Shiqi Wu, general manager (GM) of Global Business Solutions (GBS) at TikTok Korea, said the core of brand marketing is shifting beyond simple ad reach toward securing users' attention and participation.
Wu said this at TikTok's "TikTok CxO Circle 2026," held on the 17th at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. In a presentation titled "Where consumers pay attention, TikTok," Wu said, "Korean users who go beyond simple viewing to actively respond and participate have emerged as a key driver expanding trends into actual consumption and purchasing behavior."
At the event, which was held for top executives of major domestic brands and agencies, TikTok introduced marketing trends that consolidate consumers' attention to brands into tangible business growth and discussed growth strategies in a rapidly changing digital environment.
Wu cited the case of GS25's "gochujang butter pasta," where a recipe that gained popularity on TikTok led to an actual product launch. Wu said, "As this is an era when online content consumption naturally leads to offline product consumption, brand marketing also needs an approach that consolidates users' attention and participation into real business results."
Im Chang-gu, senior account director at market research firm Sensor Tower, gave a presentation on changes in the domestic digital advertising market under the theme "2025-2026 digital advertising trends and changes." According to Sensor Tower, in the first quarter of this year, domestic advertising expenditure placed on major global digital platforms and the share of video ad expenditure rose 20.8% and 14.8%, respectively, from a year earlier.
In particular, as video-centric marketing strategies grow more important, the role of platforms that can draw users' attention and participation is also expanding. Among major global ad platforms, TikTok recorded the longest usage time, with an average of 89.4 minutes per day per global user.
Contrary to the perception that TikTok is a platform centered on younger generations, the company also emphasized at the event that user ages are relatively evenly distributed, forming a broad user base, and that it is establishing itself as a marketing platform that can drive brand growth by leveraging touchpoints with a wide range of consumer segments.
Park Han-beom, head of client solutions at TikTok Korea, explained that the relationship between brands and consumers is shifting beyond simple awareness to an organically consolidated path of attention, favorability, and purchase conversion. Park said, "Beyond just catching users' eyes, the process of raising favorability toward the brand and consideration to purchase is the key to actual purchases and business results."
Park also introduced marketing strategies that consolidate users' interest into brand favorability and purchasing behavior, as well as artificial intelligence (AI)-based creative production and data analytics solutions. Attendees were particularly interested in how to produce high-quality video content more efficiently by using "Dreamina Sdance 2.0," an AI video model applied to TikTok's AI-based creative tool suite, "TikTok Symphony."