While brands build audiences, K-pop builds armies

What marketers can learn from the frontlines of fandom culture, according to MassiveMusic's global strategy director, Roscoe Williamson.

For years, the music and brand playbook was stuck on repeat: license a track, book a cameo, run the ad. It delivered reach, but rarely resonance. Fans were passive. The relationship was transactional.

Now a new blueprint is emerging. One where music leads, artists steer, and fans participate. A braver, sharper and more human model is taking shape - one where fandom is not an afterthought but the strategy itself.

And no one has mastered this playbook quite like K-pop.

K-pop was the weak signal. Now it’s the blueprint.

K-pop didn’t just rewrite the music industry rulebook. It redefined what fandom could do.

When Gangnam Style broke the internet in 2012, many dismissed it as a viral glitch. Yet it remains in the top 10 most viewed YouTube videos of all time. It was a cultural signal, not just a one-off. It was music designed for digital spread, with hyper-pop aesthetics and high-energy choreography, that could travel globally without traditional gatekeepers.

A decade later, K-pop has evolved into a global ecosystem. It’s no longer just about sound but about story structure and scale. Much of that is powered by fan ritual. Digitally native fanbases blur the line between audience and amplifier, building meaning around their idols in real time.

Take BTS. They didn’t rise on reach alone. They rose on ritual, participation and shared identity. Their fanbase, often called ARMY, didn’t just follow the music, they symbiotically grew with it, building their own sense of self alongside the band’s evolution.

When brands like Louis Vuitton, Samsung, or McDonald’s enter that world, they are not borrowing interest, they are earning belonging.

For that to succeed, recognising and respecting the fanbase that built the success is crucial.

Gap, denim, and the KATSEYE effect

When Gap partnered with K-pop-inspired girl group KATSEYE on its “Better in Denim” campaign, it borrowed from the fandom-first playbook and delivered the brand’s most viral moment in years. The group brought choreography, style, and global energy. Fans brought the amplification, generating $1.7m in earned media within a week.

The creative was simple but smart.

Set against a white backdrop and backed by Kelis’ Milkshake, the spot nodded to Gap’s iconic 90s ads while remixing them for a new generation. Y2K nostalgia met K-pop-era remix culture.

But it wasn’t just a look. Some of KATSEYE’s multicultural line-up even shared how they grew up wearing Gap, turning the campaign into a personal story.

For fans, it didn’t feel like a brand using an artist. It felt like a moment they could own.

Demon Hunters: Where fandom becomes folklore

Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters, now the streamer’s most-watched film ever, takes fandom strategy even further, turning music into myth-making.

But the impact extended far beyond the screen. The soundtrack made history, landing four tracks in the Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten simultaneously and topping global streaming charts.

TikTok lit the fuse, with fans creating dance covers, edits, and imagined rivalries. On Reddit and Discord, the fandom took it further, building timelines, crafting lore, and expanding the story world with character theories and fan art. It was music designed to be decoded, lived in and expanded by fans.

Another example of a strategic blueprint where content becomes culture and fandom becomes the engine.

Cultural strategy isn’t copy and paste

Of course, fan culture doesn’t translate evenly across borders.

In Korea and Japan, brand collaborations are often welcomed as part of the fan economy. Buying the product is a form of devotion. A branded drink or trainer becomes an object of connection.

In Western markets, the line is thinner. A one-off drop can look like opportunism unless it adds creative value or truly aligns with the artist. What reads as support in Seoul can look like a cash grab in San Francisco.

Beyoncé, Levi’s, and light-touch fandom strategy

You don’t need to shout to activate fandom. Sometimes the smartest strategy is simply creating the space.

This year, Levi’s and Beyoncé wrapped their REIIMAGINE collaboration with The Denim Cowboy, a short film that blended Americana iconography with feminist energy. It was stylised, star-powered, and set to Levii’s Jeans, a track from Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album.

The campaign invited fans to remix the looks, share their styling, and speculate on what came next. Through creator content, a fan event in Los Angeles, and the drop of the Levi’s T-shirt capsule, the brand made it easy to participate without over-orchestrating. They just hosted.

Immersive fandom strategy done right

Johnnie Walker Black Label has just launched a multi-year collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, aligned with her Man’s Best Friend album and Short n’ Sweet tour. The campaign moves with her, from out-of-home in New York and London to tour stops where fans over 21 can order her signature cocktails.

It’s an approach that feels part of her world, not imposed on it. The creative mirrors her tone and values, letting fans engage naturally through style, storytelling and social speculation.

The opportunity ahead

Music and brand partnerships are no longer about endorsements. They are about symbiotic ecosystems that balance both scale and intimacy across channels and platforms.

The most effective ones put music first, give artists creative ownership, invite fans into the story and let the participatory engine of fandom drive. These are the partnerships that travel.

In a fandom-led era, the brands that win will be the ones that understand they are not just building audiences. They are joining armies.