How to track Asian pop culture
RedNote, Labubu, and the new geography of pop culture.
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Let’s dive into today’s topic:
How to track Asian pop culture
Let’s give you something to read in this lazy week between Christmas and NYE.
Why it matters
I am a European born in the eighties, so American pop culture was the default setting for cool in my youth. But that dominance is shifting rapidly.
In the late 1990s, the South Korean government made a calculated bet: it invested heavily in exporting its pop culture to develop soft power. It was a successful investment, and the ‘Korean Wave’ is now undeniable. Western youth are now just as likely to consume Blackpink, Squid Game, and bibimbap as they are established Western culture.
In 2025, we witnessed this strategy expand beyond Seoul. Netflix invested $200M in Thailand’s creative economy. But it is China specifically that is strengthening its soft power. We saw the rise of Ne Zha 2 and the Labubu phenomenon, while chains like Luckin Coffee and Mixue are entering our street scenes, conquering the world via Singapore.
For artists and industry executives, this is a critical signal. Culture operates like an ecosystem. To gather inspiration and to examine growth opportunities, it’s valuable to explore trends in Asia rather than focusing solely on the EU and the US.
Yes, but..
We need to add nuance here before we discuss strategy. Obviously, Asia is too vast to capture as one entity or shared subculture. Digital ecosystems vary widely by region. Behind the Great Firewall of China, apps like Weibo, WeChat, and Xiaohongshu flourish. In South Korea, it is Kakao. In Japan, X (formerly Twitter) remains dominant. In Thailand, Facebook is still crucial for community management.
Furthermore, user behaviour varies significantly. In China, livestreams are consumed and created more than short-form videos. Paradoxically for this topic, China remains highly protective of its digital borders. Most apps are gated behind registration to Chinese phone numbers, creating a closed ecosystem that is difficult for outsiders to access.
The concept of the ‘Superapp’ (mini-apps for payments, transport, etc.) is widely adopted in Asia, making the user journey frictionless, unlike Western apps that are still trying to replicate it. We might dive deeper into these distinctions in future editions, but for now, recognise that you are entering a fragmented landscape.
How it works
Here is my recommended starter kit for diving into Asian pop culture and staying up to date on the latest trends.
Consume the content
Download RedNote (Xiaohongshu): Remember the “TikTok refugees” of January 2025? They flocked to RedNote. It is a massive platform. Download it and scroll through the recommended content and livestreams to understand popular formats.
Explore Asian content on your favourite social app: Use tools like Gemini (or try DeepSeek) to suggest hashtags and creators for discovering content on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Localise generic search phrases like “OOTD Bangkok” or “City Walk Hong Kong” to see what is happening on the ground.
Watch Asian content on Western streaming services: For example, seek out shows like The Believers (Thai) or any Korean series on Netflix.
Explore K-pop brand partnerships: For example, look at how individual Blackpink members are positioned globally. It’s a masterclass in brand spillover.
Expert newsletters and media
Chaoyang Trap: Inactive now, but the archives are excellent. They dissect the Chinese internet, niche subcultures, and memes that define Chinese Gen Z.
Jing Daily: The authority on the business of luxury and consumer culture in China.
RADII: A media platform dedicated to understanding modern China through the eyes of its youth. They cover hip-hop, indie fashion, tech, and queer culture in China.
sabukaru.online: A globally operating media collective from Tokyo that covers the intersection of subculture and fashion.
South China Morning Post (SCMP): A Hong Kong-based English newsletter. Despite the rough paywall, it’s excellent for Pan-Asia news. It’s owned by Alibaba, but blocked by the Great Firewall. Last week’s coverage of tech giants bidding for New Year’s event sponsorships is a great read.
Take action now
If you can do only one thing, choose between subscribing to a newsletter (so the trend updates go to you instead of you having to look them up) or exploring Asian content in your favourite social media app (which is a great thing to do if you’re already mindlessly scrolling).
Your thoughts
What are your favourite newsletters, subreddits, content creators, or research labs to track Asian pop culture? Leave your recommendations in the comments below.
Further reading
Korean Wave (Hallyu) – The Rise of Korea’s Cultural Economy & Pop Culture (Martin Roll)
K-Content Leads Remarkable $79 Billion Cultural Powerhouse (Behalf Korea)
Nezha, Mixue, Labubu: The cultural exports making China cool (Jing Daily)
Investing $200M in Thai Storytelling: Netflix Drives Impact Across Local Creative Talent and Economy (Netflix)
Tech giants go prime time in the fight for China’s biggest audience (SCMP)
Four industries that beat artists at fan growth (The Fanbase Builder)
Brand spillover: The hidden brand effect behind artist collaborations (The Fanbase Builder)
Great breakdown of how these cultural flows are shifting the ecosystem. The Squid Game example is really interesting because it demonstrates how South Korea's investment in soft power is producing measurable returns beyond just viewership numebrs. I remeber noticing Luckin Coffee chains popping up in my city seemingly overnight and didn't realize it was part of this larger pattern of Chinese brands entering the global streetscape. It's fasinating how Netflix's $200M essentially acts as infrastructure investment for Thailand's creative export potential.