'Ililchil' Touring the Refrigerator with Sana... Turns Out It's 'This Company'

'Saebyeok Delivery' Kurly Runs YouTube Channel 'Ililchil'
Competing with Content Instead of Corporate Branding

"Inviting stars as guests to tour their refrigerators, cook together, and have conversations." This refers to the YouTube content "Dex's Refrigerator Interview," hosted by Dex (real name Kim Jin-young), a former Navy Special Forces (UDT) member turned YouTuber and broadcaster.

Since February last year, this seasonal talk show, solely hosted by Dex, has featured celebrities such as actress Shin Se-kyung, Sana from the idol group Twice, and cartoonist Gian84, garnering high view counts of 1 to 2 million per episode. Notably, the episode featuring Twice's Sana, released on September 21 last year, reached 9.51 million views as of the 7th.

TWICE's Sana appeared on the YouTube channel 'Ililchil' in the segment 'Dex's Coldterview' [Image source: Screenshot from YouTube channel 'Ililchil']

Despite its great popularity, many people are unaware of the YouTube channel "Ililchil" that produces this content. With 328,000 subscribers and 587 videos, the channel's description simply states, "Completing the taste item encyclopedia. Enjoy delicious food while watching delicious things," without further explanation. However, upon closer inspection, the phrase "Planning/Production: Kurly" appears. This channel was launched by the e-commerce company Kurly, famous for its dawn delivery service, in November 2021. In fact, the channel name "Ililchil" is derived from Kurly's dawn delivery service, which promises delivery before 7 a.m. if ordered by 11 p.m.

Following the popularity of "Dex's Refrigerator Interview," Ililchil is preparing Season 3 after Seasons 1 and 2. They also produced a special episode titled "Sana's Special Refrigerator Interview," hosted by Twice's Sana as a special MC, inviting Miyeon from (G)I-DLE. Additionally, the channel has created content such as "Buy Me a Meal," hosted by broadcaster Park Myung-soo, and "Orbit's Interstellar: Knowledge in Food through Science," by science YouTuber Orbit, accumulating over 448 million total views. This is an example of a distribution platform company conducting marketing in an invisible way.

YouTube channel 'Moneygraph's 'B Alcohol Economics'. [Image source=Screenshot from YouTube channel 'Moneygraph']

Fintech Company Viva Republica's Channel 'Moneygraph' Also Popular

Fintech company Viva Republica (Toss) is taking a similar approach. Their YouTube channel "Moneygraph" promotes "taste, culture, trends, economy." With 220,000 subscribers, its popular segment is "B-Class Economic Studies: A Digging Talk Show on Consumer Culture." Hosted by young accountant Lee Jae-yong, known as a "finance geek," this content adds economic stories to various topics favored by young people, such as girl groups, Nike reselling, gaming companies, Nintendo, coffee, and highballs, sometimes reaching over 500,000 views. Popular videos include "A Complete Overview of the Korean Cafe Market Structure," discussing the tastiest low-priced coffee brands with 630,000 views; "Why Are Korean Bread Prices Three Times Higher Than in France?" featuring French broadcaster Fabian with 540,000 views; and "Should You Buy Delicious Wine Right Now?" with a wine expert guest, achieving 510,000 views. A fintech company is producing content about the economics of wine and bread.

Both Ililchil and Moneygraph avoid directly revealing their corporate brands, instead leading with content that appeals to young audiences to plant marketing seeds in people's minds. This marketing method is called content marketing, which aims to secure potential future customers. While Market Kurly's main customer base is in their 30s and 40s, Ililchil's primary viewers are in their 20s, and over 80% of Moneygraph's subscribers are known to be from the MZ generation. Unlike performance marketing, which sets and achieves immediate goals, content marketing does not yield instant results. However, over time, companies engaging in content marketing can enjoy various benefits such as improved brand awareness, value delivery, and increased customer loyalty, leading more companies to take an interest in the increasingly prominent content marketing trend.