Amid the Unstoppable Kkang Craze... Nongshim's 'Kkang Snack' Sales Soar

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Sunghye] Along with the ongoing Kkang craze, Nongshim’s Saewookkang is soaring in popularity.

On the 12th, Nongshim announced that the Saewookkang commercial featuring singer Rain as the model surpassed 2.7 million views on YouTube in just over 40 days, with more than 2,300 comments, continuing to generate buzz.

In fact, online consumers have shown enthusiastic responses to the Saewookkang ad, saying things like, “I saw the commercial and suddenly craved Saewookkang so much that I went out to buy some,” “I recently tried all four Kkang varieties and found none better than this snack,” and “This is the first time I’ve searched for and watched the commercial myself.”

This popularity of Saewookkang directly led to increased sales across Nongshim’s entire Kkang snack line. The combined sales of the four products in the “Kkang series”?Saewookkang, Gamjakkang, Yangpokkang, and Gogumakkang?exceeded 10 billion KRW for the first time ever in July. This marks a growth of more than 40% compared to the average monthly sales of 7.1 billion KRW last year, setting a record high since the launch of the Kkang snacks.

The explosive popularity of Nongshim’s Kkang snacks is thanks to effectively leveraging the “Kkang” issue that began in May. As Saewookkang gained popularity online as a “meme” (a humorous phrase or image reposted on the internet), Nongshim quickly appointed Rain as the advertising model, actively engaged in broadcast product placement (PPL), and planned the Saewookkang Challenge involving public participation, continuing the craze with swift marketing moves.

A Nongshim official said, “Not only Saewookkang but also the other Kkang snacks saw a significant increase in sales thanks to rising brand awareness,” adding, “We plan to release commercials using entries from the Saewookkang Challenge contest soon, so we expect the Kkang snack craze to continue.”