Design management in Korean entertainment business

Creative economy is considered as a new growth engine for generating new business opportunities through cultivating an individual's creativity, skills and talents in South Korea. Among all the creative industries, entertainment industry becomes one of the most highly value-added businesses. Music, visual arts, performing arts and many other industries involve in the amusement activities, and ultimately build up the entertainment industry. Although design plays significant roles for the success of entertainment industry, the particular contributions of design management has not been deeply identified. Meanwhile, ‘Hallyu (the Korean Wave)’ has been spreading out worldwide in entertainment industry thanks to the activities of major Korean entertainment management agencies such as SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment. This research aims to identify the opportunities of creative strategy in entertainment industry by managing design. Corporate branding and design strategies will be investigated in order to find the specific role of design management in each corporation. Then case studies on each corporation's application of design management will be followed. Major characteristics of design management in each entertainment agency will be identified, and comparative studies will be followed. Tentative findings of preliminary investigations are as follows: YG Entertainment, the sole sponsor of PSY, can be a classical example of active design management. YG has distinctive corporate identity and philosophy, and interacts with their musicians. Moreover, it launched lifestyle brand ‘You Great’ reflecting YG Entertainment's company spirits in collaborations with design company called Millimeter Milligram (MMMG) and Gentle Monster. On the other hand, SM Entertainment has no design strategy in corporate level. Although, roles of design in each company may be different depending on their own situation, the impact of design management has increasingly recognized. This research will present how design management contribute toward the success of entertainment business as a part of creative economy in Korea.