A single tweet from BTS generates more engagement than most Fortune 500 brand campaigns. Jungkook once crashed a platform by eating ramen on livestream. This isn’t just stardom—it’s influence at a scale brands can only dream of. Last month at Cannes Lions, industry leaders gathered to unpack how South Korea’s K-pop industry, now a $20 billion global force, is shaping everything from advertising to soft power diplomacy. And at the heart of that conversation? A bold case study: how PepsiCo Korea partnered with girl group IVE to build genuine brand love.
The Rise of K-pop as Global Currency
K-pop isn’t just music anymore—it’s a full-spectrum cultural export. It merges fashion, beauty, fandom, and storytelling into a lifestyle movement with global reach. During a Cannes session titled Harnessing the Power of K-Pop, Margaret Key, CEO of MSL APAC, sat down with Hyun Joo Seo, Executive Producer at Starship Entertainment, and Yun Heon Lee, GM at PepsiCo Korea. Together, they explored how brands can tap into K-pop’s uniquely sticky power.
Seo put it bluntly: “K-pop artists aren’t just entertainers. They are human IP.”
That’s not exaggeration. From years of rigorous training in performance, etiquette, and media strategy to the use of pre-debut positioning and narrative-building, every K-pop act is sculpted to connect across cultures and platforms. It’s no accident that K-pop content generates 240 times more views and 400 times higher engagement than average brand content.
And the fans? They don’t just consume. They create. “Fans co-create brand value by producing fan videos, art, and organizing support campaigns,” Seo said. The emotional connection is so deep that it transforms consumption into community.
How PepsiCo Got It Right With IVE
Pepsi has always had music in its DNA. But its K-pop play wasn’t just about trend-chasing. It was a long-term strategy built on shared growth. The brand partnered with Starship Entertainment’s IVE before the girl group even debuted.
“We believed in IVE early—even joined their auditions,” said Yun Heon Lee. “Our goal wasn’t just exposure. Pepsi isn’t just an advertiser. We see ourselves as content creators.”
This distinction—between slapping a logo on a music video versus co-creating something fans actually care about—proved critical. Working with Publicis Groupe Korea, Pepsi’s campaigns with IVE saw record-breaking search volumes and a measurable lift in brand preference, especially among Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences.
Why does it work? According to Lee, it’s the professionalism and versatility of K-pop artists. “They shape fashion, beauty, lifestyle. They’re trained, managed closely, and deliver on expectations. It’s both powerful and low-risk.”
Beyond Music: The K-pop Blueprint for Brand Connection
It’s not just about catchy songs or slick choreography. K-pop offers something rarer in today’s fractured media environment: emotional resonance.
“These artists enable deeper, longer collaborations beyond music,” said Seo. “They are creators, fashion and beauty icons, and socially impactful figures.”
Pepsi’s K-pop strategy with IVE illustrates a broader lesson for marketers: invest early, go beyond surface-level sponsorship, and focus on shared cultural creation. That’s what turns a campaign into a movement.
Margaret Key summed it up at Cannes: “K-pop offers connection, joy, and belonging at a global scale. It’s a sanctuary. Fans feel understood, valued, and part of something bigger.”
And that’s what gives K-pop its staying power. Not just as a genre, but as a global connector.
Final Thought
PepsiCo’s collaboration with IVE is more than a branding win—it’s a blueprint for brands looking to move past transactional marketing and tap into culture that actually matters to people. In an age of skepticism and scroll fatigue, K-pop shows how intimacy, authenticity, and creativity can scale.
What this really means is: K-pop isn’t going anywhere. The brands that understand why—not just how—will be the ones fans let in.
