Indonesia Increasingly Strategic in Korean Culture Ecosystem

K-Playlist has again held its annual K-Playlist Annual Community Award (KACA) 2026 as a form of appreciation for various brands that successfully presented collaborations with South Korean artists or intellectual property (IP) and gained strong support from fan communities in Indonesia. The award, now in its third year, relies on a two-stage community voting mechanism, namely the preliminary and final rounds. Through this system, KACA serves as a platform representing fans’ voices in determining the most influential brand and global figure collaborations throughout the year. The event also demonstrates the increasingly important position of Indonesia as one of the markets with the largest and most active Korean culture fan base in the world. This year, KACA presented two main categories, Best Brand Collaboration of the Year and Brand Collaboration of the Year, highlighting the most innovative, relevant and impactful collaborations throughout 2025. For the Best Brand Collaboration of the Year category, the Brand Ambassador award was won by the collaboration between Sunsilk and BABYMONSTER, while the IP Licensing category was won by Jims Honey through its collaboration with TinyTAN inspired by BTS. Meanwhile, the Brand Collaboration of the Year category was awarded to Biore UV x Stray Kids, Good Day x BABYMONSTER, and Scarlett x Heart2Hearts. This year’s award results show that cooperation between brands and global artists not only increases brand awareness but also builds strong engagement with fan communities. This success proves that brands that understand the power of fandom and dare to innovate have greater opportunities to compete at the international level. K-Playlist Co-Founder Jennifer Heryanto explained that collaborations between brands and Korean culture have now developed into a global phenomenon that transcends the Asian market. According to her, throughout this year there were at least 27 brands whose products are marketed in Indonesia and have established cooperation with Korean artists or IP. Indonesia itself is one of the largest contributors to the fan base for many Korean artists. “Brand and K-Wave collaborations are no longer focused on just one country. Many campaigns are designed to reach regional to global markets as K-Culture’s position strengthens as a cross-border cultural phenomenon,” said Jennifer. She also highlighted the enormous influence of the K-Wave in modern marketing. Based on several studies on Earned Media Value (EMV), the K-Wave is said to contribute around 48 percent to the share of voice in the global influence ecosystem. According to Jennifer, this data shows that Korean culture has developed into one of the most influential marketing forces in the world, not only in Asia but also in various international markets. Therefore, collaborations between brands and K-Culture are no longer considered just a passing trend, but a long-term strategy capable of creating cross-market impact. “In an era where popular culture is one of the main factors influencing consumer behaviour, brands that can integrate K-Culture authentically and strategically will have greater opportunities to win consumer attention and trust,” she added. Through KACA, K-Playlist hopes to continue to be an appreciation platform as well as a reference for industry players in presenting innovative, relevant collaborations with real impact. This initiative is also expected to encourage the birth of increasingly authentic marketing strategies in line with current consumer behaviour developments.