Big Brands adopt PSY’s Gangnam Style to Gain Social Media Buzz

Despite the latest issue faced by now-world-famous South Korean rapper PSY, we can’t deny the fact that his mega hit song “Gangnam Style” has taken over the world, one YouTube video view at a time (the song now has more than 900 MILLION views on YoutTube, by the way…) – and that includes the business world.

gangnam penguin style

The Korean Wave

The economic impact of the song is also enjoyed by Korean brands, as people are becoming more aware of South Korean culture – and products.

Of course, it would be absurd to say that the Korean Wave worldwide is triggered by that particular song; The wide variety of Korean Pop (K-pop) music, drama, cuisine, and so on are playing their own role.

Trend-based social media marketing campaigns are on a roll!

The marketing industry also realises the potentially-viral of everything related to Gangnam Style. The main target is obviously social media users – so big brands are riding at the back of the song’s popularity – and they seem to succeed.

Intel has, so far, gained the most benefit from its Gangnam Style-infused Facebook marketing effort. Referring to the data gathered by Unmetric, Intel’s Facebook photo post has gone viral, getting more than 500,000 Likes, persuading more than 40,000 shares and attracting more than 13,000 comments.

Okay, perhaps not all happy with what Intel is doing; but at least MOST are engaged and talk about what Intel is doing (including us!)… from Intel’s point of view, this is a mission accomplished.

Here is Intel’s much-talked-about photo posted on the company’s Facebook business page:

intel facebook photo

And Intel is not alone: There are other (global) organisations and brands jumping onto the Gangnam Style bandwagon – and succeed; Red Bull Racing, UK… International Cricket Council (ICC,) Dubai… Cadbury Celebrations, India… Starbucks, Malaysia… and the list goes on, and on, and on…

Unmetric, which has released the social media analytic data, also released related infographic (from the Shorty Award) – check this out:

Gangnam Style infographic
Image via Mashable

Even the infographic above is riding on the back of the hit song… Oh well, even THIS blog post you are reading right now IS doing the same thing, too!

It’s time and time again that riding the trends is one of the ways to go in launching a social media marketing campaign. As the impact of social media – and mobile technology – in marketing will be amplified in 2013 and beyond, it’s only logical for you and me to adopt the same strategy to engage our community.

So, what do you think? Will you adopt Gangnam Style in your marketing campaign? Will you ride the trends or be yourself in your marketing efforts? Please share your opinion by leaving a comment on this post (sharing this blog post to your friends and colleagues would also work just fine, too!)