'Idol marketing' catches on in food, drink industries

Members of K-pop boy band Wanna One feature on the wrappers of “Super Cone.” Courtesy of Binggrae

By Dong Sun-hwa

“Idol marketing” has boosted food and drink industries in Korea and helped them enhance brand image at the same time.

Binggrae, an ice cream and desserts manufacturer, is one of the main beneficiaries. It disclosed that “Super Cone,” which has had K-pop boy band Wanna One promoting it since July, is expected to hit sales of about 10 billion won ($8.8 million) this year.

Other cone ice creams have not garnered such a reaction when launched, according to a report.

“The annual sales of 'Meta Cone,' for instance, have been around 6-7 billion won,” a spokesperson was quoted as saying. “Thanks to Wanna One, Binggrae could also raise brand awareness of its cone ice cream.”

TWICE has been promoting Pocari Sweat for two years. Courtesy of Dong-A Otsuka

Dong-A Otsuka uses K-pop girl group TWICE to promote its Pocari Sweat. There has been a jump in overall sales, as well as in sales to teenagers. Originally, the drink was unable to lure a large number of teens.

“We had an event at a convenience store that presented goods of TWICE to consumers who bought drinks and found out that 49 percent of the purchasers were teenagers,” the company said.

Sales of Pocari Sweat in 2017 were reportedly 140 billion won ($120 million).