KaKao

Daum Kakao Launches Real Emoticons for KakaoTalk –

video clip based emoticons!

[Seoul, South Korea - November 13, 2014] Daum Kakao (co-CEOs Saehoon Choi and Sirgoo Lee), today launched Real Emoticons (realcons) on KakaoTalk, a new kind of emoticon that turns 2 second video clips into emoticons for use on KakaoTalk.

Realcons were developed as part of KakaoTalk’s continued efforts to add even greater enjoyment and value to the user’s chatting experience. Daum Kakao has been at the forefront of introducing new trends to mobile messaging, starting with the introduction of the digital item store as a content platform, to expanding the type and genre of emoticons to animated emoticons (anicons), emoticons with sound (soundcons), and now, emoticons that are more “real”(thus “real”cons) than reality.

The first set of realcons was developed as part of an exclusive partnership with Girl’s Day, a popular four-member girl music group in Korea. The 24 realcons feature Girl’s Day members Mina, Hyeri, Yura and Sojin and include a wide variety of fun and useful everyday expressions. Each realcon perfectly captures the essence and personality of each Girl’s Day member, adding a fun, new dimension to KakaoTalk chats. It’s almost as if the Girl’s Day members are speaking on behalf of the users. In addition, Mina and Hyeri show off their versions of Kakao Friends Neo and Apeach’s signature dance moves, a special gift to Kakao Friends fans around the globe.

Heather Hyunjoo Yeon, the director of KakaoTalk Digital Items Store at Daum Kakao said “Emoticons have grown to be more than just images. They have evolved to become a tool that helps enrich communication between friends and family. Understanding this, we at Daum Kakao continue to experiment and develop new genres of emoticons that can give our users further value.” And added, “For the past three years, KakaoTalk has led the evolution of emoticons, from still emoticons to animated emoticons, emoticons with sound and more, bringing on a new global trend to messaging. We will continue to uncover new ways to provide fun communication methods to our users.”

To celebrate the launch, KakaoTalk and Girl’s Day also unveiled a one-minute video that gives a behind-the-scenes look at how the realcons were created. The video is available on YouTube (link below).

The realcons are available on both Android and iOS, for users all around the world. They can be purchased at the KakaoTalk digital items store for $2.99 in KakaoTalk -> More menu -> Item Store. [END]

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[Appendix 1] Girl’s Day Real Emoticon Set

[Appendix 2] The Making of Girl’s Day Real Emoticons for KakaoTalk

  YouTube Link: http://bit.ly/GirlsDayRealcons

For Inquiries]

Sonia Im (sonia.im@daumkakao.com)

Buster Suh (buster.28@daumkakao.com)

Kane Lee   (kane.yklee@daumkakao.com)

Daum Kakao]

Daum Kakao is a global mobile lifestyle platform company with services spanning messaging, mail, search, news, advertising, gaming, e-commerce, music, maps and more. Based in South Korea, Daum Kakao reaches consumers, businesses and others via its portfolio of popular assets: KakaoTalk, KakaoGame, Daum Mail and Daum Cafe, among others. In line with the vision to “Connect Everything” Daum Kakao plans to center its focus on creating an environment of real-time interconnectivity, thereby enriching lives and delivering value to consumers, businesses, partners and shareholders alike. Daum Kakao is committed to building new experiences by harnessing its successful 20-year legacy of innovation as an Internet and mobile services leader. More information is available at www.daumkakao.com