CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS OF BTS’ DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY IN INDONESIA (2017-2021)

Abstract

BTS or also known as Bangtan Boys is a popular boy band group from South Korea which was created by Big Hit Entertainment and is currently known as HYBE Corporation. BTS gained its popularity since its first debut in 2013 and until now they have achieved many accomplishments in selling its product around the world. They were able to penetrate the United States market and win many awards such as the most prestigious music award in the world, the Grammy Awards. Not to mention, among all the K-Pop groups, BTS has the highest number of fandoms around the world known as ARMY. This is the result of a successful marketing strategy implemented by HYBE Corporation for BTS. In Indonesia, the number of ARMY is very large compared to other countries in Asia, especially Southeast Asia. HYBE’s strategy in promoting BTS is through differentiation strategy and marketing implementation 4.0. This strategy was able to give a new approach to the consumer and variety in BTS products. This research was conducted to analyze the consumer behavior towards BTS products in Indonesia. The methodology of this research is using a secondary data approach as well as interview sessions with several ARMYs in Indonesia. The result shows that the consumer behavior towards BTS products is very good and many of them demand BTS to keep promoting their products in many ways. They were even willing to purchase BTS merchandise directly from its official store despite the price rather than purchasing it from an online marketplace in Indonesia due to the lack of trust in the product. Overall, HYBE promotions of BTS merchandise in Indonesia gained positive feedback and the ARMY kept asking for more and more in the future which shows how successful HYBE is in implementing their marketing strategy, especially in Indonesia.