Objective
This project was part of an academic assignment at Pratt Institute for my Advertising and Marketing course. Our team was assigned to create a marketing campaign for Duolingo, and we chose to focus on increasing Korean language learners on the platform.
Outcome
The marketing campaign consists of social media advertising, a concept video, posters, and a limited-edition chat sticker collection, along with influencer collaboration and a campaign plan and budget.
Cooked in
January 2022
2 weeks
My Role
Brand and Market Research
Partner(s)
Bhagyashree Khinnavar, Jahnavi Shah, Purumi Park, Sally Guo and Shuyi Qi
Korean is the second-fastest Asian language to study globally.
Key influence in learning Korean is
The Korean Wave or Hallyu refers to the increasing global popularity of South Korea’s pop culture - they are the drivers of learning Korean.
Who and where are these fans?
The largest number of Korean learners in the United States, and research shows a 40% rise in new users in the US over the two weeks following the premiere of Squid Game, a Korean Series.
Teenagers between the ages of 13 - 17 frequently consume K-pop (music, drama, culture) in all aspects of their daily life.
Estimated Size - 11.8 Million in USA.
Squid game a popular OTT and part of the Korean wave.
Why are K-pop fans motivated to learn Korean?
To understand how to target the K-pop fans, we interviewed fans from Manhattan's Koreatown.
We interviewed ten people within our target market age group. As a result, we identified several points that offered insight and guided us in our strategy for the campaign.
“I learned so many Korean words by watching K-drama but I don’t know how to use them in real life”
“Oppas are cute”
“I want to learn Korean so I don’t have to Google Translate the lyrics”
“I will buy anything that IU [Korean celebrity] collabs with”
“I wish I could instantly understand what they [idols] are saying”
“I'm so excited for [K-pop] tour season”
Persona
Jennifer Young
Age 17.
Elementary Proficiency in Korean
Bio
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Born and raised in the suburbs of New York
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Loves K-pop groups like BTS, Twice, Blackpink and Itzy
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Favorite pastime is to watch K-dramas and variety shows
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Currently part-timing as a boba-rista in Koreatown.
Goals
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To work at the local K-pop album store
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Strongly considering the exchange student program in Korea
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Immerse in the K-pop culture and have a richer experience
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Make more Korean friends with similar interests
Favorite Brands & Social Media
Motivation to learn Korean
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To watch the latest K-drama without subtitles and listen to K-pop without translation
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She is excited to try and buy any Korean products
Behavior
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Likes to include Korean in her daily life to express herself
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Finger hearts are her go-to way to show affection
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Seeing spoilers on TikTok and Instagram makes her super upset
Frustrations
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Information overload! There are so many language-learning tools to choose from
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Unfamiliar with grammar and cultural nuances
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Can’t understand the contents on the packaging of things she would like to try
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Unsure if she is correctly pronouncing the words
K-pop fans want to
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Want to participate freely in Korean cultural activities and popular events like concerts, meet and greet with their favorite Korean celebrities, and buy and try out their favorite Korean products.
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Learn Korean and are open and enthusiastic about new experiences.
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Understand Korean using textbooks and watch their favorite dramas without subtitles.
Source:MTV
Duolingo's SWOT analysis
Strength
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It is a free learning platform.
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Offers 35+ languages.
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Aesthetically pleasing designs & and cute characters.
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Gamification helps to keep learning fun and engaging.
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Easy sign-up process.
Weakness
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Foundational language learning sessions for Asian Languages.
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Sessions are redundant. ​
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Korean sentence formation is wrong sometimes.
Opportunities
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Expand social outreach
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Attract more users to get insights and improve their Korean program.
Threats
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Korean online courses with the human tutor
This project aims to strengthen Duolingo's Korean language learning by capitalizing on opportunities, despite some identified weaknesses in a SWOT analysis.
Campaign Objectives
The objective of this campaign is to attract 50,000 current K-pop fans to the Duolingo Korean Program by tapping into the popularity of the K-pop influence and achieving a 15% conversion rate through social media platforms.
Campaign Strategy
Proposition
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Get a richer K-pop experience with Duolingo’s fun, bite-sized sessions!
Key Consideration
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Use K-Pop references
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Commonly used Korean dialogues
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To be updated with K-Pop concerts/conventions
Media Platforms
Competition
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TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter
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Talk to me in Korean, Memrise, Pimsleur, Lingodeer, “Korean Unnie” on YouTube
Tone of Voice
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Fun
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Easy/Effortless
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Familiar
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Encouraging
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Inviting
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Passionate
What’s in it for the target audience ?
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Duolingo makes learning easy with bite-sized sessions that feel more like a game than a textbook. With Duolingo, learning Korean is not difficult or boring. Users learn to read, recognize, and connect to the K-pop culture they love.
The Campaign
KCON is one of the largest Korean music festivals in the United States of America
Korean artist on stage in KCON 2012 in USA
Duolingo's collaboration with the KCON is a great opportunity to attract K-pop fans to learn Korean.
*Assumed that KCON event is happening in 2022
Reach out to a large audience through
social media ads and posters
1
X (Twitter) Poster
Curiosity and feel connected
The Duo (the owl) will appear in K-fashion inspired by our trendy K-pop idols. This will make the fans feel familiar with the character.
Short video ad for Instagram and Tik Tok
These video frames are concepts.
2
Curiosity
Showcasing Duolingo’s bite-sized Korean Learning sessions featuring popular K-pop song lyrics and K-drama phrases followed by reveals that Duolingo and KCON are collaborating.
Feel connected
The Duo (the owl) will appear in K-fashion inspired by our trendy K-pop idols. This will make the fans feel familiar with the character.
Call to Action
The video will end by triggering them to down the app to get the limited edition stickers of Duo with BTS. call to action will be to swipe up and download the app and start learning Korean.
3
Exclusive Duo X BTS stickers
BTS is a K-pop band, they have created character for each band memeber.
How does K-pop fans use the social media?
#WhyTikTok
Our user research showed that TikTok is widely used by Gen Z for general entertainment, as well as trending memes and joining fandom content like K-pop. Our persona, Jennifer, fits into TikTok’s main user demographic, hence advertising on TikTok with a call to action to download will help Duolingo’s conversion rate.
#WhyInstagram
Based on our user research, K-pop fans form communities via Instagram direct messaging. These fans also follow their idols and celebrities on Instagram to have a glimpse into their personal life.
#WhyX
Based on our street interviews, K-pop fans mainly use Twitter to stay up to date with news regarding K-pop.
Influencer Collaboration
Mega Influencers (>1M)
Large reach to create excitement and awareness
Macro Influencers (100k - 900k)
Will collaborate with influencers based on their geographical locations to share about Duolingo
Micro Influencers (<100k)
Small-reach influencers will share their daily lives and experience. They are attending the convention and will share during and after the event.
TikTok K-Pop influencers, mega and macro influencers (right-to-left )
Media Plan (Location)
Our campaign will focus on six locations in the United States of America. We have chosen the following locations based on the KCON festival. Most of our target audience lives in these locations.
Media Schedule
The campaign will be spread over 4 months.
In May, we will create awareness about learning Korean for a better experience at KCON. The target audience will be finishing their spring school semester and excited for the summer holidays. They can start learning Korean before attending the KCON.
Our campaign will be pulsating in June and July based on the location of the events. Our target will be to enjoy in summer and attend the concert.
August will engage with our audience and encourage them to share their KCON moments with Duolingo stickers and learning streaks.
Learnings
​Designing for a specific cultural context emphasized the importance of cultural awareness and avoiding unintentional insensitivity. Learned how to effectively present design concepts and rationale to both peers and instructors, enhancing my communication skills.
Limiation
Effectiveness depends on choosing the right influencers with genuine engagement and cultural relevance. Careful selection and campaign alignment are crucial to avoid inauthentic connections. Budget accuracy is low.
