Hallyu high: Why Korean stars are fronting Indian brands

Mumbai: It isn’t every day that you hear a former K-pop singer belt out “deewana” and “khazana,” dressed in Santa Claus red next to a Christmas tree. But Korean singer-entertainer Aoora pulled it off with a hook step to boot, promoting a year-end dance challenge for Pulse Candy.

But why would a mass-market candy, best known for its desi masala flavours, bring on a Korean star to promote the brand?

That India is in the throes of a ‘Hallyu’ wave is not new. Gen-Z consumers are spending their time and money on everything from authentic ramyun and Korean food to K-pop and other Korean music, bingeing on K-dramas with subtitles and dubbed in a variety of languages, and trying on a variety of Korean skincare, makeup and fashion brands.

But as the stars of Korean mainstream culture become more familiar to Indian audiences, brands are bringing these faces to the country, appointing them brand ambassadors or extending pan-Asian ad campaigns to the country.

Take Crocs, for instance, which released a monsoon-themed ad campaign last year starring Hindi film actor Siddhant Chaturvedi and Korean actress Chae Soo-bin. The two-and-a-half-minute meet-cute, in the style of the quintessential Korean drama, racked up 20 million views on Crocs India’s YouTube account and 410 million views on the brand’s Instagram handle alone.

A few weeks later, Colgate India extended an Asia-Pacific ad campaign to the country for their Visible White Purple toothpaste starring Korean singer-actress IU; the video has nearly 58 million views on Colgate India’s YouTube alone. Besides, the company is selling Colgate-branded IU fan merchandise on platforms like Amazon and Blinkit. An IU Limited Edition kit includes a tote bag and a ‘gratitude journal’ autographed by the Korean singer.

DS Group’s Pulse Candy is probably among the first homegrown, mass-priced brands to partner a Korean celebrity. Starring Aoora, a former K-pop band member, singing about the Pulse ran a dance challenge in December with Aoora singing a jingle in Hinglish, all about the flavours that Pulse comes in and how these tangy flavours can make anyone go ‘deewana’ (crazy). The video has over 6.7 million views on Instagram alone across Pulse and Aoora's accounts.

“With K-pop enjoying a massive following amongst India’s Gen Z, we saw a unique opportunity to engage this audience through a global pop culture phenomenon,” Jyotiroop Barua, business head, confectionary, DS Group, told Mint. What also helped is that Aoora, unlike any other Korean celebrity, “embraced Indian culture, language and music,” fitting in with Pulse’s rooted image while connecting with Gen Z, Barua added.

Consumer brands in India have already been latching on to Korean consumer trends to woo younger, savvier Indian consumers across categories. Gochujang-flavoured chips are now offered by all major food makers in India, including Too Yumm!, ITC’s Bingo and Prataap Snacks’ Yellow Diamond. Venture capital-backed skincare brands are tapping into ‘K-Beauty’ trends for growth, Mint previously reported. And all major streaming platforms, from Netflix on the premium end to the freemium platform Amazon MX Player, are offering K-dramas with subtitles and Indian-language dubbing.

Aoora, however, has taken it further than other Koreans wooing the Indian market. He moved to India in February 2023, settling into the country’s culture, collaborating with local artists and recreating local music.

“Aoora came experimentally to India because he loved Bollywood content, he felt the freedom to make content that is there in India is not there in Korea,” Rachna Puri, cofounder of Mumbai-based digital marketing agency VectorMob, said in an interview. Puri’s firm represents Aoora in India.

“He had seen the strict discipline of the life of a K-pop idol. When he went solo, he first worked in Indonesia and Malaysia.” Soon enough, Aoora was invited to perform in Jammu by the (then) Union territory’s tourism board, and later by Uttar Pradesh for a government-organised expo. “We got a K-pop bus and did a meet-and-greet across schools all over UP,” Puri said. “We did K-pop songs, but Aoora also sang in Hindi. He sang ‘Woh kisna hai’ in Mathura.” He has also performed at Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival.

Eventually, Aoora was invited to feature in Bigg Boss in 2024 and later, he featured in a TV soap made by Balaji Telefilms. Since then, he’s done ad campaigns for personal care brand Nivea India, ITC’s Bingo for their Korean-flavoured chips, and the carmaker Kia India. He has also collaborated with singers in several Indian languages, including Malayalam and Tamil. He is now working on an original song inspired by Lord Shiva’s tandav and his own journey to India.

Consider K-Town, a Korean music festival organized by JetAlive, the live entertainment arm of gaming and digital entertainment company JetSynthesys. Last year was K-Town’s third edition held in Mumbai, headlined by Taemin and the singer duo Super Junior–D&E (an offshoot of the K-pop boy band Super Junior).

“From K-Town 1.0 to 3.0, the property has witnessed a consistent year-on-year growth of 20% in overall attendance, with K-Town 3.0 attracting over 6,500 attendees,” Kumar Razdan, head of JetAlive, told Mint. “Over the editions, the roster of participating brands has also expanded from food, beauty, fashion and lifestyle to include premium beverage and tourism brands as well. The biggest shift, however, has been in audience intent. What started as a largely fandom-led event has now become a calendarised cultural destination, attracting first-time attendees, repeat fans, and brand-driven audiences alike.”

K-Town’s brand sponsors have expanded from Korean and Asian-focused local brands to more mainstream names, including alcohol brand Heineken, RP Goenka-owned snacks brand Too Yumm! and cafe chain Blue Tokai, among others.

Korean acts are becoming a fixture in major Indian concerts; for example, Indie rock bands The Rose and Wave to Earth have performed in previous editions of Lollapalooza India.

India can expect more music inspired from K-pop acts. In September, the South Korean music label Hybe opened an office in Mumbai. Hybe is best known for creating the Korean boyband BTS and K-pop-inspired groups in the US, such as Katseye. It is now reportedly looking to create one all-boys and one all-girls band in India, just like it did in the US. Girl band Katseye went viral last year for its music video-style advertisement for Gap Denim in the US.

Yet, VectorMob’s Puri says there is a long way to go in making Korean faces mainstream enough that more brands make them the face of their advertisements in India.

“A lot of kids in tier-2 and tier-3 cities message Aoora asking him, ‘when are you coming here again from BTS?’” she said. “Many of them don’t know Korea or Korean culture at all, although they know BTS and assume it is a country from where Korean stars come. A lot more needs to be done for Korean sensibilities and influence to reach the mass paying audience in India.”