Keywords That Shaped Korea
in the First Half of 2025

Less Guilt, Same Great Taste

A new “less-is-best” trend is sweeping through Korea’s food industry. With growing public interest in health, companies are focusing on reducing unhealthy ingredients. But cutting back on these components isn’t enough—there is growing consumer demand for food that is “less unhealthy, but just as tasty.” That’s why a new category of “Low Spec Food” has emerged in the market—products that feature reduced calories, sugar, sodium, alcohol, and chemical additives while maintaining the original taste.

This movement is closely tied to the “Healthy Pleasure” trend, which first gained attention in 2022. As this trend spreads—favoring enjoyable, sustainable wellness practices—consumers are moving away from extreme dietary restrictions. Instead, they’re choosing delicious foods that are compatible with maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Companies, in turn, are investing in technologies that lower sugar and sodium content without sacrificing flavor. This includes reformulating ingredients to remove, replace, or lower sugar and sodium content. A leading example in Korea is Lotte Wellfood’s “Zero Series”, which lives up to its slogan “Zero Sugar, Zero Calories” with sugar-free or zero-calorie versions of chocolate, candy, jelly, cookies, and ice cream. Dongwon Home Food’s “Vivid Kitchen” has also won over consumers with a range of low-calorie, low-sugar sauces such as ketchup, mustard, and sweet chili, as well as Korean favorites like fresh kimchi seasoning, bulgogi marinade, and tteokbokki sauce.

Consumers no longer have to choose between tasty foods or a healthy lifestyle. As Low Spec Food becomes the new norm at the dining table, it captures the best of both worlds: striving toward food that are both healthy and delicious.

Delivering Tailored Experiences

We’ve entered an era where companies go beyond simply recommending products—they now offer personalized experiences based on individual preferences and circumstances. This is the world of hyper-personalization.

Hyper-personalization is a marketing strategy that predicts what a customer is likely to prefer and proactively presents content, services, and advertisements accordingly. It works by collecting a wide range of data—such as real-time behavior, preferences, purchase history, location, and device usage—and using AI and machine learning to analyze this information, delivering optimal, individualized experiences.

Netflix is a prime example of hyper-personalized marketing. By analyzing users’ viewing history, favorite genres, and click behavior, Netflix customizes thumbnail images even for the same piece of content. For instance, a romance fan might see a kissing scene, while an action enthusiast might get a fight scene, and fans of a specific actor might be shown a thumbnail featuring that actor prominently. This strategy increases content engagement, boosts viewership, and reduces churn. In other words, AI provides the answer to the question, “What should we show to whom?”—and it’s producing meaningful results.

Korean companies are also embracing hyper-personalization. Gmarket’s AI-powered personalized home screen on its mobile app, CJ Group’s “CJ AI CENTER”, and ZigZag’s AI-based image search service “ZigZag Lens” are all making waves in the e-commerce space. These initiatives are improving advertising efficiency and driving revenue, setting new standards for innovation.

By reading customer preferences and offering timely, relevant recommendations, hyper-personalization has become more than a trend—it’s a necessity for survival. By transforming the user experience and enhancing brand competitiveness, it serves as a powerful example of how technology can better understand people.

A Festival of Brand Experiences

A rising trend in consumer culture is the emergence of Popup Towns—spaces where multiple brands gather and operate like a theme park. Unlike traditional pop-up stores that are run by a single brand in a dedicated space, Popup Towns bring together various brands in a shared thematic environment. These multifaceted venues maximize brand exposure while serving as interactive platforms to build stronger emotional connections with consumers. Particularly popular are Popup Towns based on IP content such as characters, animations, webtoons, and games.

This trend is closely tied to the behavior of modern consumers, especially the rise of “Playsumers”—active consumers who seek playful, experience-driven purchases. These individuals enjoy various interactive experiences, including photo zones, themed sections, and live events, fully immersing in the moment and going beyond simple consumption.

For brands, Popup Towns are highly effective marketing tools. A space filled with diverse brand events draws a wide range of customers. Visitors who come for one brand often end up discovering new ones, broadening the brands’ customer bases and increasing overall awareness. Additionally, shared space and resources lead to cost efficiencies, making this model more appealing than solo promotions.

One standout example was the World Webtoon Festival 2024, held in September, which showcased the power of Korean webtoons. The event featured 16 webtoon companies—including Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment—and more than 200 webtoon IPs. The upcoming World Webtoon Festival 2025, scheduled for October, is expected to present even more diverse extensions of webtoon IPs, including film and game adaptations.