Big Hit Entertainment Explains How TinyTAN Will Help BTS’s Career
Back on August 8, Big Hit Entertainment dropped one of the cutest BTS videos yet—a TinyTAN animation called “Magic Door”. But TinyTAN isn’t just an adorable content bonus for fans—it’s actually another way to help BTS’s career. The company team behind TinyTAN (chief producer Ha Se Jung, R&D leader Ko Yoon Ah, art leader Kim Ki Bin, and CG leader Lee Min Kyu) gave an interview with The Korea Herald to explain all.
The first iteration of TinyTAN was announced way back in October last year as part of the BTS Pop-Up: House of BTS merchandise project. This August, the miniature animated group has made an official debut on BANGTANTV with “Magic Door”—a sweet story that features TinyTAN dancing to “Mic Drop”.
Now, Big Hit Entertainment has divulged a little more information on why they created the TinyTAN brand, and how it benefits BTS as a whole.
Big Hit IP‘s chief producer, Ha Se Jung, says that there were two main reasons behind the company’s decision to these create BTS-inspired characters. The first is ARMY; fans are always craving new ways to enjoy BTS content, and TinyTAN is a great solution.
Ha went on to explain that TinyTAN brings a new dimension to BTS’s music. The animated characters can express an imaginative vibe that the real BTS can’t, adding an extra layer of creativity to the songs.
Characters are freer and can express various things. We wanted to take advantage of that and create content that was only possible via imagination.
— Ha Se Jung, Big Hit IP
But fans aren’t the only reason Big Hit Entertainment decided to create TinyTAN. The animated characters also serve an important purpose: helping BTS’s career to flourish even more.
According to Ha Se Jung, TinyTAN will allow BTS to focus more on what’s important: “producing better music and preparing better performances“. As idols, music isn’t the group’s only commitment. They also need to star in advertisements, record content, and more on a regular basis. TinyTAN, however, helps relieve some of those responsibilities.
Just recently, for example, TinyTAN formed a partnership with Downy Korea. The animated characters starred in a commercial, and limited-edition versions of the fabric softener were released with the BTS characters on the label.
Not only does using TinyTAN for such purposes give BTS more time to be artists and creators, it also gives them a bigger budget for their projects. Ha Se Jung told The Korea Herald that revenue from TinyTAN’s projects will be “reinvested” into BTS, allowing them to create even better content.
This plan definitely fits in with Big Hit Entertainment’s revenue development over the past few years. Since 2017, the amount of money the company generates from intellectual property such as BT21 and the BTS Mattel dolls has been growing. The same goes for media content, which represented 13% of the company’s earnings in 2019.
Big Hit Entertainment also makes a significant proportion of its money from merchandise, which currently accounts for around one-quarter of the company’s revenue. So, it’s no surprise that they recently announced a plethora of TinyTAN products will be sold through Weverse, including figurines and stationery.
So, when you watch TinyTAN videos, you’re not just enjoying a cute and healing moment to make your day brighter. You’re also helping BTS grow as artists for years to come. Watch “Magic Door” for yourself here:
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