Non-fungible tokens have become the latest marketing tool by South Korean companies, as many of them are issuing the digital asset to garner attention from young customers.

Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will launch a new collection of 10,000 Shooting Star NFTs on May 9 through its NFT marketplace.

The collection is a sequel to a short film released last month by the carmaker and Meta Kongz, a local blockchain technology platform company and the creator of an NFT brand of the same name. The launch of its new NFT collection is aimed at expanding customers’ brand experience into the “Metamobility universe,” a concept created by the carmaker.

The auto giant hopes to “create unique opportunities for NFT community members to join in the fun,” said Thomas Schemera, Hyundai Motor global chief marketing officer. The firm plans to launch more unique NFTs and introduce more member benefits, he added.

NFT communities and events take advantage of the buzzword to amass publicity. Hyundai has gained 127,000 members on its NFT community’s Discord, and 88,000 followers on the Hyundai NFT Twitter account.

In a move to highlight the company‘s legacy as being a presidential shoemaker since 1965, Hyungji Esquire said it would issue NFTs of shoes worn by former South Korean presidents -- former Presidents Park Chung-hee, Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung and Lee Myung-bak.

Based on job orders the company received from former presidents, the shoemaker has restored the shoes as NFTs. The tokens will be released on NFT marketplace OpenSea on Friday.

The project was designed to pay respect to the former presidents, the company said. All profits from NFT sales will be donated to charity, it added.

NFTs are an effective marketing tool, as it allows firms to communicate with the younger generation who seek new and special products while also rekindling the interest of company loyalists, said industry insiders.

With companies jumping into the NFT business, Korea’s NFT market -- which was valued at 14 billion won ($12.6 million) in 2021 -- is projected to reach 35 billion won by the end of 2022, according to data from Statista.

By Lee Seung-ku (seungku99@heraldcorp.com)