Marketing Strategist

SeoulSpice•Arlington, VA

About The Position

SeoulSpice is looking for a culturally plugged-in, creatively minded K-Culture & Marketing Partnerships Strategist to help shape how our brand shows up in culture. This is a highly visible role for someone who understands that great marketing isn't just about campaigns, but about creating moments that people want to talk about, share, participate in, and feel connected to. We're looking for someone who can help SeoulSpice build meaningful connections across K-culture, K-pop, Asian culture, food, music, entertainment, creators, social media, and popular culture. This person will lead brand activations and strategic partnerships while helping us identify the cultural moments, communities, talent, and collaborators that can make SeoulSpice truly culturally relevant.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in brand marketing, partnership marketing, experiential marketing, entertainment marketing, cultural marketing, or a related field.
An established network within the K-pop/K-culture industry. This is a key requirement for the role.
Existing relationships with K-pop artists, management teams, labels, agencies, promoters, entertainment companies, creators, or other relevant industry stakeholders.
Demonstrated experience developing and executing successful brand partnerships and activations.
A deep understanding of K-culture, K-pop, Asian culture, Asian-American culture, and contemporary popular culture.
Genuine passion for K-pop and familiarity with fandom culture.
Strong understanding of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and emerging social platforms.
Exceptional cultural awareness and the ability to identify what's authentic versus what feels forced or opportunistic.
Strong creative instincts and the ability to recognize a great cultural opportunity before it becomes obvious to everyone else.
Excellent relationship-building, communication, presentation, negotiation, and project management skills.
The ability to balance cultural authenticity, creativity, and business objectives.
The ability to take an idea from "What if we did this?" all the way through execution.

Nice To Haves

Korean language skills.
Experience with food, CPG or restaurants.
Experience negotiating talent, creator, licensing, or brand partnership agreements.
A strong personal presence and network within social and cultural communities.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead SeoulSpice's presence within K-culture, with a particular focus on K-pop, entertainment, music, creators, fandoms, and emerging cultural trends.
Identify and develop opportunities with K-pop artists, labels, agencies, entertainment companies, events, creators, fan communities, and other relevant partners.
Bring an established network of relationships within the K-pop and K-culture ecosystem. Existing connections with artists, management, labels, agencies, promoters, entertainment companies, creators, or other key players are essential to this role.
Use your relationships and understanding of the industry to open doors and create partnership opportunities that would otherwise be difficult to access.
Stay deeply connected to K-pop releases, tours, artists, fandoms, entertainment news, fan culture, and emerging trends.
Help SeoulSpice identify the right artists, properties, communities, and cultural moments to align with the brand.
Develop and execute culturally relevant brand activations, events, pop-ups, collaborations, and experiential campaigns.
Identify opportunities for SeoulSpice to show up in unexpected, authentic, and memorable ways.
Turn cultural insights into creative marketing ideas that drive awareness, engagement, and brand love.
Take ideas from initial concept through execution, working with internal teams and external partners.
Identify, pitch, develop, and manage strategic partnerships with brands, artists, creators, musicians, entertainment properties, and cultural organizations.
Build and maintain relationships with potential partners and continuously expand SeoulSpice's cultural network.
Develop creative partnership concepts that feel authentic and mutually beneficial rather than transactional.
Manage partnership conversations, negotiations, timelines, deliverables, and post-campaign analysis.
Be SeoulSpice's eyes and ears on what's happening across K-culture, Asian culture, social media, entertainment, food, fashion, music, and popular culture.
Monitor TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, fandom communities, music, entertainment news, and emerging platforms.
Identify emerging artists, creators, trends, memes, communities, and cultural moments that could become opportunities for SeoulSpice.
Translate cultural trends into actionable marketing opportunities.