Netflix, Spotify, and KPop demon-hunting idols nailed what most businesses miss: knowing their core customer.
- PG Geldenhuys
- 10 hours ago
- 4 min read
Last weekend, I went to Oktoberfest with Caroline. Only, it was a local beerfest version. And although there was beer and pork product, it felt off. Caroline and I concurred - it was the bands. They were just not… cheesy enough?
On the way to the beach afterwards with the kids, we decided to save our musical day, and I tracked down an Après Ski playlist on Spotify. I was taken aback when half the songs on it were from a kids’ movie I had just watched with the boys the night before - a Korean sci-fi cartoon epic about three girls who are both pop singers and demon hunters. What was this?
I delved deeper… and seeing as I am training on strategy fundamentals this week, including understanding and focusing on your core customer, being clear on how you are different, deciding where and how to play, and exactly what your brand promise is to your audience, here is what I found… introducing KPop Demon Hunters.
Yes folks, they are cartoon idols with demon-hunting side gigs, and they are topping the Billboard charts. The movie KPop Demon Hunters has no flesh-and-blood performers, no tour bus, no exhausted vocalist losing her voice halfway through Coachella. And yet it’s become a multi-platform juggernaut.
When you strip away the hype, here’s what the KPop Demon Hunters team actually pulled off - numbers that would make even Taylor Swift’s tour accountant blink:
325 million Netflix views in its first 90 days - Netflix’s most-watched film ever, surpassing Red Notice.
A $19 million theatrical sing-along event - fans literally paid to watch it again, together, in cinemas.
3 billion global music streams and counting - turning fictional idols into real-world chart-toppers.
“Golden” by the in-film band Huntr/x hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five straight weeks, the first-ever animated act to do so.
The soundtrack reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 with four songs simultaneously in the Hot 100 Top 10 - an Encanto-level crossover, but aimed squarely at Gen Z’s global fandom.
Critics loved it too: 95% Rotten Tomatoes score, 99% audience rating, and social chatter that dwarfed most live-action blockbusters.
O.M.G...
It made me think about how often we, in our businesses, chase the wrong kind of fame. We want everyone to like us, instead of building something so true to a niche that the rest of the world can’t look away. Netflix and Spotify understood that years ago. Success isn’t about being universal - it’s about being unmistakably you in the sandbox where your audience actually plays.
The creators of KPop Demon Hunters knew exactly who their core customer was: the global K-pop fandom. These are people who buy albums they can’t even play because they want the photocard. They queue for digital fan-signs across time zones. They stream the same song overnight to help it chart. That level of obsession is gold, if you respect it. So instead of watering the story down for a generic Western audience, the producers doubled down on authenticity - Korean voice actors, bilingual lyrics, choreography that mirrors real idol groups, and lore that taps straight into fan mythology.
Then they built around the two sandboxes their customers already live in:
Netflix - for bingeable, shareable, global storytelling.
Spotify - for repeatable, portable, emotional experiences.
The fusion of those two created a flywheel. Watch the movie on Netflix → fall in love with the songs → stream the soundtrack on Spotify → feed the algorithm → drive more discovery back to the movie.
That loop is the modern version of what great companies call “flywheel energy” - one delighted customer action feeding another, over and over.
Here’s how this phenomenon maps to the Scaling Up Strategy Framework I am teaching this week in Joburg and Durban:
Core Customer:
Global Gen Z–millennial audiences who live online, idolise K-pop aesthetics, and crave inclusive, high-energy fandoms.
They’re not casual viewers - they’re participants in a shared myth.
Sandbox:
The digital entertainment ecosystem of Netflix (visual storytelling) and Spotify (audio storytelling).
Instead of chasing cinema box office or radio airplay, they built in the channels where their tribe already lives and pays.
Differentiating Activities:
Authentic cultural detail (language, choreography, design).
Integrated music pipeline - real producers, chart-ready songs, and algorithm-optimised release strategy.
Fandom interactivity - sing-along screenings, AR avatars, merch drops, even fictional social media accounts for each character.
Transmedia storytelling - every platform adds a piece of the lore.
Brand Promise:
“You can be powerful and performative. Your fandom is your superpower.”
For every teenager who’s been told pop music is shallow, KPop Demon Hunters says: being passionate doesn’t make you silly - it makes you unstoppable.
This is no different from what we ask of business founders:
➡ Know exactly who you’re for.
➡ Choose your sandbox deliberately.
➡ Build differentiating activities you can sustain.
➡ Keep your brand promise loud and alive in every customer touchpoint.
PG’s Pro Tip:
If your business isn’t hitting Billboard-level buzz yet, try this four-step creative audit inspired by the Demon Hunters playbook:
Define your fandom.
Who are the 1,000 true fans you’d slay demons for? What do they obsess over when they’re not buying from you?
ChatGPT prompt:
"List the top 5 emotional drivers and subcultures of my ideal customer in [industry]. Suggest how to serve them through product design, story, and language.”
Pick your sandbox.
Where does your customer actually live - LinkedIn, TikTok, conferences, communities? Stop spraying; start playing where they play.
ChatGPT prompt:
"Given that my target audience spends time on [platform], brainstorm 3 ways to engage them natively instead of advertising to them.”
Clarify your differentiating activities.
What are the three repeatable things your competitors won’t or can’t do? Turn them into habits.
ChatGPT prompt:
"Identify 3 sustainable differentiating activities my company could own that competitors find hard to copy.”
Live your brand promise.
Every tweet, invoice, and delivery note should say the same thing: “This is who we are.”
ChatGPT prompt:
“Rewrite my brand promise as a one-line movie tagline that inspires emotion and commitment.”
Because in the end, whether you’re a demon-hunting K-pop idol or an entrepreneur trying to scale your business, the message is the same:If you know your audience, own your sandbox, and stay true to your promise - the world will stream your story on repeat.
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