62 Jayanta Dutta BRM Proposal

BRM Project: Understanding viral success of Gangnam Style
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Understanding the viral success of Gangnam Style video
A Business Research Management Proposal

Jayanta Dutta Banik
PGP/16/62, Section-B
2/28/2012


Proposed Title:
Understanding the viral success of Gangnam Style.

Abstract:
This paper tries to study the viral marketing behind the success of the PSYs Gangnam Style on social media
platform preferably Youtube amidst several other creative entertaining appealing videos. The paper
identifies various stakeholders and their stakes in in. The literature review highlights about the social media
marketing and how videos become viral on Internet. Later on this paper explores the methodology to
measure the success of Gangnam Style and the reasons behind its success.
Keywords: Viral marketing, Social media, Stakeholders

Introduction:
There are global cultural phenomena, and then there is Gangnam Style, quoted from NY times article.
Gangnam style is K-Pop i.e Korean pop single song sung by South Korean musician Park Jae-Sang or
popularly known as PSY released worldwide in the month of July 2012. PSY is a multi dimensional
personality being capable of donning roles of singer, dancer, rapper and record producer. PSY had 12 long
years of career in South Koreas music industry during which he released 6 Albums and Gangnam Style was
the single song of the 6
th
Album. PSY is known for his humorous videos and on-stage performances until
Gangnam Style happened to him which made him popular not only in his country but across the countries
citizens government etc. So much so even UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon complimented his fellow
countrymen and expressed his desire to work with him because of his unlimited global reach caused due to
the stupendous success of his video.
The phrase Gangnam Style is a newly coined Korean word referring to the affluent lifestyle lead by
the denizens of Gangnam an expensive district of Seoul, South Korea. Actually Gangnam district is a small
one but the hub of lavish skyrocketing real estates alongwith presence of many International companies like
Google, IBM, Toyota etc. The Gangnam style song was released on July 15 and it was shared by PSY

himself on the Youtube. There was not much hullabaloo for initial 1-2 weeks but then ripple started forming
as people started viewing liking and sharing on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. It
literally became the worldwide anthem. More and more people got attracted to this phenomenon mainly
because of its catchy beats and PSYs cheesy dance moves and almost everybody humming the refrain
Oppan Gangnam Style which means Big Brother in Gangnam Style. The main aim of PSY was to invent
dance moves which are uncommon not seen anywhere and to be as ridiculous as possible, this objective of
him landed him into horse stable and inspired him to have his signature horse riding move in the song.
Gangnam Style achieved almost all recognition one can achieve be it in its home country or cross-country. It
was recognozid by Guinness Book of Records for the most liked video on Youtube. It was noted that the
video got on an average 22000 hits/views an hour. The no. of views till 28
th
February, 2013 was an
whooping 1.365 billion. It also won the MTV Europe Music Awards for 2012. Subsequently it became a
source of parodies and reaction videos by different peoples or groups over the Internet and also different
styles similar to Gangnam Style came up.
By the end of the year 2012 the song topped almost every countries music chart with the dance
moves gaining popularity among political leaders of different nations with each one inviting PSY to their
country. This song which come from the South Korean musical genre K-Pop made K-Pop get noticed
worldwide due to which lots of the K-pop song also saw huge traffic into it in Social Media. Alongwith
making K-Pop popular it also brought fame for South Korea that is mainly known for home to Samsung
among others. Itt has also increased the no. of tourists to Seoul and hence Gangnam district mainly to
experience its lavish life which has been depicted in the video
So the Gangnam style is the best thing which could have happened to PSY as also apart from
Ganganm Style video itself what plays major role is Youtube and that is where strategies of social media
marketing comes into play as in choosing which medium to target to publicize the video and reach masses.
As we have seen channels like Youtube, Facebbok are an apt one for any new venture to reach people, so in
subsequent parts we see what is this social media marketing and how to use it effectively for marketing
purpose and understanding what factors causes something to become viral success like Gangnam Style.


Problem Structuring:
Stakeholder Map:

Specific Stakeholuei chait:

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Piouucei
Auuio viueo Recoiuing company
Aitists

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Nale
Female
0nline vieweis
Television vieweis
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Youtube
Facebook
Twittei
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Ninistiy of Cultuies
Ninistiy of Infoimation & Bioaucasting
Ninistiy of Touiism
Ninistiy of Exteinal Affaiis
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Peoples of uangnam Bistiict
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0thei singeis aitists

Gangnam style video
Koiean
Neuia
inuustiy
vieweis
Competitois
uoveinment
Social Media
Community

Iuentifying Stakes

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They have uiiect inteiest on the piofits fiom the
viueo ieaching masses.
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They aie instiumental in making the viueo hit oi
flop hence they aie the piimaiy anu most
impoitant stakeholuei
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They aie also having shaie of piofit fiom
viewsshaies, no. of hits anu visits to the page oi
the no. of iefeiials.
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Bow is it helping goveinment to attiact touiists
anu expoits behavioi anu also fame of theii
countiy's aitists.
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They have stake as in they aie actually
iepiesenteu anu nothing ueiogatoiy iemaik useu
on them
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Bow much piofit have uangnam Style eaineu anu
how is it going to affect them oi what lessons to
leain fiom the viial success of the viueo.


Literature Review:
1. According to the findings from reference
1
that the campaign was an organic natural hit with very less if
any false manipulation of traffic volumes and online mentions. The report revealed that instead of being
celebrity tweets, which increased the popularity it was a very organized, structured and diligently executed
campaign by South Korean label company YG Entertainment behind the song. The report is reviewed in 3
stages, which shows how the video went viral from scratch: -
Stage 1: The Set up
Driven by the popularity of PSYs video back in South Korea YG Entertainment aimed at pushing this to
global perspective like in US.A or U.K. The company weighed its options before the song went public by
setting up an office in United States of America nd also forming strategic relationships with popular U.S
artists such a Wil.i.Am. It also formed a relationship with Scooter Braun and planned to announce the deal at
right strategic time to boost the campaign even further. The company also invested in growing the set of the
audience so that when the right song arrived they had a large platform to seed the campaign in order to
ensure maximum exposure and sure online hit. In addition YGs Entertainment enjoyed huge set of
subscribers in the form 1.6 Billion approx. in its Youtube channels that was leveraged when Gangnam Style
got released in Youtube. YG already knew ut s Youtube subscribers alone would get high volumes of traffic
from day1.
Stage2: The Content
So they had the platform as well as audience to seed a viral campaign as the right moment came along. Also
the video had the materials to not only become online hit but a hit acroos multiple genres, territories and
regions. The song was eyeball-grabbing, use of bright flashy colors also made it hugely attractive. Though
many would have language will be a barrier but it did not become so instead the comprehensible lyrics was
replaced by a catchy lyrics and a punchy chorus. The viueo also incluueu South Koiean stais like
enteitainei's comeuians anu the uancing little boy fiom the national ieality show Talent. Alongwith all

1
http:www.theuium.comnews2u121uSucase-stuuy-how-gangnam-style-went-viial-
campaign-yg-enteitainment

these chaiacteis combineu PSY's own successful music caieei in South Koiean music inuustiy maue
this viueo a shaieable online content acioss the social meuia platfoims.
StageS: The Coveiage
It coveis how the viueo iose into the populaiity giew ovei it anu went to a steauy position oi uecline
tiaveising a span of almost 8 months. 0n the uay o launch on Youtube the viueo hau ieceiveu ovei
Suu,uuu views anu also went on to uebuting at numbei in Koiean Nusic lists. Though meuia was slow
to iesponu to this phenomenon but pickeu up acceleiation when an aiticle about the song in uawkei
geneiateu 19uu likesshaies in Facebook followeu by aiticles in Billboaiu Buffington Post anu Tv
News clippings on CNN anu Sky News. Thus causeu a spike in tiaffic anu views in Youtube iose uay
aftei uay anu it noticeu in its peak peiiou theie weie 22uuu views houi. People staieu uoing woiu of
mouth oi taking the ioute of social netwoiking sites to make each othei waiy of the iising
phenomenon. Even the celebiities in uiffeient nation staiteu tweeting about it anu speaking publicly
about the viueo anu its moves. Also anothei thing that neeus to be noteu is the viueo uiu not have any
copyiight which meant it can be iepiouuceu by anybouy anywheie which is exactly what happeneu
This stiategy was useu so that people coulu associate with the viueo in uiffeient ways by iepiouucing
it anu also maue vieweis ioute to oiiginal viueo fiom uiffeient paiouies which gain contiibuteu to no.
of views. All this factois causing even moie iise in shaiing oi viewing of viueos. Noie infoimation can
be seen fiom Exhibit 1 anu 1a.
It ciosseu the mostly watcheu viueo on Youtube, which until now one song of }ustin Biebei's
viueo was holuing anu scaleu to new peak. It bioke all iecoius among the speculations as the tiaffic
was manipulateu by Yu enteitainments oi celebiity tweets being the ieason behinu the uangnam
success but as always saiu that when you get populai you have lots of ciitics but what matteis is
success.
So the iepoit concluues by saying that it was a well thought out anu exceptionally executeu
plan which uuplicating it will take a bit of time by competitois.


2. Accoiuing to the aiticle in a iefeience
2
1u ieasons why gangnam style become a global hit aie:-
The music being catchy alongwith simple anu iepetitive ihythm with the most populai iefiain
"0ppan uangnam Style" .
Theie was a goou syneigy between the music anu visuals as the visuals weie positioneu to fit
the ihythm exactly the same way making the most of the inteiaction between both.
It was silly with absolutely no meaning foi Non Koiean peoples but at the same time it was a
such a tieat to eyes anu eais that kept attiacting onlookeis attention.
Theie was ambiguousness on the pait of viueo fiames as the scenes weie ianuom anu maue
people wonuei about the scenes in hoise's stable oi the guy in spoits cai anu also the guy in
elevatoi that fiom uiu they come in viueo oi wheie uiu they go thus not following a sequential
chain of scenes.
The viueo as well as the singei uoesn't take itself seiiously as Psy makes fun of himself
alongwith-making fun of eveiy pop viueo.
The viueo hau the South Koiean appeal as the oiigins of viueo lent it a ceitain chaim, which
maue woiluwiue vieweis to have theii inteiest onto it. Bau it been fiom 0.S oi 0.K fiom wheie
majoiity of English song singeis come then it woulu not have cieateu such a hullabaloo.
As the viueo was not copyiighteu so it encouiageu peoples fiom uiffeient countiies to come up
with a paiouy of it, as the content was also easy to ieplicate.
The uance was one of its kinu with the hoise moves going viial in almost eveiy uance clubs oi
conceits as it was such simple yet innovative which none hau though eailiei. People also
uevelopeu animations with chaiacteis ieplicating the tiauemaik move.
The stoiy about uangnam, which was laigely unheaiu, got peoples attention as the iich anu
lavish life.

2
http:www.millwaiubiown.comglobalblogPost2u12-11-211u-ieasons-why-uangnam-Style-
became-a-global-hit.aspx

0ne of the main ieasons of being hit was also the peei piessuie as in if a peison has not
watcheu the viueo heshe was tempteu to watch it.
S. Accoiuing to a iepoit the viial success of the viueo hau also lot to uo with how K-Pop viueos aie
maue anu uistiibuteu thiough online oi physical channels. The chaiacteiistics of K-Pop aie:-
Theie is a uiveisity of auuiovisual content alongwith fusion of uiffeient languages like in
uangnam Style song some lines aie useu fiom English language to catch foieignei's attention
i.e. those who uon't Koiean language.
Theie is piopei tiaining of singeis as well as those who aie at choius. Also theie is huge cast
with uiffeient people appeaiing at uiffeient scenes. This mainly uone to pievent the viueo
becoming a usual one with specific numbei of aitist uuiing the song.
K-Pop music always follows iapiu uistiibution via Inteinet. As the South Koiean music
inuustiy is ielatively small songs aie simultaneously ieleaseu in Television anu 0nline like in
Youtube. Also theie is a seiies of piomotional activities uone to boost the maiketing campaign
befoie the launch of viueo.
Fans aie ieally ueuicateu ovei they'ie in South Koiea, which is why now anu then, K-Pop music
singeis come up with uiffeient vaiiety of activities alongwith singing a song. An aiticle in Wall
Stieet }ouinal inuicateu that K-Pop's business is poweieu by its fans whose online seivice has
now tuin into micio oi small-scale ventuies.
Also theie is a huge suppoit fiom the uevelopment of K-Pop fiom the South Koiean
uoveinment as they feel that incieaseu inteiest in South Koiean cultuie will benefit the
countiy's expoits. Ninistiy of Cultuie anu Touiism of South Koiean goveinment takes up the
iesponsibility of populaiizing the K-Pop.


Research Objective:
The research objective of this paper is to understand how the video Ganganam Style went viral in the social
media platform mainly Youtube.

Research Questions:
How Gangnam style became a huge success online?
How to calculate its success in comparison to other videos?
How peoples not from South Korea have perceived it despite of not knowing the South Korean language
used in the song?

Proposed Methodology & Methods:
The proposed methodology is mainly based on research objective. Since estimating the number of shares or
views in Youtube is the important metric to measure the how many number of people actually viewed the
video and thus contributing to the success of Gangnam style in reaching mass and also people getting
acquainted with it. So methods used to determine the popularity are: -
Video Statistics: As it can be seen from Exhibit 2 taken from youtube that till today 28
th
the
number of views are 1.365 million. Actually a graph has been drawn from the inception of video
to current date and since its a dynamic one because each day views are increasing so the recent
date has been taken. Its a no. views over time graph with views in y-axis and time span in x-
axis. Now, because the views are in billions so the intervals are of 500 million because it will too
complex to map the shorter interval no. of views, hence it starts from 0 million and then goes up
to 1.5 Billion over an interval of 500 million. Also there are key events marked with A, Betc.
showing how the traffic has landed up to view the original video or through which medium has
the viewers viewed the video.
So this method shows that how many no. of vies has been there till now and how
viewers have viewed the video. Now we will see the second method

Audience & Engagement Statistics: As can be noted from Exhibit 3, which shows what
demography of audience have mostly watched the video. So they have been grouped into three
Female of 13-17years and Male of 13-17years in one group and 35-44 in other group. Again on
the left and side we see the Engagement statistics that is how people have reacted to the video by
grouping it into 4 i.e. comments, favorites, likes and dislikes. As we see there is sizable amount
of dislikes but less in comparison to likes and favorites and very less in comparison to total no. of
people actually viewed.
So with these two methodologies it can be measured and deducted that really it has been a viral success with
having competition with none.

Limitations of the Study:
There are few limitations of this study and the research methods adopted. The major drawback being the
views to the video song has now reached a climax stage as 8 months have passed now and the buzz has
surely started to decline. So whatever data has been utilized is of already matured stage or the post growth
stagnancy stage and rather than the stage where it become viral which would have given a better idea of the
pattern of Gangnam style reaching to popularity.


References:
1. An interview with the artist behind the success of Gangnam Style, website:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/arts/music/interview-psy-the-artist-behind-gangnam-style.html?_r=0

2. How Gangnam style got billion biews, website:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1699329/psy-gangnam-style-1-billion-views.jhtml

3. This article is about the Gangnam district in Seoul, website:
http://www.ibtimes.com/what-gangnam-style-seoul-neighborhood-basks-spotlight-919143

4. How Gangnam style went viral a campaign by YG Entertainment, website:
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/10/30/case-study-how-gangnam-style-went-viral-campaign-yg-
entertainment

5. A case study on viral marketing in social media, website:
http://www.socialwhistle.com/gangnam-style-a-case-study-on-viral-marketing-in-social-media-
marketing

6. Reasons why Gangnam Style became a global hit, website:
http://www.millwardbrown.com/global/blog/Post/2012-11-21/10-reasons-why-Gangnam-Style-
became-a-global-hit.aspx

7. Why Gangnam style became so popular, website:
http://blog.socialmaximizer.com/why-gangnam-style-became-so-popular/

8. Integrating Social Media and Social Marketing
Rosemary Thacker; Brad L. Neiger; Heidi Keller
Sage }ouinals


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62 Jayanta Dutta BRM Proposal

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BRM Project: Understanding viral success of Gangnam Style

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