The word “Hallyu” (a.k.a Korean Wave) has been created since 2000 in order to express the phenomenon of the increasing popularity of South Korean culture around the world. This strong wave has swept across almost every single country in Asia especially China, Japan, Taiwan, and now it is even increasingly beyond that, credit to the globalization of the mass media and internet.
For the most part, Hallyu is overwhelmingly driven by Korean dramas. So you can imagine when Korea Communications Commission, which regulates broadcasting, eased up regulations regarding product placement in TV programs only a month ago, Korean dramas suddenly became saturated with all types of brand names and products appearing in many scenes.
As a big fan of Korean drama myself, this reminds me of a very popular Korean drama called “Playful Kiss”. There is one scene the main character tries out the fancy feature of her cell phone to test her luck by simply shaking her cell phone, then the outer screen of the phone becomes a slot machine. I was totally impressed by the creativity of this feature! Then I started googling the name of the cell phone and found out that many of the people who were asking the information about the cell phone online have also watched the drama.
Here is the official CF I found on YouTube and they even create a song for this cell phone and demonstrate many of the very attrative features of the cell phone. (including the slot machine one!)
This proves that product placement really is an effective way of advertising. Of course, no one would be willing to give up the opportunity that makes their brand be recognized by all the Korean drama fans across the world with this Korean Wave. However, businesses and program producer have to be aware if they are having too much product placement, which might detract viewers’ interest and eventually become a threat to the drama as some dramas fans already posted their complaints on the dramas’ site.
So I guess It is just a start for this new marketing field. I am interested in seeing what follow-up will be brought about!