CRK — **Photo Courtesy: Devsisters USA.**

EVERLAST KOREA is proud to present an exclusive interview with two Devsisters USA employees that played pivotal roles in the recently launched BTS x Cookie Run: Kingdom collaboration - Jaechan Cho of the Marketing Team and Alyssa Liu of the Social Media Team. Jaechan and Alyssa shared their thoughts and experiences working on this collaboration and we hope EVERLASTERS, Cookie Runners, and BTS ARMY enjoy reading this exclusive interview, as well as enjoy getting a behind-the-scenes look at making this collaboration come to life!

MARKETING STRATEGY WITH JAECHAN CHO

EVERLAST KOREA: With the popularity of dance challenges and fans even coming up with their own community challenges to show their support for their favorite games and artists, Devsisters created a billboard riddle challenge! There seemed to be A LOT of preparation that went into this. What made you come up with this idea?

Jaechan Cho: As an ARMY myself, I always knew that ARMY loves to be part of BTS’ life. ARMY enjoys eating the same food BTS eats, going to places BTS has been to, collecting merch, etc. Anything BTS-related, ARMY is there.
The idea stemmed from multiple facts:
ARMY is welcoming.ARMY is a well-organized group.ARMY loves to share about BTS to others.ARMY loves to find out what BTS is doing.ARMY loves to go to places BTS has been to.

Putting all these facts together, I was able to come up with the riddle challenge idea, and with the support of my beloved colleagues, we were able to make the event come to life. We wanted to provide an opportunity for ARMY, to once again, show their love for BTS by working together and sharing more about BTS with the world.

EVERLAST KOREA: As a BTS ARMY yourself, what was it like to research about BTS and ARMY as part of your job?

Jaechan Cho: When I started the initial research, it definitely did not feel like my “job.” Although, I consider myself an ARMY, I knew that I needed to understand fellow ARMY on a deeper level. I also knew why I, myself, love BTS, but it was interesting learning about why fellow ARMY loves BTS as well.

EVERLAST KOREA: What was it like to come up with ideas to standout from other gaming collaborations BTS had done in the past?

Jaechan Cho: As BTS is a global group, BTS has had numerous collaborations. During our research, we learned that their “successful” collaborations stemmed from the brand showing “genuineness” and “authenticity.” The not so “successful” collaborations seemed to have failed because the brand would fail to understand ARMY. With this learning, we decided to focus on how to provide contents and experiences that ARMY would be able to enjoy. We wanted to show that we truly understand what ARMY would like to see in this collaboration, and I believe we have done so.

EVERLAST KOREA: Were there any specific fun moments you would like to share from the whole process of putting together a marketing strategy for this collaboration?

Jaechan Cho: The preparation phase was not always fun and smooth, but personally, the fun moments were all of the moments I spent with our team working on this campaign. Specifically, I enjoyed all of the brainstorming sessions, sharing our own understanding and ideas, then putting them into execution. My point is, this process was fun thanks to our team.

BTS X CRK & BTS ARMY X COOKIE RUNNERS

EVERLAST KOREA: The riddle challenge was made to invite BTS ARMY into Cookie Run: Kingdom. How was the response from BTS ARMY via social media? And how did it feel seeing Cookie Runners interacting with BTS ARMY as well?

Jaechan Cho: We had reactions of ARMY sharing their memories with BTS, sharing their guesses, discussing answers, posting photos of the hints, and meaningful comments. We even had a group of fans starting a shared document to code the hints and eventually solve the riddle!
Our team’s expectation of the Riddle Kingdom was to see ARMY and CRK fans helping each other to work on the riddles, and that’s exactly what we saw. Some of the comments we saw mentioned CRK fans asking ARMY for help and ARMY asking CRK fans for help. I’d say that witnessing them work together and eventually solve the riddle is a once-in-a-lifetime type of experience.

EVERLAST KOREA: BTS ARMY loves watching content about BTS, as Cookie Runners love watching content on Cookie Run: Kingdom. What can BTS ARMY and Cookie Runners gain from this player and viewer experience? What can they look forward to too?

Jaechan Cho: We have prepared lots of content that both ARMY and Cookie Runners can enjoy in the game. Some are easter eggs for ARMY to enjoy, some for Cookie Runners to enjoy, and some for both fans.
One core feature both fans can expect is the experience of going through the journey of attending a concert, starting from purchasing the ticket, to waiting for the concert date, then to being at the concert with fellow fans. They can also expect to “perform” with BTS Cookies to some of their top songs, which will be a unique experience that cannot be replicated in other games.

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH ALYSSA LIU

CRK — **Photo Courtesy: Devsisters USA.**

EVERLAST KOREA: There is a possibility that some Cookie Runners are part of BTS ARMY and vice versa. It’s even possible that BTS ARMY might become Cookie Runners after this collaboration. If you could tell BTS ARMY about the Cookie Runner community using only five words, what would they be?

Alyssa Liu: Passionate, creative, hardworking, growing, and of course, brave.

EVERLAST KOREA: From a community management standpoint, are there any similarities between BTS ARMY and Cookie Runners? Maybe in the sense of how they interact within their respective communities? (Fanart, cosplay, events, etc.)

Alyssa Liu: A lot of community management is rooted in being able to set the stage for the community to be empathetic, adaptive, and connect with one another. These two communities share a lot of characteristics of being an extremely strong fandom culture by expressing passion and excitement.
The bridge is really celebrating a group of people and characters who accept everyone for who they are and encourage that we all have our strengths, but it’s also okay to have weaknesses. I do love that part about both Cookie Runners and BTS ARMY.

EVERLAST KOREA: You play Cookie Run: Kingdom and are also the Senior Social Media Manager at Devsisters USA, so your experience with Cookie Runners and Cookie Run: Kingdom go deep. What can you tell BTS ARMY about why Cookie Runner’s love and support Cookie Run: Kingdom?

Alyssa Liu: I truly am a Cookie Runner as well, and from that experience, I want to tell BTS ARMY that everything Cookie Run: Kingdom puts out is truly a labor of love and extremely intentional to keep up the high quality, integrity, and of course pride in our work, and Cookie Runners notice and appreciate this. I hope all the love we poured into the integration reaches your hearts as well because we wanted to welcome you to Cookie Run: Kingdom the ARMY way.

THE BTS ARMY & COOKIE RUNNERS EFFECT

CRK — **Photo Courtesy: Devsisters USA.**

EVERLAST KOREA: As the game launches the new update including the BTS Cookies, is the community team ready to take on the power of BTS ARMY and Cookie Runners at the same time?! Yes, both communities can make anything trend within a split second!

Alyssa Liu: Of course we are! Our team understands fandom behavior and excitement. We love and accept the energy and think that it really reflects the passion people have, and I love that type of engagement, which helps me understand its challenges as well. Bring it on!

EVERLAST KOREA: Both BTS ARMY and Cookie Runners are known for their endless support. There is a possibility of these two communities supporting each other - with Cookie Runners inviting BTS ARMY into Kingdom and BTS ARMY being open to playing a game they’ve never played before. What do you think can make this collaboration between these two communities become a fun and special space for everyone on social media?

Alyssa Liu: I think the best part that we can all appreciate about this collaboration is the amount of intentional and fun features we’re adding that really highlights how special, cohesive, and filled with heart both the game and the integration is because it really was a labor of love and diving deep into ARMY’s love for BTS to “bake” the perfect batch of BTS Cookies.

EVERLAST KOREA: Lastly, as this collaboration begins in-game, are there any encouraging words you would like to say on behalf of the community team at Devsisters to BTS ARMY and Cookie Runners?

Alyssa Liu: From the Devsisters community team, BTS ARMY and Cookie Runners, we welcome all with open arms into the Cookie Kingdom because when we are welcomed and loved, we can be #BraverTogether. Welcome to the sweetest stage in the world!

CREDITS

We want to give a big thank you to Devsisters Corp. for allowing EVERLAST KOREA to cover their collaboration with BTS. We also want to give a big shoutout to Jaechan Cho and Alyssa Liu for taking the time to be interviewed. Devsisters Corp. is an international operating game developer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, including offices in Japan, Taiwan, and California. Devsisters Corp. is also traded on the Korean Stock Exchange. Over the last 12 years, with over 200 million game downloads worldwide, Devsisters' games and Cookie characters have become well-known and loved by players with a dedicated community that continues to grow, year over year.

SOURCES

All photos and videos are credited to Devsisters.

FOLLOW DEVSISTERS

DEVSISTERS - LinkedIn (KR)
DEVSISTERS - YouTube (KR)
DEVSISTERS - Official Website (KR)
DEVSISTERS - Twitter (EN)
DEVSISTERS - LinkedIn (EN)
DEVSISTERS - Official Website (EN)

BEHIND THE ‘BTS X COOKIE RUN:KINGDOM’ COLLABORATION