hope created a business model that leads beyond the sale of tickets and goods for exhibitions, to the rental of exhibition halls for events, urban tourism, and exports of Korean content exhibitions. Contrary to my belief that all of this will end in a single mirage, I have since been commissioned for business such as exhibition production and export of various K contents, including 'Descendant of the Sun'. That's why I can tell you how to do MICE business using K-contents in Asia.

1) MICE venues : Use K-contents as an anchor for attracting MICE events

Once a drama is released, it does not end only with the success of the drama. The power of the Hollywood business is to maximize profits with multi-use businesses such as movie box office success-> publishing-> animation-> goods-> exhibition-> theme parks. We have witnessed the profit model of Marvel's Avengers over the past decade. Not only in theaters, but also in marts, shopping malls, cafes, and exhibitions. Substituting this formula into K-content can generate a similar profit model.

In particular, MICE venues such as convention centers and complex resorts have spaces for exhibitions so it can jointly collaborate with contents companies to hold K-content exhibitions in venue. The profits generated here are not just tickets, but through this K-content exhibition, various international conferences and MICE events can be attracted, and global visitors who participated in MICE can create a variety of derivative businesses, including retail marketing by K-content exhibitions and additional events creation. K-contents are creating a new profit model for MICE Venue.

2) MICE organizers : Create unforgettable experience using K-contents

MICE is an experience business. Since an information delivery and product sales have become commonplace online, it is not easy to maintain its reputation if MICE is held only for the purpose of acquiring information and selling products. MICE participants will increase when people have a reason to go there. The Ministry of Justice in Korea recently announced that starting this year, it will issue so-called "Korean Wave Visa" for short-term stay even if foreigners come to learn K-pop. This means that visits for special experiences, not just sightseeing for shopping, will become important after Covid-19.

K-contents will create a reason to go there for the MICE event. K-contents can bring in global attractive colors in boring seminars. In addition, trade exhibitions using K-contents can show a "transition space" that enters a another new world. Some Korean trade shows are already using K-contents to create unique experiences for visitors.

3) MICE cities : Increase the city's stay time with K-contents

The role of MICE City is to increase the stay time of visitors rather than to increase the number of visitors. MICE visitors who stay for a long time in the city can create a virtuous cycle of MICE participation -> business investment -> local job creation. Therefore, no matter how big an event is, if a visitor leaves the city after only looking around for half a day in the afternoon, MICE's effect will inevitably decrease. MICE city should increase the length of stay of MICE participants so that the city can be used as a base for business.

K-contents are perfect elements to achieve the purpose of MICE city. MICE participants will naturally visit various parts of the city when K-contents-linked exhibitions, concerts, and business collaborations are carried out using the city's infrastructure - convention center, unique venue, and corporate cluster. For example, world-class art galleries like Tate Modern and Bilbao Guggenheim use their own contents to attract corporate events and revitalize urban tourism. K-contents are not just an object of viewing, but a sufficiently attractive means as a medium to attract corporate business events and promote investment in the region. When the city's stay time increases, MICE will be respected as a member of the local economy.

As we see as above, MICE industry can create new business beyond events when it combines with K-contents. Especially MICE venues, organizers and MICE cities can collaborate with K-contents to create a new MICE business. The time is coming.