How K-culture is redefining creativity

Entertainment-led advertising emerges as a new playbook for creating brand experiences

K-POP and K-culture are no longer subcultures enjoyed by a niche audience. As fashion, beauty and technology converge into a vast global cultural phenomenon, K-culture is becoming a shared cultural language that global brands use to communicate with consumers worldwide.

Global hits such as Squid Game and K-Pop Demon Hunters have become worldwide sensations, while a Billboard survey conducted last year found that 82% of respondents listened to K-pop throughout the week. Brands are now using K-culture to speak to consumers and draw audiences into their product and service experiences. Rather than simply referencing or borrowing from K-culture, brands are increasingly treating it as a core strategic asset in marketing.

The active use of K-culture in brand marketing accelerated after the global success of Squid Game. Global brands started integrating the Squid Game IP into their own brand universes, while fans of the series sought to engage directly with those brands.

“K-culture has now moved beyond a single content genre and is changing the very way brands build relationships with younger generations,” according to Seung-chul Yoo,  professor at Ewha Womans University. “For global brands, K-culture is likely to become not just a source of collaboration, but a creative infrastructure for designing brand experiences.”

• This is an excerpt from a report by Sookyung Kim and Dajeong Yu of BrandBrief, South Korea. Read the full report in the Lions Daily, published daily from June 21 to 25 – with two editions published on the last day of the Cannes Lions, Friday June 26.