Beyond the Wave: Mali Wuestenhagen on K-Culture’s Shift to K-Lifestyle

The global rise of K-culture has created a rare window of opportunity for Korean brands, according to a recently released report from Assembly. Beyond the Wave: From K-Culture Phenomenon to Global Market Dominance examines how cultural interest is translating into consumer demand.

According to the report, Korean cosmetics exports now exceed $10 billion annually, food exports have reached record highs, and more than 225 million people worldwide engage with Hallyu. The report says international consumers are engaging with Korean content and actively integrating Korean products into their everyday lives.

The report additionally examines how Korean brands can close the gap between cultural visibility and everyday consumption. Looking at K-Lifestyle adoption across categories and markets, it explores where demand is deepening, where conversion is breaking down, and what separates brands that scale from those that plateau.

To learn more, we spoke with Mali Wuestenhagen, VP, Strategy, North Asia at Assembly and lead author of the report, about the shift from the Korean Wave to K-Lifestyle, what other categories can learn from K-Beauty, and how Korean brands can turn cultural interest into lasting consumer adoption.

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The report describes the shift from the Korean Wave to K-Lifestyle as “a change in depth, not reach.” Can you talk about that and what it means for Korean brands looking to grow globally?

This was one of the most important findings from the research.

We’ve spent years talking about how far Korean culture has travelled, and rightly so. The scale is remarkable. More than 225 million people worldwide now engage with Hallyu, making Korean culture a genuinely global phenomenon.

But reach is no longer the most interesting question. Korean culture has already achieved global visibility. What’s changing now is the role it plays in people’s lives.

Someone may have first encountered Korea through K-dramas or K-pop, but today Korean influence shows up in the products they use, the food they cook, the clothes they wear, and even the aesthetics they gravitate toward. That’s a much deeper form of influence. The move from the Korean Wave to K-Lifestyle is fundamentally a change in depth, not reach.

The brands winning globally are the ones turning cultural interest into routine behaviour.

For Korean brands, that has important implications. Leveraging the Korean heritage creates familiarity, trust and curiosity. But it is no longer enough on its own.

The brands winning globally are the ones turning cultural interest into routine behaviour. The opportunity isn’t about getting more people to try Korean products, but about embedding them in consumers’ everyday lives.

The real opportunity isn’t simply getting more people to try Korean products. The opportunity is getting people to move beyond that first moment of cultural interest towards something they genuinely want to use, eat, wear or experience again and again.

K-Beauty is already a mature global category, while K-Food is still accelerating. What has beauty done particularly well, and what can other Korean categories learn from it?

What K-Beauty did particularly well was go beyond selling products and introduce new ways for people to do something they were already doing. Everything that came with K-Beauty- layering, essences, sheet masks, double cleansing, ingredient-led skincare, and multi-step routines- was introduced not just as new products, but as a new approach to beauty & skincare. They were shown how to use them, why they were different, and how they fit into their daily lives. That’s one of the reasons K-Beauty became such a powerful global category.

The categories that scale most successfully are the ones that become part of existing routines. K-Beauty created behaviours, and those behaviours became habits. Skincare products moved from occasional purchases into regular replenishment, making K-Beauty the most mature global K-Lifestyle category.

Of course, cultural interest alone doesn’t lead to success. The products need to deliver. Korean beauty brands built credibility through efficacy, innovation, ingredients and value. Cultural interest encouraged the first trial, but product performance gave consumers a reason to come back.

The categories that scale most successfully are the ones that become part of existing routines. K-Beauty created behaviours, and those behaviours became habits.

That’s the most valuable lesson for every Korean brand looking to grow internationally. The question isn’t, “How do we become more famous?” The question is, “How do we make our product easier to adopt?”

We’re already seeing K-Food succeed by following a similar path. The strongest growth comes from formats that fit naturally into existing behaviours: ramyeon as a quick meal, Korean sauces that work with familiar recipes, or frozen, ready-to-eat dishes that require very little behavioural change. Consumers don’t have to become experts in Korean cuisine to make Korean food part of their weekly routine.

For me, that’s the broader lesson from K-Beauty. The brands and categories that win are rarely the ones that generate the most curiosity. They’re the ones that make adoption feel effortless. Once something becomes part of a consumer’s routine, it stops being a cultural curiosity and starts becoming a habit. That’s where sustainable growth really comes from.

The report describes entertainment as cultural infrastructure rather than the end destination. What does that mean for how brands should use K-pop, K-dramas and celebrities — and where do creators fit into that?

Brands often mistake cultural visibility for consumer adoption.

K-pop, K-dramas, films and celebrities have played an incredibly important role in making Korea feel familiar to audiences around the world. People are repeatedly exposed to Korean food, beauty, fashion, language, and behaviours through entertainment, and over time, these things start to feel less foreign and more familiar. One of the clearest patterns we saw was that entertainment creates the conditions for discovery. It makes people more open to exploring Korean products and lifestyles.

That’s what we mean when we describe entertainment as cultural infrastructure. It’s not the final destination, but it creates the environment that allows products and behaviours to travel more easily.

Attention and adoption are two different things. Someone might see a celebrity using a product and become interested, but they’re still going to ask practical questions. What does it do? How do I use it? Is it worth the price? Does it fit into my life?

At the same time, brands shouldn’t assume that putting a celebrity next to a product automatically creates adoption. Attention and adoption are two different things. Someone might see a celebrity using a product and become interested, but they’re still going to ask practical questions. What does it do? How do I use it? Is it worth the price? Does it fit into my life?

That’s where creators play a critical role. Creators tend to make culture practical. They show people how to use a serum, cook a dish, style an outfit or incorporate a product into their everyday routine. The report highlights social platforms and creator ecosystems as among the biggest drivers of product discovery, as they help consumers move from awareness to action.

Of course, these roles increasingly overlap. Some creators have greater influence than celebrities, and some celebrities are extremely effective at driving behaviour. Brands should start by asking what job they need a partnership to do. Is the goal to create awareness and aspiration? Or is the goal to help consumers adopt a behaviour?

The other thing worth remembering is that neither celebrities nor creators can overcome a poor product. Consumers only come back when a product provides real value.

That’s the real shift we’re seeing. Entertainment is the infrastructure that supports discovery. The brands that make the most of that are the ones that use cultural momentum to build behaviours, not just awareness.

One of the challenges you identify is turning cultural attraction into actual consumption. How can brands best address that challenge?

One of the biggest misconceptions brands make is assuming that cultural affinity automatically translates into consumer behaviour. It doesn’t. Someone can love Korean dramas and never buy Korean skincare.

A first purchase can be driven by curiosity, but repeat purchases are driven by value. That’s why the most successful categories, like K-Beauty, have become embedded in existing routines.

Cultural affinity makes people more receptive, but once consumers start considering a product, they ask the same questions they would ask of any brand: Can I find it easily? Do I understand what it does? Is it worth the price? Does it fit into my life?

Many brands focus on the wrong conversion point. They think the goal is moving someone from awareness to purchase, but the more critical transition is moving someone from trial to habit. A first purchase can be driven by curiosity, but repeat purchases are driven by value. That’s why the most successful categories, like K-Beauty, have become embedded in existing routines.

For brands, that means focusing as much on availability, education and product experience as visibility. If someone buys a product because they saw it in a drama, that’s a successful cultural moment. If six months later they’re still buying it without thinking about the drama at all, that’s a successful brand.

The report finds that Asia and Western markets follow different paths to adoption. What are the key differences in how consumers discover and adopt Korean brands across these markets?

One thing we were very careful about in the report is not treating Asia or Western markets as a single consumer group. That said, we did note a clear difference in where consumers tend to start the adoption journey.

Korean culture has been part of the media and consumer landscape in Asia for years. There’s a baseline level of familiarity, and in some categories, consumers aren’t really “discovering” Korean products anymore. They’re simply choosing between Korean brands and other alternatives. That’s why adoption is often driven by normalisation and routine.

In Western markets, discovery still plays a big and critical role in the adoption journey. A drama, TikTok video or creator might spark interest, but consumers typically need more proof before a product becomes part of their routine. That’s one reason we see stronger emphasis on product education, reviews, demonstrations and functional benefits.

The simplest way we describe it is that Asian markets tend to move from familiarity to normalisation to routine. In contrast, Western markets are more likely to move from discovery to trial, then to utility-led adoption. The destination can be the same, but the path is different.

For brands, that’s an important distinction because localisation isn’t translation. You can’t take a playbook that works in Thailand, translate it into German and expect it to work in the same way. The role culture plays, the level of education required, and the reasons consumers buy can vary widely.

As Korean culture becomes increasingly familiar globally, does that familiarity eventually weaken its power as a point of differentiation for Korean brands?

Yes, over time it probably does, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Novelty is powerful, but it’s also temporary. As categories mature, consumers naturally become more selective. We’ve seen this happen in K-Beauty. Being Korean still carries positive associations, but consumers increasingly evaluate products based on efficacy, ingredients, design, value and overall experience. That’s exactly what you’d expect from a mature category.

Novelty is powerful, but it’s also temporary. As categories mature, consumers naturally become more selective.

In many ways, that’s a sign of success. The goal shouldn’t be for consumers to choose a brand simply because it’s Korean. The goal should be to build a brand that people would choose even if the “Korean” label disappeared.

That doesn’t mean Korean identity stops mattering. Korea still has strong associations with innovation, creativity, aesthetics and cultural relevance. Those are valuable assets for any brand, but origin alone becomes less of a differentiator as familiarity grows.

Korean origin can help open the door, but it shouldn’t have to do all the work. The strongest brands will be the ones that build meaning, preference and loyalty that extend beyond where they’re from.

As Korean brands become increasingly embedded in everyday life, how might that change the role K-culture plays in driving discovery among younger consumers?

I think this is where things get particularly interesting, because younger consumers are growing up with a very different idea of what feels foreign.

If Korean food is available where they shop, Korean music is already in their playlists, Korean dramas sit alongside everything else they watch, and Korean skincare products appear naturally in their feeds. Korea isn’t something they necessarily seek out. It’s simply part of their everyday environment.

Social platforms accelerate that shift. Our research found that around 40-50% of Gen Z discover products through social platforms, meaning discovery is increasingly driven by algorithms, creators, and communities rather than deliberate exploration. Someone might encounter a Korean product while looking for an acne solution, a dinner idea or a fashion trend.

That’s why I think K-culture’s role is evolving. For younger consumers, it may increasingly become part of the discovery environment rather than the discovery event. It creates familiarity in the background, but the reason someone chooses a product becomes much more personal: it works for me, I need it, I like it.

For brands, that’s actually a positive development. It means they don’t have to rely entirely on the “K” branding as the primary selling point. K-culture can create familiarity in the background while the dominant reason for discovery becomes more personal: I like this. I need this. This works for me. This feels like me. That’s when Korean influence starts becoming genuinely embedded in everyday culture.

Five years from now, will we still be talking about the Korean Wave, or will its biggest success be that Korean brands no longer need the “K-” label at all?

We’ll absolutely still be talking about the Korean Wave. It’s one of the most significant cultural phenomena of the last few decades, and Korea isn’t going to stop producing influential music, entertainment, ideas and aesthetics anytime soon.

If we’re there five years from now, I don’t think we would say the Korean Wave ended. I think we would say it worked.

What will change is how much brands rely on the “K” label as the primary reason for people to choose them. It will still be an important part of the brand story, but it shouldn’t have to carry the entire value proposition. The ultimate success of K-Lifestyle may be when consumers stop thinking, “I buy this because it’s Korean,” and simply think, “I buy this because I love it.”

That doesn’t mean Korean identity disappears. It means it no longer has to do all the heavy lifting. Perhaps Korean origin becomes one part of what the brand stands for, while the product itself gives consumers the reasons to trust and choose it.

If we’re there five years from now, I don’t think we would say the Korean Wave ended. I think we would say it worked. And that is really what we mean by moving beyond the wave.

You can read the report here.