Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
TikTok to host first Agency Championship with Kakao Friends
A poster for TikTok's Agency Championship with Kakao Friends / Courtesy of TikTok
By Lee Gyu-lee
TikTok is launching its first live agency competition in Korea, teaming up with Kakao Friends for the Agency Championship. The TikTok LIVE feature, available in 150 countries, offers real-time caption translation and partners with agencies that represent TikTok creators to deliver diverse, creator-driven content.
The event, which will run from March 2 to 15, is aimed at bolstering the platform’s live content ecosystem by broadening agencies’ experience with live operations while encouraging creative activities and community engagement to support long-term growth.
Creators participating in the Agency Championship will earn points based on streaming time, virtual gifts and other activities, competing with fellow creators from the same agency. The combined performance of these creators will determine each agency's overall score with the finalists advancing through rounds.
“This structure highlights not only individual activities but also agency-level collaboration and operational capabilities,” the company said.
The competition brings together TikTok agencies and creators with Kakao Friends’ popular characters to drive engagement and creativity, such as using the Apeach character for the like button and offering an Apeach-themed filter.
Selected creators and agencies will receive Kakao Friends merchandise through a lottery to encourage creativity and diverse content production.
The championship is divided into five tiers by agency size: Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Rising Star, setting performance targets and rewards aligned with their scale.
Winning agencies in each league will receive various benefits, including special Kakao Friends merchandise packages, promotion coupons and creator recruitment cards. Notably, winning agencies in the Diamond, Gold, Silver and Bronze leagues will be given the opportunity to be featured on large-scale outdoor advertising at Samseong Station in southern Seoul in April.