The Korean noodle brand shows how businesses can turn organic consumer enthusiasm into a marketing advantage.
EXPERT OPINION BY MARC BERMAN, FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PROGRAMMING INSIDER
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What happens when a brand turns its most enthusiastic customers into participants in a shared experience? Buldak, the Korean instant-noodle brand, recently put that strategy to the test.
The company brought together fans, creators and college communities for a TikTok challenge aimed at breaking the Guinness World Records® title for the most videos of people eating instant noodles uploaded to TikTok in one hour.
According to Buldak, participants submitted 335 qualifying videos during the official hour on October 1, surpassing the previous record of 250 by 34 percent.
“Buldak is a brand built by its fans,” said Abbas Arslan, vice president of marketing at Buldak. “We wanted to honor the real people behind Buldak’s success.”
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Building the momentum
On October 14, Buldak extended the celebration with the release of Crave The Burn, an original song and music video inspired by the record and the fans who helped make it possible. Featuring English and Spanish lyrics, the song blends pop energy with Latin influences and incorporates footage from the challenge.
The release gave the company another way to extend the campaign beyond its initial event, creating additional content for fans to share across social platforms. It also illustrates how brands can repurpose a single event into multiple marketing assets rather than allowing attention to fade once the original campaign ends.
Why fans matter
The challenge built on a social media phenomenon that began in 2014, when consumers started filming themselves eating Buldak’s notoriously spicy noodles and sharing their reactions online.