Tourism Organization Launches 'K-Box Marketing' in the US and Europe

Example of K-Box composition. (Photo by Korea Tourism Organization)

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 21st that it will launch ‘K-Box Marketing’ in the United States, Europe, and Australia starting this May.

K-Box Marketing utilizes the recently popular ‘unboxing’ campaign in Europe and the U.S., representing a new concept of contactless marketing that leverages delivery and digital channels amid COVID-19 restrictions on outdoor movement. Last year, the Tourism Organization first attempted box marketing focused on K-Beauty at its Paris office. This year, under the slogan ‘Unbox your Korea,’ it will implement K-Box Marketing with various country-specific themes featuring popular Korean-related content such as movies, food, and traditional games.

In the U.S., with the film Minari, starring actress Youn Yuh-jung, emerging as a strong Oscar contender, K-Box Marketing will focus on Korean films. The Korea Tourism Organization’s LA office will collaborate with ‘Munch Addict,’ a leading local snack box company with over 30,000 subscribers, to launch an online event starting May 5. Additionally, on May 22, a screening of Minari will be held at the Paramount Drive-In Theater near Los Angeles, where participants will receive K-Movie Boxes. The K-Movie Box will include the Blu-ray DVD of Parasite, a Minari recipe guidebook, a Netflix guidebook, a Korea tourism guide, honey butter chips, Chapaguri cup noodles, red ginseng pouches, and omija (schisandra berry) drinks, all Korean snack products.

Unboxing marketing, which has recently become a major content trend on YouTube, will also be conducted simultaneously. The organization has prepared a K-Movie Box unboxing event featuring well-known U.S. film critics Flick Pick and Karsten Runquist. The Tourism Organization plans to actively promote this through major local media such as The Hollywood Reporter and the LA Times.

In France, a ‘K-Play Box’ inspired by families staying at home is set to be launched. This play box, to be released next month by the Korea Tourism Organization’s Paris office, is developed in collaboration with French play box manufacturer EnVoyaJeux. The box will contain board games themed around Korean traditional games such as Hangul games, Yutnori, and knot-making.

In Russia, box marketing will focus on promoting key tourist cities such as Gangneung, Busan, and Andong. The Korea Tourism Organization’s Moscow office is collaborating with OZON, Russia’s largest e-commerce online shopping mall with 2.5 million members. A landing page will be created on OZON’s travel site, and an augmented reality (AR) event using a special Instagram story filter will be held, with participants receiving K-Boxes.

Additionally, K-Box events featuring various themes such as introducing Korean traditional food and live temple food classes will be held in Canada, the UK, and Germany during the first half of the year.

Kim Jongsuk, head of the Korea Tourism Organization’s Oceania Team, said, “K-Box Marketing is a project aimed at boosting enthusiasm for Korean tourism in the post-COVID era by utilizing diverse Korean-related content in long-distance markets such as the U.S., Europe, and Australia.” He added, “The promotional reach to consumers through the organization’s SNS channels, local networks, and influencers is expected to reach approximately 20 million.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.