Growing up in a time when television signed off every night and making an overseas call was a hit or miss ordeal, it is amazing to me how in such a relatively short time so much has evolved. Not only is television on twenty-four hours a day, the choice of programming is infinite. Now, connecting with anyone around the globe is just a thought away. The changes have come like a tsunami, not with the destruction (though that is debatable for some) but the flood. With this change in the landscape, the way we do things have been altered, in our daily lives and the way we work. Adaptation is the name of the game today, otherwise death looms. A good example of this is South Korean television drama Playful Kisses which like the phoenix, is enjoying a rebirth through the adaptive thinking of its producers.
THE KISS OF LIFE
Wikipedia cites Playful Kiss as a South Korean drama that is based off of the popular Japanese manga Itazura Na Kiss by Tada Kaoru. The show stars very popular South Korean actor Jung So Min as Oh Ha Ni and Kim Hyun Joong as Baek Seung-Jo. It aired from September 1, 2010 till October 21, 2010 and had a total of 16 episodes. Despite the anticipation of this show featuring the famous Jung So Min, it had a dismal nationwide viewing rating of 5.6%. 
There should have been a kiss of death for the series, however, the creators, troubled as to why this adolescent show failed to capture its intended audience, put their heads together on the problem. They realised that those in their teens and twenties had dramatically changed their viewing habits, preferring to view television content online. They then decided that the internet was the medium that Playful Kiss needs to be on. They were right. The show grew in popularity, even beyond South Korean borders. Google in collaboration with YouTube signed up with the producers of the show to air on YouTube an extra seven episodes that can only be viewed online. The response was a staggering 3.5 million hits. The online drama is enjoyed across the globe with viewers in the U.S., Europe and in particular, Latin America. What lesson is there for us in advertising? This generation is all about the social media. The traditional media may soon no longer be relevant and a shift in the direction of the social network is inevitable.
SPOILER ALERT
In case you are wondering what Playful Kiss is all about? Here’s the synopsis. A high school girl named Oh Ha Ni (Jung So Min) who is in the bottom of her class has had a crush on popular and genius male student named Baek Seung-jo (Kin Hyun Joong) ever since she saw him on the first day of high school. Ha Ni decides to confess through a letter, but is rejected by Seung-Jo, who tells her that he hates stupid girls. Fate intervenes when a mild earthquake ruins Ha Ni’s family’s new house. While the house gets rebuilt, Ha Ni and her dad(Kang Nam Gil) stay at the home of her dad’s childhood friend, who happens to be Seung-Jo’s father. Now the two must live together and fun and chaos occurs as Ha Ni tries to win Seung-Jo’s heart.
If you want to know first hand what attracted 3.5. million people around the world to this Asian show, have a look:
