이게 뭐예요? How a Korean Learning Song Reached 500 Million Streams
Created 2026. 9. 1.
“이게 뭐예요?” means “What is this?” in Korean. It is also the title of an Ottiya children’s learning song I wrote that has generated more than 518 million streams.
The song began with a problem I encountered while teaching Korean heritage-language learners: many existing children’s songs were too wordy and complicated for beginners to grasp. Instead of trying to teach more, I built the song around one useful phrase, repeated it intentionally, and gave it music that felt fun and contemporary rather than overly childish.
Through the story behind the song, this session explores how simplicity, repetition, and emotional resonance can make an idea memorable. Drawing on my experience executive-producing more than 30 Ottiya learning songs, writing K-pop and J-pop, leading APAC culture and trends research for YouTube, and now building Ottiya World, I’ll share principles for creating work that respects its audience, makes people feel something, and sticks.
The session will combine a case-study presentation with guided reflection and audience Q&A. Participants will apply the principles to a message, product, learning experience, or piece of content they want their own audience to remember.
How should the session run?
Presentation
Preferred language
English
Who is this for?
Founders, creators, educators, and marketers trying to make an idea easier to understand, more emotionally resonant, and more memorable—without making it generic, repetitive, or overly simplistic.
Why the host can lead this
I founded Ottiya and executive-produced more than 30 original children’s learning songs, including “이게 뭐예요?”, which I wrote and which has generated more than 518 million streams. I have also written K-pop and J-pop songs for artists who have performed at KCON and received honors at the MAMA Awards. I later led APAC culture and trends research for YouTube, studying how content, communities, and ideas develop across cultures. Today, I am building Ottiya World, a speaking-first language-learning experience for children. Together, these experiences allow me to connect creative direction, audience research, education, and product-building through both a uniquely successful case study and a broader body of work.
What you will take away
Participants will leave with: - A framework for identifying the one idea their audience truly needs to remember - Principles for simplifying without removing personality or emotional depth - Ways to use repetition intentionally without making an experience feel repetitive - A stronger understanding of why respecting an audience matters more than talking down to them - A practical exercise for making their own product, message, or content more memorable
