“Business Proposal” is undoubtedly one of the most successful K-dramas in the first half of 2022.
Buzzworthy feel-good romantic comedy “Business Proposal” is attracting much attention from viewers not only domestically but also internationally thanks to its fun plot and charming cast with great chemistry. The huge success of “Business Proposal” has also brought plenty of financial benefits to big companies that are involved in the drama’s production and distribution, namely Netflix, Kakao and Cross Pictures.
According to a March 31 report by FlixPatrol, a global rating site, “Business Proposal” topped Netflix charts in 21 countries on March 24, the most impressive achievement during its run of the first 10 episodes. “Business Proposal” also ranked first on Netflix’s “Top 10 Global TV non-English shows” in the last two weeks of March.
Kakao Entertainment is also benefiting immensely from the global success of “Business Proposal”. After the drama aired, more viewers are accessing Kakao’s webcomic and web novel platform, Kakao Page to read the original webtoon.
According to Kakao Entertainment, “Business Proposal” ‘s webtoon series has already been completed, but the platform has decided to re-release the series so that fans can read it while the drama is on air. In Thailand, the number of views has increased by 10 times and in Indonesia and Taiwan, the number is 13 times. “Business Proposal” eventually has become the most read Kakao’s webtoon recently.
The sales of Piccoma, which is a webtoon and web novel service company run by Kakao Japan in Japan, has doubled right after the drama aired.
Cross Pictures, a production company in which Kakao Page invested 5.8 billion KRW in 2020 to buy back a 49% stake, also gains much profit from the popularity of “Business Proposal”. Kakao Page has invested ambitiously on Cross Pictures to produce a hit webtoon-based drama of its own. As a result, “Business Proposal” is one of the first successes of this investment.
