Zepto’s Seoul Street: 300 guests and a fandom snowball

Zepto is testing whether a 300-person room can become a much bigger marketing property. The quick-commerce platform recently built Seoul Street in Delhi, an invite-only recreation of a Korean street with food counters, games, creator-led activities and brand experiences. Partner brands included Nongshim India, Sprite, Cheffin, Gimi Gimi, WickedGüd and McCain Foods.

Fandom first, theme second

The Korean wave is not the insight; it is the raw material. Chandan Mendiratta, Zepto’s chief brand officer, says the company noticed a broad current of interest in Korean content and products, from food to beauty. The platform’s question is whether an existing fandom can be made larger.

“I call it ‘snowballing the fandom’. The fandom already exists—can we make it bigger?” Mendiratta says.

This is different from borrowing a trend for a campaign. Oreo’s BTS tie-up, Too Yumm!’s Korean Karare, Bingo!’s Korean-inspired dance challenge and Knorr’s Squid Game-linked ramen all used the culture as a creative device. Zepto wants to turn the community itself into a repeatable property.

The room is not the audience

About 300 people attended. But Mendiratta frames the event in distribution terms: the point is not how many people are in the room, but who comes and who amplifies. Zepto selected creators for relevance to the theme and brand partners, with food creators making up a significant part of the guest list.

He says Zepto spends more on distribution than production. That inverts the usual event logic. The venue is the first layer; creator content extends its life across screens.

• Start with a fandom that already exists rather than trying to manufacture one.
• Design activities people will film, remix and share.
• Use cities with creator density so the content engine is close to the experience.
• Measure who amplifies, not just who attends.

Quick commerce as experience partner

Seoul Street also shows Zepto’s widening role. The brand is not just a delivery app; it acted as retailer, media platform and experiential partner in one. Mendiratta says brands increasingly approach Zepto with products and ideas for unique experiences. For newer labels that need awareness, this is advertising; for established names such as McCain, it is a way into a fresh cultural conversation.

Zepto says it will look at more fan communities if this works, though it has not named the next one. The format matters more than the theme: find the people who already care, give them a shareable moment, and let the fandom do the distribution.

Source: Afaqs!