Find out how this K-pop group promoted its new album through posters, a QR code, and an audio file!

Thursday: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Here’s to a joyful Thursday! To kickstart your day, let's talk about guerrilla marketing. If you aren’t familiar yet, guerrilla marketing is an attention-grabbing and unconventional strategy that’s used to promote a product, brand, or message. Campaigns of this type are known for their cost-effectiveness, virality, and creativity! Today, let’s take a look at a guerrilla marketing campaign for a K-pop album. Ready to know more about today’s topic? Keep reading below. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Find out how this K-pop group promoted its new album through posters, a QR code, and an audio file! K-pop has garnered lots of attention worldwide thanks to its jaw-dropping choreography, heart-warming song lyrics, and mesmerizing music videos. The success of this music genre can also be attributed to the brilliant marketing strategies Korean music labels use. Some of the marketing tactics used to promote K-pop artists and groups include interactive fan engagements, global tours, performances in music television programs, and collaborations with brands and other musical acts. Aside from the strategies enumerated above, K-pop groups make use of guerrilla marketing as well! In fact, in 2022, a renowned K-pop squad conducted a guerrilla marketing campaign for its 8th mini album. The name of this group? ATEEZ! ATEEZ consists of Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho. Ever since its formation, the K-pop idol group has received widespread critical acclaim from both fans and critics. In fact, ATEEZ has won multiple awards due to its awe-inspiring performances and unique musical style. According to news outlets and critics, the K-pop group is able to attract and retain audiences because of its ability to incorporate catchy and captivating themes into its music and performances. In January 2022, ATEEZ resumed its concerts in South Korea, United States, and Europe after canceling tour dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the European leg for its second world tour, the members of ATEEZ hinted that they were preparing something for their fans. Due to this, KQ Entertainment, the music label behind ATEEZ, had to come up with a way to promote the squad’s new work. The marketing team's answer to this challenge? Poster with QR codes and iOS' airdrop function! On April 23, 2022, fans spotted numerous posters scattered around the concert venue in Madrid, Spain and in the neighborhood of Hongdae, South Korea. Aside from displaying images that referenced the K-pop group, the posters included a QR code that directed viewers to a YouTube video that hinted at an event scheduled for July 2022. Due to the attention-grabbing designs and insertion of QR code to these posters, fans of the K-pop group started to speculate on what ATEEZ was planning to do. As it turns out, the K-pop squad was planning to release a new album filled with new concepts and ideas. Aside from the posters that came with a QR code, the guerrilla marketing campaign for ATEEZ’s new album had another layer to it. During the 300th episode of SBS’ “The Show,” fans who queued for the program received an audio file via AirDrop. According to fan discussion websites, the audio file contained snippets of the new album’s songs. Aside from sending audio files to fans, ATEEZ posted a QR code on all of its social media accounts that, when scanned, led followers to the same audio recording. However, the published posts were removed on the same day to further generate buzz for the group’s brand and new album. So, was ATEEZ’s guerrilla marketing campaign effective? YES! The response of both hardcore and casual fans to the K-pop group’s guerrilla marketing campaign was overwhelmingly positive. Aside from the fan response, the guerilla marketing campaign helped ATEEZ attain the following accolades for its album titled “The World Ep. 1: Movement”: The album surpassed 1 million pre-orders. Based on data from Hanteo Charts, the album sold more than 270,000 copies during its first day of release. The album sold 936,055 copies during its first week, a 40% increase in sales from previous releases. On August 7, 2022, the album debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart. The results above indicate that ATEEZ’s guerrilla marketing campaign paid off nicely in helping the group generate buzz for its new album! — What is the key takeaway from ATEEZ’s guerrilla marketing campaign? It’s important to come up with ways to actively and meaningfully engage with your target audience. The K-Pop group pulled this off through a guerilla marketing campaign that was specifically created to generate buzz among casual and hardcore fans. By coming up with posters that contained a QR code and an audio file that hinted at the release of a new album, ATEEZ effectively captured the attention of its target audience. This, in turn, led to word about the new album spreading like wildfire. May ATEEZ’s guerrilla marketing campaign serve as a source of inspiration for promoting your brand or product!     Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. Do you want to know how this pizza chain enabled customers to order their favorite pizzas using their minds? See it in next week’s article!