Marketing your business in Korea

Korean product lifecycles are much quicker than in Australia. A new product or brand’s sales will explode but often decline just as precipitously. Individual consumers pick their goods, at least partly, in order to conform to group patterns. As a result, Korea has fewer niche markets than Australia, and it can be harder to forecast which products will be adopted next.

Korean consumers are strongly influenced by group dynamics and follow dominant trends. Some buying decisions are more influenced by group dynamics than others. For example, Koreans tend to buy Korean-made cars, entertainment and spirits in order to confirm their status in society.

The selection of your advertising media in Korea, as elsewhere, depends on the product and demographic. Various mediums exist, including:

  • Thousands of promotional sites on Korea’s extensive collection of bus stops, subway stations, railways and airports
  • Social media apps and the strong influence online communities can have especially with Korea’s younger generations
  • Hundreds of TV and radio stations
  • Almost 700 major advertising agencies (both foreign and domestic companies)
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However, the power of the internet cannot be underestimated. Korea is the most wired country in the world, and an online presence is essential for marketing, whatever you are selling. Koreans in their 40s, 50s and even 60s make a high proportion of their purchasing decisions based on what they find on their PCs and on their mobile phones.

Although many options, particularly ones relating to modern technology, exist for marketing and advertising products, it is important to use both traditional and new media. When selecting a Korean advertising company, make sure the account manager is not just the best English speaker on staff and insist on someone who is mature and has credentials with publishers and editors.

Korea’s leading social media apps

Although Korea’s market is small compared to others in Asia, it is easier to have targeted marketing campaigns on social media – a necessity for building a brand presence amongst Koreans.

Over 80 per cent of Koreans use smart phones with a significant majority of these under
40. Many users read product reviews, gather information and engage in online communities through social media apps, which often lead to online purchases. The prominent apps to consider for your marketing strategy include:

Kakao Talk – the number one social network in Korea with an estimated
48 million monthly active users.
The app offers users a multimedia messaging service, free calls, event scheduling, and in-app gift shopping. Many brands use the app for marketing through the messaging platform.

Facebook – with an estimated 16 million users in 2015, Facebook can
be used to conduct targeted marketing campaigns using demographic and geographical specific information.
A growing trend in Korea is using Facebook’s “mobile target block” feature with videos and focused advertisement campaigns.

Line – part of Korea’s Naver Corporation, Naver being Korea’s search engine equivalent to Google, it is estimated to have 14 million users. Most popular in other Asian countries such as Japan and Thailand, Line’s “stickers” – larger emoticons – are increasingly a favourite amongst Korean users and can be used for branding and promotion of products through free or paid stickers.

Want to learn more? Explore our other South Korea information categories or download the Korea Country Starter Pack.