Blog 10: Consumer Behavior/ Advertising Method of the Korean Wave

If you have no clue what the Korean Wave is, let me tell you. The Korean Wave, aka the Korean Hallyu, is the increasing popularity of the Korean culture. This wave began in the 1990s with the spread of Korean dramas. During the 90s, the wave was slowly moving along, but not many people had much interest in it. This soon changed when we enter the start of 21^st century. While Nsync and Backstreet Boys were leaving the “boy band” scene behind, the Korean culture adopted it. With the rise of Korean pop music, the Korean Wave began to steady increase its popularity. By the time we hit 2007, the Korean culture had branched out all over Asia with musicians, TV series and movies paving the road for future investments. Without a doubt by 2010, the Korean Wave had become a global phenomenon. Not to mention with the previous trend of Psy’s Gangnam Style in 2012, the Korean craze became better known. Now what does this have to do with advertising? Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Korean entertainment is just a big showcase that everyone enjoys watching, but behind the scene there is a lot more happening. From the promoters and advertisers to the dedicated fans; the Korean Hallyu is just getting started. Advertisers work the same everywhere you go. The Korean entertainment is no different. The music scene is the most successful section of the entertainment business; Kpop will never die. Why, one might ask? Because music never dies, it’s a universal language. Even, if one consumer stops listening to a band’s music, it would not affect them in anyway because the band would probably gain a hundred new fans with every new song they make.

One of the biggest companies in the Korean entertainment industry is SM Entertainment. They have established the biggest celebrities in the Korean Entertainment and continue to create new artists continuously. Their marketing strategy is very clever. For example, when EXO, a 12-member boy band, released their album “Wolf,” their company displayed their album cover all over the streets and on public transportation. This made fans and even regular people notice them, which initiated their popularity. Not only that, but their fan base was already stable so the company was quick to realize that dedicated fans would buy ever product that had EXO’s face on it, so the company released at two versions of the album which doubled their profit. Both versions of the album sold out and many fans demanded for a restock of the albums. Whether the album was a “real” music experience or not, fans demanded for more copies because inside the albums contained collectable cards with the certain band member’s on it. Fans were also motivated to buy as much albums as they can because inside the albums was a code for a chance to “meet and greet” the band in real life. With this type of promotion for EXO’s album many fans waited for hours to buy the album and some fans even went as far as to buy albums in stores and online.

When you think about this, we realize that this method of promotion was a smart way of getting fans to buy EXO’s album. I mean, if we think about, not too many people or anyone at all still buys albums. They simply just buy it off of iTunes, but for the Korean Entertainment, a physical album gives the fans the opportunity to actually see their favorite artist in real life, which is a once in a lifetime chance. Giving the fans this once in a lifetime experience assures the fan’s dedication for their favorite musician and allows the fans to continue to support the artist’s music and promotions no matter what. The fans will always be expecting something from the musicians and the musicians would always provide the fans with a concert or albums. Either way the company and the musicians get their profit in the end because of the fan’s support. It’s a successful two-way street for both parties.

Blog 9: Environmental Campaigns

Digital technology has innovated our lifestyle and Green Peace knows it very well. One of Green Peace’s major call-to-action is to stop the drilling in the Arctic. Drilling the arctic can lead to severe consequences and it harms the biodiversity in the Arctic; anything that happens in the Arctic can also effect our global environment overall. In this case, Green Peace started a social media movement called #WorstJoke Campaign. This campaign asks people to most upload their worst joke on a social media medium; whether it was on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Vine. This movement allowed for many people to participate wherever they were and it did not involve much hard work or any cost. It was a free movement that advocated for the Arctic’s safety. Through this campaign, Green Peace compiled a list of the top worst joke from celebrities and iconic figures to regular people. This movement was created to help bring awareness to the harmful occurrence in the Arctic.

Green Peace, Worst Joke Campaign was fairly successful due to the fact that it not involve an actually event that needed people to be present in their form, but rather through their identity on social media was enough. Digital technology allowed for the diversity and a unified group that stood on the same side. With the growth of technology and social media platforms, taking problems, such as the Arctic Drilling, to the Internet can lead to good and bad solution. In this case, it was a successful movement. There were over hundreds of people who help advocate for this cause. Not only was it a fun and unique concept of advocating, stop the drilling, but it also highlighted that social media could be used for social and cultural support no matter what the topic or problem is. Technology has allowed us to become our own personal activist for our own rights and beliefs we believe in.

Blog Post 8: Consumer Behavior

Adidas is a sportswear brand that has been a prevailing trend in our current generation.

The competition with other sportswear like Nike, Reebox and Pump has swing Adidas on and off with its trend, but there is still a ton of people who wear and support Adidas. Without a doubt Adidas comes to your mind when someone mentions the word “sportswear.” Adidas market towards an ambitious and tough audience that enjoys working hard. Their slogan is “Impossible is nothing,” which brings the audience into believing themselves and having self-confidence. Adidas is not a brand that is going anywhere soon, but with the increasing production of shoe and clothes series from Nikes to New Balance; Adidas had become sideline sports brand. This does not necessarily mean Adidas is not popular (it’ll always be a top brand), it simply means that Adidas seems to be lacking in promotions and needs to bring forth modern and fresh concepts to the table.

This being said some might see Adidas is lacking in promotions and ideas but in fact their inability to bring forth fast and new innovation has been their strength all along. With the recent trend of “Back to the Basics” and the whole “throw back…” culture, Adidas has was gaining back their popularity through their classic kicks that were a hit back in the 80s and 90s. Adidas recently restocked their shelves with the vintage shell-toed Superstar sneakers. This pair is the recreation and innovation of the original shoe that came out in 1960s. Although, this Superstar footwear has just been newly released, its popularity has not skyrocketed as much as it has in Asia. Every teen and young adult has a pair of these Superstar sneakers in Asia. It’s the fashion trend and it does not seem to be dying any time soon. Celebrities endorse them on stage, at fashion events and in paparazzi snapshots. This current trend has become so big in Asia that people would go out of their way to buy a pair of knockoff if it was not possible to get an original pair. This idea of bringing back these original sneakers was extremely smart. They target our generation through indirect nostalgic emotions, which is fairly big trend at the moment. They were able use what the audience enjoys most and bring it back to life. 

Not only through the use of social media, but iconic figures play a big role in this endorsement. What could motivate a consumer to wait in line for anything? The answer is a celebrity. We have celebrities like David Beckham, Pharrell, Damian Lillard and Rita Ora who are promoting this returning series. These four celebrities might deem an odd combination, but in fact it was a smart choice. None of these celebrities are the same nor do they have the same audience, which means that Adidas will have gain a more diverse group of consumer through these iconic figures. Adidas has been improving and they will continue to run as sportswear trendsetter for a long time.

Blog Post 7: Air France Consumer

Marcus Jaspers is 31 years old. He works at Cobalt International as the Head Director of Sales in San Francisco. Marcus is a man of habit; he always wears a suit with a tie and applies the same cologne every morning. On occasional days when he is not working, he can be seen in a casual t-shirt, fitted trousers and pair of polished training shoes taking his dog, Clyde, on a walk in his neighborhood. Marcus drives a luxury Mercedes around the bustling city. He is currently engaged to his girlfriend of three years, who works at Reynolds Inc. as an assistant editor. Even though Marcus is in his early thirties, he still considers himself young at heart. He listens to oldie rock when he wants to impress people and he enjoys action-packed films along with war movies, but occasionally he’ll give in to rom-coms with his fiancé. Everyone knows him as “Mr. Jaspers.” He not an approach man, but once you get to know him, he is fairly wise and charming. Marcus enjoys dinner at a tiny bistro near the shores and when he is short on time, he will drop by the café under his studio. Marcus is avid Mac user; he uses only the latest and fastest technology. For his vacation time, Marcus enjoys sailing his boat in the middle of the bay. He would be at sea for at least two days and enjoy the calm weather with a cup of whiskey in his hand. Jaspers is your relaxed, but sophisticated consumer who can afford a trip to France through Air France for a stroll in the city of love.