Top Emerging Trends in the First Half of 2023: "Jalpase Generation, Character Marketing, Generative AI"

2023 First Half Media Trend Report
Theme: 'Move forward'
Digital Advertising Market Grows Focused on Performance

Nasmedia, a digital marketing platform company under the KT Group, published the '2023 First Half Media Trend Report' on the 22nd. The theme was 'Move forward.' The main contents covered consumer trends and advertising market status in the first half of 2023, as well as rapidly emerging trends during the same period.

Jalpa Generation, Character Marketing, Generative AI

The newly emerging trends in the first half of 2023 were identified as ▲Jalpa Generation ▲Character Marketing ▲Generative AI. The Jalpa Generation is a neologism combining Generation Z (born mid-1990s to early 2000s) and Generation Alpha (born after 2010). Mentions surged from February, making them a new marketing target. The report analyzed the characteristics of the Jalpa Generation with five keywords: #Self-Content Creation #Personalized Services, #Interest-Centered, #Photo Press Generation, and #Convenience Store (= Playground).

Next is the character marketing strategy. Marking the Year of the Black Rabbit in 2023, marketing using various rabbit characters began, and collaboration marketing utilizing characters was active across various industries. The report analyzed character IP utilization strategies through marketing cases in the first half of 2023 of brand characters Bellygom, Chunsik, and Yangpakungya.

The generative AI market was also an indispensable trend in the first half. Centered on OpenAI’s ChatGPT and plugins, it is revolutionizing user search experiences and building an AI ecosystem. Microsoft formed a strategic partnership with OpenAI, Google differentiated itself with generative AI services Bard and the generative search experience (SGE) integrated with its AI search engine, and Naver and Kakao distinguished themselves with Korean language-specialized models. The report summarized the generative AI technologies and service response strategies of major big tech companies.

Consumer Trends Led by Reopening

Looking at consumer trends, consumption expanded mainly in post-COVID reopening sectors such as culture and travel. In the digital advertising market, the demand for cost-efficient advertising execution increased, highlighting growth in performance advertising centered on search and results.

In advertising, the CTV (Connected TV) market, which enables audience targeting in TV exposure advertising, and the introduction of CTV advertising products by digital advertising providers stood out. Heo Jin-young, director of Nasmedia’s Media Strategy Office, said, “Despite the sluggish economic situation in the first half of 2023, the digital marketing market showed various attempts to provide new user experiences and create growth opportunities.” He added, “We hope the ‘2023 First Half Media Trend Report’ prepared by Nasmedia will be helpful in preparing marketing strategies for the second half.”