From PSY's 'Gangnam Style' to ITZY's sudden success, how were these tracks and artists marketed, to help propel their success?
People who aren't well-versed into the world of Korean music will normally assume K-Pop comprises of PSY's Gangnam Style, PINKFONG's Baby Shark, and may have heard about BTS & BLACKPINK exploding into the Western market. K-Pop artists gaining global success is not due to chance; it's the result of intricate, structured marketing campaigns and strategies, which rely on loyal fanbases and international research/collaboration.
I've picked out my Top 5 favourite marketing moments, from established and rookie acts, to analyse how these strategies have helped propel the success of a song or an artist.
YG Entertainment: PSY's 'Gangnam Style'
© Images - YG Entertainment
While Girls Generation and Wonder Girls were amongst the few K-Pop acts to break in the West early on, nobody brought global attention to Korean music quite like PSY's 'Gangnam Style'. To date, the viral music video is the 7th most-watched video on YouTube, with over 3.6 billion views. Which poses the question: Why did this track in particular go viral?
PSY signed to YG Entertainment in 2010; one of the leading Korean music companies whom already has tremendous amounts of success with their hit boy group BIGBANG and girl group 2NE1. Pre-'Gangnam Style', the company had around 2.5 million subscribers to its various YouTube channels and had achieved in the region of 1.6 billion views of musicians’ videos across those channels. With an established following, and PSY being a name that many Koreans had already heard of after his 2001 controversial debut album, the new music video was bound to attract natural growth & interest.
YG was also ahead of the game in terms of exploring Western collaborations and partnerships: the company set up an office in America to gain better market understanding and connections, and also explored partnerships with artists like will.i.am. The global music space in 2012 was also filled with whacky & catchy tracks like 'Sexy and I Know It' by LMFAO & 'Pound the Alarm' by Nicki Minaj, which were taking over the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. This meant 'Gangnam Style' wouldn't be too outlandish for the US & UK markets, allowing various American news outlets (Billboard, Huffington Post, CNN) to promote the track to a wider audience.
The music video is eye-catching and hilarious; showcasing the song's fun & simple choreography, which could be replicated easily by younger fans. It also includes a range of high profile Korean celebrities, like HyunA (soloist, Wonder Girls, 4MINUTE) and Yoo Jae-Suk (Comedian & TV personality), uniting large groups of fans to support the track.
After the gigantic success of 'Gangnam Style', many Westerners would regard PSY as a one hit wonder, which is far from the truth. PSY released his 8th studio album in 2017, featuring hit track 'I LUV IT' and collaborations with other popular YG artists. More recently, PSY has branched away from YG after 8 years with the label, to establish his own record label P NATION. More below on this!
PSY's 'Gangnam Style' Music Video - © YG Entertainment
P NATION: HyunA & DAWN
© Triple H - The Star Magazine, Article - The New York Times, Image - P NATION
One of the biggest K-Pop 'scandals' in 2018 was by far the announcement that Cube Entertainment label mates, HyunA & E'Dawn, were dating and had been in a secret relationship for 2 years. While their company worked quickly to deny & dismiss this shocking news, HyunA posted a message on Instagram to her 7.5 million followers, explaining her decision to go public after the news broke. So how did Cube handle this PR 'disaster'? They fired the artists whom worked loyally for them, forcing a stop to Triple H (co-ed group consisting of HyunA and Pentagon's Hui & E'Dawn) promotions and kicking E'Dawn out of rising rookie boy group 'Pentagon'. What a betrayal this must have been for HyunA in particular, who spent 11 years promoting under Cube in hit girl group 4MINUTE and as an incredibly successful soloist, with viral songs such as 'Bubble Pop' and 'Red'.
After featuring in PSY's 'Gangnam Style' video, even releasing her own remix of the track, it was a given when HyunA & E'Dawn chose to sign with PSY's new agency, P NATION, together in Jan 2019. P NATION has already proven to be an incredibly progressive record label for the Korean music industry - PSY has adopted talent with a history of success, eliminating the hefty training costs which occur when starting up new artists. Alongside aforementioned artists, PSY has signed renowned badass rapper Jessi and smooth R&B vocalist Crush: Together, these idols have experience in such a harsh industry, enabling them to be unafraid and non-complicit with ridiculous dating bans and conservative standards. At the core, P NATION rejects the notion of Korea's 'clean' idol image, expressing a desire to push the boundaries through an undeniably 'Western' approach to management.
Nearly a year after signing, the couple unexpectedly teased their new comebacks with a simple sentence: “HyunA and DAWN will be releasing new solo albums simultaneously on November 5.”. Unlike many companies, a schedule was not released, meaning fans were left in the dark waiting patiently for new music to drop at any moment. Teasers of beautiful themed polaroid pictures, and snippets from the new music videos added to fans excitement - it was obvious these tracks would be their most authentic sound yet. Freedom to express their true selves and intimate details of their real lives, in turn allowing them to display personal creativity/style as artists.
HyunA's 'Flower Shower' pointed to new found independence and expressed self-esteem; lyrics written by HyunA & PSY include "I'm paving my own floral path" and "As I bloom in vivid colors, everyone stares at me". The soloist has the star power to remain in the spotlight and be the centre of attention despite the scandal; the single peaking at Number 6 on Billboard's US World Digital Songs proves this. Meanwhile, now rebranded with new but familiar stage name, DAWN debuted with 'Money' - A poetic track centering around a fixation over money, despite knowing it isn't supposed to buy happiness. In the latter half of the music video, a subtle reference to 'Flower Shower' is made when flower petals fall down over DAWN, hinting he only requires love to lead a fulfilling life, rather than superficial needs.
Although debuting under their new label as soloists, the two promoted simultaneously to maintain audiences awareness of their power couple status. Multiple appearances at key Korean music shows, such as M COUNTDOWN and SBS Inkigayo, were thoroughly enjoyable to watch. The most memorable on-screen moment, beside from their constant cute Instagram pictures & videos, was their appearance on popular TV show Knowing Bros. Unapologetically romantic and lovey-dovey; a strong move as their scandal is now their USP in the K-Pop world. I'm hoping P NATION continues on this route of denying unspoken conventions and rules, while also pushing the boundaries in terms of strong music production and unique talent with creative control.
HyunA's 'Flower Shower' Music Video - © P NATION
JYP Entertainment: ITZY's 'DALLA DALLA' & 'WANNABE'
© Kia x ITZY Images - Kia Motors, ITZY Packshot & Music Video - JYP Entertainment
It's been less than 2 years since ITZY exploded onto the K-Pop scene with their iconic debut of 'DALLA DALLA', which has reached over 200 million views on YouTube alone. It leads many to wonder why this girl group have gained popularity almost instantaneously?
JYP Entertainment have an impressive history of debuting highly successful girl groups, such as Wonder Girls and TWICE, whom have taken South Korea and the world by storm. As a result, the company's social following and 16 million YouTube subscriber base, built from fan loyalty, was the perfect groundwork for a successful debut. ITZY members had been in the spotlight years before debut, with Chaeryeong appearing on Sixteen in 2015 (survival show which eventually made TWICE), and Ryujin featuring in the movie 'The King', as well as BTS's Love Yourself Highlight Reel with J-Hope and Jimin. All they needed was a hit song to make their highly anticipated debut worthwhile, and 'DALLA DALLA' was this. The music video surpassed 17 million views in the first 24 hours, and was promoted by well-known idols, like SUNMI and Kim Heechul, singing/dancing along to the track on lives and variety shows.
ITZY are completely differentiated from their predecessors in the label; with punchy and strong beats appealing to an international fan base, rather than an outdated cute 'girlfriend' concept. Coinciding with their daring sound is clean choreography featuring multiple killer points; these memorable moves have sparked a TikTok challenge where fans try to emulate Ryujin's iconic shoulder dance in 'WANNABE'. If you want to get a song viral nowadays, a TikTok challenge is the only way to go. Factoring all these aspects together, alongside copious amounts of confidence, ITZY have tremendous stage presence which is perfectly presented at various music and award show appearances. The years of training, and members' own experience in survival shows pre-debut, have paid off and allowed the girl group to express utter fearlessness since their debut stage.
For rookies in the K-Pop scene, ITZY are also playlisted incredibly well on digital service providers, increasing exposure to prospective fans - This is thanks partly due to coming from a Top 4 entertainment company, whom have built strong connections with key services in the music industry. Editorial playlists curated by the top streaming services place their new singles at the top of the tracklist, for example: Spotify owned 'K-Pop Daebak' with over 2.5M followers, and Apple Music's Top 100 playlists in 12 markets. ITZY's fans have also played a strong part in making sure their latest tracks are heard; songs from their new EP 'IT'z ME' have been added to over 630 Spotify playlists and 12 key Apple Music playlists. This intense playlisting has sped up the brand recognition process and increased streaming figures rapidly.
Their explosion of success has also secured fantastic partnerships and endorsements from major brands, such as MAC Cosmetics and Lotte Duty Free. Following in the lead of super girl group BLACKPINK, freshly-debuted ITZY signed a partnership deal with Kia Motors in 2019 - the second largest Korean car manufacturer after Hyundai (BTS endorsed). So what does this mean? Korean car companies just love partnering up with global K-Pop groups, hoping the Hallyu wave will influence fans to force their parents to buy them a new car? Maybe. It mostly means ITZY/JYP Entertainment will have gained a big pay-check which can be invested into upcoming comebacks, to make them bigger and better than previous ones.
So far, JYP Entertainment has taken all the right steps to build ITZY's popularity quickly - The only question now is how to maintain this. As a group who are ahead of the trend music production wise, they need to keep on switching up their sound to differentiate from new girl group debuts who chase the same musical style. To not lose pre-existing fans, ITZY's core and signature traits, such as empowering lyrics and a 'care-free' attitude, should be maintained and improved upon. I'd also personally love to see a collaboration with a Western soloist, or a track made for an upcoming K-Drama OST to expand into a new audience demographic. I think ITZY have a vast amount of potential, and will possibly even surpass the success of their sunbaes in the industry.
ITZY 'WANNABE' Music Video - © JYP Entertainment
SM Entertainment: NCT
© Schedule & Image - SM Entertainment, Concept Diagram - @FocusOnHendery
NCT are probably one of the most interesting groups to explore in terms of marketing strategy: their concept and promotional methods are extremely structured and methodical, this being the result of SM Entertainment's previous learnings with Super Junior and EXO sub-units. Standing for 'Neo Culture Technology', NCT comprises multiple sub-units built to satisfy precisely segmented demographics:
NCT DREAM: The teenage group releasing young & fresh concepts; the music reflecting developing maturity. Fans (NCTzens) grow up alongside the members - From debut cutesy track 'Chewing Gum', to their most recent comeback 'Ridin'', a grungey hiphop song expressing their newly found adulthood.
NCT 127: A group differentiated from other K-Pop acts as a result of their punchy, unique singles and brilliant b-sides. 127 target late teens, and have the most global appeal.
NCT U: The chameleon group, melding to suit new market trends and providing experiential music, which appeals to mature fans. Members and song style change with every comeback, keeping fans intrigued and guessing what will be next.
The group's concept is teetering on the line of absolute genius, or an easy mechanism for a quick profit. While this sub-unit system permits consistent comebacks and content, as well as the ability to promote in multiple countries at the same time, there's also a massive flaw: it's way too complicated! Not many casual listeners will want to commit to understanding the concept and learning about the members, which in turn generates loyalty to the group. SM's structured approach is the exact opposite of why artists like Billie Eilish and BTS are so popular, everything feels a little too forced.
Similarly to the concept, the promo activity is also incredibly structured, with detailed schedules listing out marketing activity for new comebacks. It's almost odd how they release this information; there's no room for surprises and it kind of feels like NCTzens are part of the marketing team, rather than being what they actually are, fans. That being said, the constant flow of content everyday (track videos, Instagram grid concept pictures, etc) produce and maintain excitement. Comeback hype is sustained via new video ideas, the sub-units almost becoming YouTubers with funny series (e.g. Johnny's Communication Centre allowing global fans to turn off the subtitles for once, and chat show parodies). International fans are basically spoon-fed content, and it's no surprise considering their signing to American label Capitol Records. This has resulted in ease of collaboration with American & British artists (namely Ava Max and HRVY ), better understanding of Western markets, and improved music distribution.
I'd like to see more chill content in the future, rather than watching NCT be these machines consistently pushing out perfectly crafted content. Mark & Johnny's self-made QTAH video is a perfect example of great content, it expressed their own creativity as artists and allowed the music to speak for itself. It'd also be great to see a focus on interactive content, which gets NCTzens more involved, rather than simply asking them to follow along like obedient children.
Lee Soo-Man (SM Founder) - NCT's Concept Explained, in Apple Keynote form!
Cre.Ker Entertainment: THE BOYZ
© THE BOYZ Images - Cre.Ker Entertainment, RTK Profile Shot - MNET
I've been following THE BOYZ for quite a while now, and I do believe they fall under the 'unappreciated' category. For a group whom have such a high level of music production and insane performance talent, I've always wondered why they haven't gained as much traction as other rookie groups like ATEEZ or Stray Kids. It leads me to think that their entertainment company, Cre.Ker, have not been promoting them properly/seeking opportunities which could elevate their career in the right direction (up until now!).
THE BOYZ interact with their fans on a daily basis, whether that be through VLIVEs, social media updates, or chatting on their fancafe. Colourful and eye-catching music videos express a high-spirited group who create mood-boosting and fun content. Multiple music show comeback performances on KBS's Music Bank, SBS's Inkigayo, etc. Variety show series dedicated to the group, such as Flower Snack and THE 100. Despite all this great content consistently rolling out, is hasn't felt like the fan base is growing as rapidly as it should be. The problem area is that up until now, THE BOYZ haven't been involved in many large Korean TV shows, which would expose their name to a wider-reaching audience.
This is why THE BOYZ participation in Road to Kingdom is a perfect step in the right direction: Increased media exposure to the Korean public, and credibility amongst other popular competing groups (Pentagon, ONEUS, etc). The more Korean fans, the more TV & Radio opportunities, which in turn means more video content for international fans to rely on. THE BOYZ have brought their A-Game to the RTK performances, and have proven this by ranking 1st place for multiple tasks and winning the show. Their choreography provides interesting stories & contains meticulous details, showcasing their passion as dancers, not just pretty idol singers. Their cover of 'Danger' is particularly impressive, putting their own spin on the track and creating an entirely new concept, even gaining compliments from the original singer TAEMIN. Since the first episode to the last of RTK, THE BOYZ's twitter profile has shot up by over 130 thousand followers - Crazy what a little promo can do!
For continued success, Cre.Ker need to make sure they sustain this hype and build loyalty after RTK (and now sequel show 'Kingdom') concludes, while also making sure upcoming comebacks are filled with the same energy & passion.
THE BOYZ recently shared teaser videos for their new 'Generation Z' comeback; it so far looks like a really interesting concept - Each member exposes an element of their personality which they haven't shared before, allowing fans to get a glimpse of what the members are really like. It means Cre.Ker have a perfect understanding of who the group's target market are, teens up to mid-20 year olds, who want to admire and follow someone they can relate to. I think it's great they're expressing raw emotion and vulnerability; it's something you don't normally see in the K-Pop world, as entertainment companies are usually incredibly concerned about public perception. So that's one big point for you Cre.Ker(!) - I'm looking forward to seeing THE BOYZ grow their fanbase and blossom as artists & performers.
Road to Kingdom: THE BOYZ 'Danger' Cover - © MNET
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