GONGJU — Along the Jemincheon stream in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, on the 16th, the streets were crowded even on a weekday afternoon with people carrying bags marked "Gotgot." Posters bearing the slogan "Let hidden places be revealed, and revealed places shine" were put up in front of restaurants, cafes and bookstores scattered along the 3.5-kilometer stretch.
This is the site of "Gotgot," a program to revitalize local shopping districts that Kakao (035720.KS) launched for the first time this year. Gotgot is a customer-participation local experience brand newly introduced by Kakao. Rather than having visitors stop only at well-known restaurants, it encourages them to experience a range of content within the district that reflects the area's value.
The project consists largely of "Magazine Gotgot" and "Gotgot Walk." Magazine Gotgot carries the stories of 40 shops across various sectors near the old downtown around the Jemincheon stream, from cafes, rice cake shops and other food and beverage businesses to craft studios and gift shops. Gotgot Walk is an offline event linking about 20 of the shops featured in the magazine with local landmarks.
Merchants lead the effort to promote the area's value
Kakao selected participating shops centered on those that could convey the region's distinctive stories and value. One of them is "Stranger Than Paradise," a bar along the Jemincheon stream that is part of the Gotgot Walk course. The bar, which opened in February this year, brews and sells mead, a honey wine made by fermenting the sugar in honey with yeast.
Lee Jae-cheon, who runs Stranger Than Paradise, is an expert who has taught home brewing for 15 years and takes part in most of the Gotgot programs. "I wanted to make mead better known to the public while also widely promoting the appeal of Gongju as a place," Lee said. "Working with Kakao has brought noticeable energy to a quiet small city."
Cafe "Gongmuljip," which opened in Gongju in 2020, also joined the project. Gongmuljip seeks to explore and promote the value of Korea's disappearing native grains. It buys grain from elderly farmers who continue to grow native varieties and sells it in various forms, including misutgaru, a roasted grain powder drink, and coffee.
Cheon Jae-park, brand director at Gongmuljip, said the direction was a good fit "because this is not a typical magazine that simply gathers famous shops, but one that promotes the area's value and takes a broader view of each shop's story." Cheon added, "This project centers on domestic travelers, but if the opportunity arises, I hope it lays the groundwork for showing Gongju's appeal to overseas travelers as well."
Linked to KakaoTalk Channel, KakaoMap and other services
A distinctive feature of the project is that it connects visitors' offline experiences to online services. The link begins with the magazine. Scanning the QR code attached to each featured shop lets visitors receive discount coupons through the "KakaoTalk Channel" set up by the owner, or check visitor reviews and menus on the map app "KakaoMap," depending on the shop.
"Walk Bingo," a QR stamp tour designed to keep visitors on site longer, is linked to Kakao's Talk Digital Card feature. Each time users scan one of 12 QR codes hidden around the district, a digital card for that shop or the district is added to their KakaoTalk account. Users receive rewards at each stage as they complete a line.
Kakao is also running "Regular Shops From Gotgot," a special exhibition on its commerce platform Kakao Makers, to expand sales channels for small business owners. Advance reservations for the program were taken through KakaoTalk's booking service, and searching for "Gotgot Walk Gongju" on KakaoMap shows the main courses.
Through this, Kakao intends to let small business owners maintain points of contact with visitors even after the Gotgot program ends. For example, if someone who visited once during the event stays on as a friend of the shop's Talk Channel, the owner can later send messages and coupons directly to encourage a return visit. "We expect building this kind of digital infrastructure to lead to a real and lasting increase in sales for the Gongju shopping district," a Kakao official said.
Until all local governments nationwide are covered
Kakao is investing in local cooperation projects because local shopping districts and the online ecosystem are closely connected. "The belief that online platforms also thrive and the ecosystem becomes healthier when small business owners and local shopping districts are doing well is the starting point of this project," said Kim Eun-hwa, local impact leader at Kakao.
Gotgot is also an attempt to address the limits of "Project Dangol," which Kakao has run since 2022. Project Dangol focused on helping merchants in traditional markets and shopping streets with their digital transition, with 325 shopping districts nationwide taking part in its training. But after concluding that expanding digital capabilities had limits in actually reviving local shopping districts, Kakao moved to a customer-participation project that draws consumers into the shops.
Kakao will provide support so that local small business owners, local creators and local governments can continue running shopping district revitalization programs together even after this event ends. It is opening up Gotgot's design and brand intellectual property for merchants and local governments to use freely, and sharing its know-how in planning and running the event. Follow-up programs are also being discussed, including Gotgot Walk tour routes and flea markets for merchants who could not take part this time.
Kakao plans to expand the Gotgot program, which began in Gongju, across the country. "I hope this project continues so that it can cover 'every corner' of all 226 local governments," Kim said. "Even after Kakao's direct support ends, I want to build a solid foundation so that the cooperative structures they have built can sustain and develop themselves under their own momentum."