Don’t Fit the Bucket: What Kpop Demon Hunters Teaches Us About Creativity
By Richard Langrish, Head of Strategy, PHA Group
Thanks to my children, our household alone must be responsible for at least 20 viewings of Kpop Demon Hunters. We’re not the only ones; with 236 million global streams, it is now Netflix’s most-watched movie ever.
The surprising part? On paper, it shouldn’t work. An anime-style story built around Kpop idols, fuelled by ridiculously catchy songs, mixing demon battles for teens with humour and drama that pulls adults in. It sounds like too many things at once.
And yet, it works. Because it doesn’t try to fit into one category, and that’s where the brand lessons from Netflix become clear.
Audiences don’t live in boxes
People aren’t “just kids” or “just adults.” They’re on TikTok one minute, binging a drama the next. Kpop Demon Hunters works because it cuts across generations and fandoms, reflecting how layered people really are.
The takeaway: Audiences live in overlaps, not rigid segments. Understanding this is one of the most important brand lessons from Netflix.
Culture is the engine, not the add-on
K-pop isn’t background noise here. It drives the story, the characters, and the emotion. That makes it feel real, not tokenistic.
The takeaway: Don’t tack culture on at the end. Build with it from the start to resonate on a global scale.
Specific travels further than generic
K-pop is uniquely Korean, yet its fandom is global. Its strength comes from being proudly itself, not trying to be “universal”.
The takeaway: The more rooted you are, the more universal your appeal becomes. Authenticity is one of the most powerful brand lessons from Netflix.
Bold beats formula
A “demon-hunting K-pop musical” sounds like a stretch. But culture rewards originality more than it punishes risk.
The takeaway: Safe ideas blend in, bold ideas break through – a strategy Netflix consistently demonstrates.
Timing is everything
Kpop Demon Hunters landed just ahead of the summer break in many countries, when kids had more screen time and parents were looking for easy wins. Add to that the absence of a major kids’ release in cinemas, and the film had clear air to build momentum.
The takeaway: Timing can be as powerful as the idea itself. Launch when attention is there and competition isn’t.
What brands can learn from Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters
The success of Kpop Demon Hunters shows that the future of creativity isn’t about fitting neatly into a box. It’s about mixing them, breaking them, and making new ones.
For brands, that means leaning into hybridity, cultural depth and the courage to play where categories collide. Because in a world where everyone else is asking “what bucket does this fit into?”, the winners are the ones reshaping the bucket altogether.
At The PHA Group, our Consumer team helps businesses cut through culture, timing, and trends to find their place in the overlaps where attention really lives.
If you’d like to explore how we can help your brand resonate and break through like Netflix’s biggest hits, get in touch with our Consumer specialists today.