In a video on TikTok last year, a young girl from Texas is seen opening her birthday presents, breaking down in happy tears at one specific gift: a pink multipack of her favorite instant ramen, Buldak’s carbonara variety. Samyang Foods, the maker of Buldak, sprung into action as the video went viral. Just a month later, the brand engineered another moment designed for virality, delivering a Buldak-themed party — and a huge supply of ramen — directly to the young girl’s house in a custom pink truck.
“This activation was an example of engagement with our fans,” said Sarah Tang, marketing director at Samyang America. “We try to build community with our audience — not just advertising. As much as they love us, we try to show our appreciation.”
Consumer love for Samyang and its Buldak products is real: Numerator recently named it the top brand in the U.S. among Gen Alpha, calling it “a cultural and culinary phenomenon” among the cohort, which includes consumers born beginning in 2010. Samyang ranked ahead of brands like Owala water bottles, Dr. Squatch soap and Fortnite.
The ranking is validation of the work Samyang, which released South Korea’s first-ever instant ramen in 1963, has done to grow beyond a niche Korean food brand into a favorite of younger consumers who increasingly reach for spicy foods.
The company launched its U.S. affiliate in 2021 and worked to raise the brand’s profile at retailers including Costco, Walmart and Target. At the end of 2023, Samyang was in less than 10,000 stores; by the end of last year, it was in more than 22,000. The addition of a marketing team a little more than a year ago has helped turn viral engagement into a real-world footprint.
“If we could not achieve a strong retail extension, we would not have this success in terms of results,” Tang explained. “Brands that are very popular in the social world… it’s hard to make it in real-life without an omnichannel strategy.”
Tapping into brand love
Samyang America’s marketing team is lean but agile, which makes it easy for the brand to tap into viral moments like the one with the girl in Texas. But it still relies on a collaborative relationship with the company’s South Korea headquarters to put resources behind its marketing.
“Without their support, we would not be able to do [the activations] as we are still a small organization,” Tang said. “We work very closely and it is a very cooperative relationship in terms of marketing operations.”
Samyang is investing in digital as part of an omnichannel strategy that will also include a brand-owned platform that captures consumer feedback and brand love in one place. The company is also looking at a pair of growing channels that continue to converge, tapping into CTV and working to have a better presence on retail media networks owned by Walmart, Target and Kroger.
It has also embraced experiential marketing, a tactic that has returned to full force after a pullback during the height of the pandemic. Elevating sampling with in-person activations has helped Samyang move beyond instant ramen into the sauce category. In October and November, Samyang rolled out a variety of activations in New York and Los Angeles as part of its “Splash Buldak” campaign, which featured mascot appearances and “sauce exchange” pop-ups that allowed consumers to trade in old take-out sauce packets for free Buldak Hot Sauce.
Experiential has also helped the brand meet viral moments, even ones not as positive as a little girl’s brand love. Last June, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration briefly recalled several varieties of Buldak, claiming that the levels of capsaicin — the chemical in peppers that make them spicy — were too high and could poison consumers. Once the ban was lifted on two of the products, Samyang helped Danish consumers celebrate the return of the products by setting sail on the “Buldak Spicy Ferry” in Copenhagen’s harbor.
“It was a strategic move to break the narrative,” Tang said. “We tried to play in a [fun] way after a regulatory challenge and also reaffirm that we care about you as much as you care about us.”
