Korea

44
Country starter pack
Sales & marketing in Korea
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 78 per cent of Koreans use smart phones
with a significant majority of these between the
ages of 18 and 24. 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 12
million users in 2014, 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.
Before making a final decision, be sure to meet with the
potential partner in their own market – this allows you
to get to know them better and observe how much they
know and their presence in their own market. Also ask
your potential business partner for trade references and
consider using a professional credit checking agency to
confirm their financial stability.
Knowledge of the market
When assessing the right partner, consider:
• Do they have good networks and contacts?
• What is their experience in that sector? Do they have
good knowledge and have they represented a similar
product previously? Can they help with marketing?
• A well-established company with a good network of
contacts may not be flexible or open to your ways of
business.
• A young, energetic company will tend to be flexible,
innovative and trying to prove their worth. The downside
is they may have limited experience or contacts.
3.5 MARKETING
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. That’s why most
luxury cars sold in Korea are black, why so many Korean
apartment blocks are made from the same blueprints, and
why less than a half-dozen movies make up more than 90
per cent of the country’s box-office take. 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
• The presence in commercial areas (such as in Seoul
and other cities) of over 80 mega-LED screens
strategically positioned with 24/7 promotions
• Hundreds of TV and radio stations
• Almost 700 major advertising agencies (both foreign
and domestic companies).