In a video on TikTok final yr, a younger lady from Texas is seen opening her birthday presents, breaking down in completely happy tears at one particular present: a pink multipack of her favourite prompt ramen, Buldak’s carbonara selection. Samyang Meals, the maker of Buldak, sprung into motion because the video went viral. Only a month later, the model engineered one other second designed for virality, delivering a Buldak-themed occasion — and an enormous provide of ramen — on to the younger lady’s home in a customized pink truck.
“This activation was an instance of engagement with our followers,” stated Sarah Tang, advertising director at Samyang America. “We attempt to construct neighborhood with our viewers — not simply promoting. As a lot as they love us, we attempt to present our appreciation.”
Client love for Samyang and its Buldak merchandise is actual: Numerator just lately named it the highest model within the U.S. amongst Gen Alpha, calling it “a cultural and culinary phenomenon” among the many cohort, which incorporates customers born starting in 2010. Samyang ranked forward of manufacturers like Owala water bottles, Dr. Squatch cleaning soap and Fortnite.
The rating is validation of the work Samyang, which launched South Korea’s first-ever prompt ramen in 1963, has accomplished to develop past a distinct segment Korean meals model into a favourite of youthful customers who more and more attain for spicy meals.
The corporate launched its U.S. affiliate in 2021 and labored to lift the model’s profile at retailers together with Costco, Walmart and Goal. On the finish of 2023, Samyang was in lower than 10,000 shops; by the tip of final yr, it was in additional than 22,000. The addition of a advertising workforce slightly greater than a yr in the past has helped flip viral engagement right into a real-world footprint.
“If we couldn’t obtain a powerful retail extension, we’d not have this success by way of outcomes,” Tang defined. “Manufacturers which might be very fashionable within the social world… it is exhausting to make it in real-life with out an omnichannel technique.”
Tapping into model love
Samyang America’s advertising workforce is lean however agile, which makes it simple for the model to faucet into viral moments just like the one with the lady in Texas. But it surely nonetheless depends on a collaborative relationship with the corporate’s South Korea headquarters to place assets behind its advertising.
“With out their assist, we’d not have the ability to do [the activations] as we’re nonetheless a small group,” Tang stated. “We work very carefully and it’s a very cooperative relationship by way of advertising operations.”
Samyang is investing in digital as a part of an omnichannel technique that may also embrace a brand-owned platform that captures shopper suggestions and model love in a single place. The corporate can be taking a look at a pair of rising channels that proceed to converge, tapping into CTV and dealing to have a greater presence on retail media networks owned by Walmart, Goal and Kroger.
It has additionally embraced experiential advertising, a tactic that has returned to full drive after a pullback in the course of the top of the pandemic. Elevating sampling with in-person activations has helped Samyang transfer past prompt ramen into the sauce class. In October and November, Samyang rolled out quite a lot of activations in New York and Los Angeles as a part of its “Splash Buldak” marketing campaign, which featured mascot appearances and “sauce change” pop-ups that allowed customers to commerce in outdated take-out sauce packets without cost Buldak Scorching Sauce.
Experiential has additionally helped the model meet viral moments, even ones not as constructive as slightly lady’s model love. Final June, the Danish Veterinary and Meals Administration briefly recalled a number of styles of Buldak, claiming that the degrees of capsaicin — the chemical in peppers that make them spicy — had been too excessive and will poison customers. As soon as the ban was lifted on two of the merchandise, Samyang helped Danish customers rejoice the return of the merchandise by setting sail on the “Buldak Spicy Ferry” in Copenhagen’s harbor.
“It was a strategic transfer to interrupt the narrative,” Tang stated. “We tried to play in a [fun] approach after a regulatory problem and in addition reaffirm that we care about you as a lot as you care about us.”
