The Most-watched YouTube Video 'Gangnam Style'

HC2112 (Part 1)
Service Marketing and Relationship Marketing
Short Case Study on “Gangnam Style”

'Gangnam style' transcended linguistic and cultural boundaries to become
the most-watched video ever on YouTube. The video and the song
became an instant hit with the audience and gained immense popularity
across the globe. The phenomenal rise of South Korean rapper 'Psy' was
especially noteworthy because the song 'Gangnam Style' was written in
Korean, which is not a popular language and is not prevalent around the
world. However, the language barrier was never an issue for the song as it
spread like wildfire over the internet. (Tesseras, 2019)
The overnight success achieved by Gangnam Style was not a fluke. As we
gradually came to understand, it was the result of a carefully thought out
and implemented an integrated marketing strategy. The song was backed
by a dedicated team of marketing strategists at YG entertainment, the
company which promoted the rapper. (Allison C. Shields, 2019)
Long before the official release of Gangnam style YG entertainment had
already completed all the groundwork that was essential to make the
song a hit with the audience. With the help of the 5 Ws(Who, What, How,
Where, When) model in the integrated marketing communications
planning process we can easily understand how this success was
achieved.
Who: an essential question while laying down the basis of any marketing
strategy is 'who' are the target audience of the product? In the case of

Gangnam style it is a known fact the YG Entertainment, the company
which promoted the song, had a robust plan in place well before the
launch of the single. It is said that YG Entertainment had completed the
groundwork and was waiting for the right 'product' to come by, which in
this case was Psy's Gangnam Style. Once the song was out, it did seem
like an overnight 'viral' success, however, this was not the case. YG
entertainment had worked on community management and seeding plan
for 2 years before the release of the single. The company had built an
audience base of close to 2.5 million subscribers and was waiting to find
the song that was a perfect fit for these user's needs. Therefore, the 'who'
implying the 'target audience' was already identified well before the song
was even produced and this was a major reason behind the seemingly
viral success of Gangnam style.
What: Once the target audience has been identified, the all-important
question that needs to be addressed is the type of content that your
audience wants and needs. 'What' is the content that is the most
appealing to the target audience? In the case of Gangnam style, YG
entertainment was already looking out for songs with a global appeal.
Detailed studies were conducted and popular dance choreographers were
consulted before producing the video for the song. The result was the
iconic 'air horse-riding' dance style which was a major factor in Gangnam
style's viral success.
How: YG Entertainment, released teasers of the video of Gangnam Style
to their followers on YouTube and social media to intrigue active audience