How the viral Baby Shark video created a $400m business

When Kim Min Suk gave the go-ahead to release a 90-second music video for a children's song in June 2016, he had no idea what he was releasing.

It became a global phenomenon, garnering over 16 billion views. Most viewed YouTube video of all time.

That song was the incredibly catchy Baby Shark.

Not only does he have captive children and terrorized adults around the world, it laid the groundwork for its creator Pinkfong to become a media business worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We didn't expect it to stand out from our other content,” Mr Kim, Pinkfong's chief executive, told the BBC from the firm's headquarters in Seoul.

“But looking back, it was a major turning point that set the stage for our global journey.”

That path took Pinkfong to the South Korean stock market on Tuesday, where her shares rose more than 9% on their debut, giving her a value of more than $400m (£304m).

Founded in 2010 as SmartStudy, the company produces digital content for children up to 12 years old.

The company had only three employees, including Mr. Kim and the company's technical director, Dong Woo.

“The office was tiny, even smaller than this,” Mr. Kim recalls, pointing toward the conference room from which he made calls.

It was so small that “at that time we didn’t even count on a salary,” he said through a translator.

Pinkfong has undergone several major changes, including shifting its focus to kids.

The firm has grown to about 100 employees and has prioritized simpler educational games and content. “And that's when Baby Shark came along,” Mr. Kim said.

As of 2022, the firm is known as The Pinkfong Company, a name inspired by the cheerful and curious fox that featured in one of the company's first cartoons.

The company currently has approximately 340 employees and has offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Los Angeles.

The Baby Shark song is believed to have originated in the United States in the 1970s and was often sung at children's summer camps.

The song, which repeats the phrase “Baby Shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo,” is “appealing to children but perhaps annoying to adults,” said media analyst Kevin Chu of Nanyang Technological University.

Mr. Kim is also well aware of how memorable it is.

“It's like a K-pop song. It is very dynamic, rhythmic and addictive,” he said, adding that the melody has a “humong” effect, which makes it easier for children to remember.

But he was not an instant hit and only gained popularity when his dance routine was shown at children's events in Southeast Asia.

Videos of children and adults dancing to the song began circulating online, and the clip went viral.

There was a sense of celebration in Pinkfong's office as the team watched the viewership numbers soar, Mr. Kim said.

In November 2020, the Baby Shark video claims to be the most viewed video on YouTube.

It generated about half of the company's revenue immediately after the video's release and became a springboard for new content and merchandise, he said.

But in 2019, Pinkfong faced a lawsuit when it was accused of plagiarism of a work by an American composer.

South Korea's Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit after the company said its version was based on a folk song that was in the public domain.

The win, Mr. Kim said, buoyed the company as it went public. He added that the stock market application was filed before the verdict was announced.

Pinkfong's other franchises, such as Bebefinn and Sealook, are growing quickly, but the firm must prove its success is not solely dependent on Baby Shark, said Min Jung Kim, a business lecturer at Korea University.

According to her, the company's target audience is a big plus, since kids tend to watch the same material over and over again.

Kim Min Suk insists his business can expand beyond Baby Shark, which currently accounts for about a quarter of Pinkfong's revenue. Meanwhile, Bebefinn pulled ahead, generating roughly 40% of the firm's revenue.

One parent told the BBC his family had mixed feelings about Pinkfong's video.

Father-of-two Salim Nashef said he appreciates the educational qualities of the firm's content, but his wife thinks Baby Shark is “too overstimulating for kids.”

However, a viral video is apparently inevitable as his daughter, who is about to turn three, is throwing a Baby Shark-themed birthday party.

According to Professor Kim, it remains unclear whether Pinkfong will be able to create other characters that match Baby Shark's commercial appeal.

The company raised nearly $52 million in its stock market debut and plans to use the money to expand its lineup of films and characters, Mr. Kim said.

The company also aims to become a “technological” content creator, using viewing patterns and other data to shape its new projects.

Pinkfong has already achieved “what many creators have always dreamed of,” Mr. Kim said.

But now he must show investors that this is not just a one-time wonder.