I'M GLAD I'M NOT IN LOVE IN SOUTH KOREA
My birthday falls on February 17th so I've never been all that
excited about Valentine's Day, preferring instead a day that's
all about me! Plus, like many others, I hate the
commercialization of holidays. It could be worse however; I
could be in love in South Korea.
Korean Coupledom
With love celebrations falling on the 14th of every month, plus
anniversaries and important milestones (i.e. 100 days since a
couple has met), South Korea has perfected the commercialized of
romantic relationships in a way that would make even North
American marketers envious. It all starts with Diary Day in
January, where lovers present each other diaries with all the
important aforementioned dates circled in red. With the plethora
of dates to observe throughout the year, it's probably the most
practical of the love holidays!
February 14th is celebrated in much the same fashion as it is in
North America, except it is the girl that does all the giving.
The guy then has a month to ponder what to get his gal in return
and reciprocates on White Day, usually with elaborately wrapped
candy. Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Photo Day and Hug Day are
all quite self-explanatory.
And don't worry about singles in Korea. April 15th, Black Day,
is set aside for them to commiserate together and publicly eat
noodles in black bean sauce, in the hopes of meeting their soul
mates. If they are so fortunate, one month later they can
express their newfound love (or infatuation?) by exchanging
yellow roses. The unlucky (some may say lucky), who are still
dateless, meet for curry.
Searching for Love
Companies eying the increasingly wealthy Korean market - in
particular it's younger generation, are savvy to incorporate
these holidays into their marketing campaigns. The simple image
of the Absolut Vodka bottle has been used for years but evolves
in creative ways to convey different things in different
cultures. Sometimes it is as simple as changing the text of the
advertisement and at other times the image itself changes.
Consider the following ads. The first was used in South Korea in
advance of White Day and is very similar to an ad used in Miami
aimed at the Hispanic population. Vodka as an expression of your
undying love has also been used in Valentine's Day campaigns in
North American (incidentally the same image was used again with
the captions "Absolut Bravo" and "Absolut Amica").
The Opportunity
So if vodka spells love, what implications are there for your
product? Koreans trying to woo their lovers are always on the
lookout for something novel or cute (in South Korea cute sells
(think Hello Kitty), not sex).
For Canadian wine producers, what better day to launch a new
product than Wine Day on October 14th? Money Day in December may
seem overtly consumerist but Christmas is not widely celebrated.
I guess South Koreans decided to embrace the excesses of the
season without a religious pretext and it's a great time to
introduce a new consumer product to South Koreans.
If you would like more information about love holidays, send me
an e-mail and I'll pass along a news article with more details.
Copyright © International Strategies Ltd. 2005.
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