─HOT Board
[‘Won the Joseon Music Competition’ Former Se7en Member Dohee... After 3 Years]
[Dohee’s performance video is up on YouTube]
[Male idol’s remarks causing an uproar in Japan]
[I was dating a celebrity, but it turned out he had a second household]
[Compilation of testimonies from classmates of ‘School Violence Woojin’]
.
.
[Apparently this is everyday life in Top East’s practice room lol]
[What about the controversy over the ‘sexual commodification’ of school uniforms?]
[Compilation of Gucci’s official ambassadors]
[What if an agency and the organizers colluded to give someone the prize at a competition?]
As usual, the K-pop community was carrying on its idle chatter, using the day’s latest gossip as a springboard.
[Apparently this is everyday life in Top East’s practice room lol]
─(chiiyo’s back as she runs away, the afterimage of Dohee chasing her.jpg)
>(Seoyoon Bubble chat.jpg)
[Seoyoon: Our practice room is like this every day]
[Seoyoon: Why is she chasing her?]
[Seoyoon: If I tell you, Dohee will chase me out too, so I can’t say...]
[Seoyoon: I live my whole life watching the maknae’s mood ㅠㅠ]
The girl Dohee’s chasing looks like a new member debuting with them lol I’m curious what her face looks like.
-They look close lol The kids are cute.
-She says she lives watching Dohee’s mood lol Even though she teases Dohee all the time.
-The girl running away looks genuinely desperate lololol
-So when is Top East debuting again?
└No idea. Maybe around the time the kids start showing up in the media? Seems like it’s still a ways off.
-Is Naeun debuting with them too?
There was one female office worker meticulously reading through every one of these posts.
“Suyeon, are you done organizing everything?”
“I’ll finish up in a moment.”
“Please hurry. The team leader is going into a meeting in thirty minutes.”
“Yes, yes.”
Hearing her section chief, the female office worker quickly scanned through the K-pop community again.
[Honestly, isn’t this selfish? They took the prize away from other kids who wanted it just as badly.]—(11)
This was precisely her job.
She was currently researching the favorability and public images of several celebrities.
There would be a meeting about a promotional model soon.
There were three candidates in total.
Jin Hyein, a twenty-nine-year-old actress known as the next Nation’s First Love, who had recently been cast in a film by a famous director.
Joo Seungbin, a nineteen-year-old member of the boy group ‘I-Land,’ a fourth-generation male idol group currently ranked sixth in male idol sales.
And Lee Dohee, a seventeen-year-old female idol, former member of Se7en, whose recent piano competition performance had once again sent community traffic surging.
If the three were compared, Lee Dohee was actually the first choice.
The other two were far below the level suitable for comparison with her brand.
But that did not mean she personally liked Lee Dohee.
Identifying her company with herself, she considered even Lee Dohee to be beneath their level.
‘Why did the section chief tell me to research these three?’
Of course, if one looked only at the company, it was not an entirely unreasonable decision.
Her company was one of the very finest among the numerous brands known as ‘luxury.’
It was Cartier, the high-end line representing the jewelry world and sharing the jewelry market with Tiffany & Co.
There were only two Cartier ambassadors in Korea at present.
Lira of CoralBlue.
Jaehyun of NND, Double N.D.
In other words, they were popular members of world-class girl and boy groups representing Korea.
‘They need to be at least as good as these two. How does it make sense to choose a mere seventeen-year-old?’
“Suyeon!”
“Yes, yes.”
But her personal opinion would never affect the decision.
She was only a low-ranking employee, after all.
* * *
Luxury brands had high pride.
Lee Yongho, the team leader in charge of Cartier’s marketing in Korea, both agreed and disagreed with that statement.
“Team leader, I’ve brought them.”
“Put them over there.”
The one indulging in pride was the low-ranking employee who had brought over the materials, Park Suyeon.
A luxury company merely pretended to have pride, even when it did not.
In a capitalist company, sales were the only virtue.
There was no pride in sales marketing.
‘Even the high-and-mighty luxury brands rush to accommodate Chinese customers when they demand certain designs or colors. What pride?’
And yet they conducted sales marketing while pretending to preserve their pride, defending an image of sophistication.
“Who should we recommend to headquarters...? Based on the materials each of you prepared, let’s hear about them one at a time.”
A prime example of this was ambassador marketing.
Ambassador, meaning a representative or envoy.
An ambassador was not simply a model.
They were a muse representing the brand’s image.
A muse who connected luxury goods with an image in the public’s mind.
[Dior Beauty names... global ambassador]
[Becomes Prada ambassador... Overflowing with sophisticated beauty]
This marketing strategy had been tremendously successful.
The models luxury brands initially signed perfectly embodied their brands’ images.
Most of them were influencers with enormous reach, after all.
[Cartier signs CoralBlue’s Lira as global ambassador for twice the contract fee]
[Cartier raises prices twice after putting ambassador CoralBlue’s Lira at the forefront... ‘Record-breaking’ sales among Gen Z and millennials]
Cartier was also a brand that had benefited enormously from this marketing strategy.
‘I received quite an incentive myself when we signed Lira.’
But when a marketing strategy became a trend, its effectiveness naturally diminished.
[Fila names... new global brand ambassador]
[Football player becomes Calvin Klein Underwear ambassador...]
The word ‘ambassador’ was now used not only by global sportswear and underwear brands,
but also by SPA brands that could be easily purchased anywhere.
It had even spread to chicken, pizza, snacks, and medicines such as magnesium.
The designation itself had become exceedingly commonplace.
‘But has the word’s meaning faded simply because it caught on as a trend?’
He certainly did not think so.
“What about Aerin from Three M?”
“Three M?”
“Yes. Now that Se7en is gone, they’re the most popular group among the fourth-generation girl groups.”
“Isn’t Minseo the popular member there?”
“Ah, Minseo is already in talks with Boucheron separately.”
“Then forget it. Recommend someone else.”
He believed the greater fault lay with luxury brands that had overused the term ambassador from the beginning, rather than with the trend itself.
How common were ambassadors among Korean celebrities nowadays?
Even counting only luxury brands, there had to be well over a hundred.
So, was it difficult to become an ambassador?
Not at all.
This was an age when even rookies became ambassadors.
They signed contracts before they even debuted.
“JS sent over some portfolios this time.”
“Who? Eunsera?”
“Ah, yes. Eunsera is included, but all the other members are too...”
“Hmm... Really?”
Before debut, major agencies sent portfolios one by one to the local branches of luxury brands.
They knew that the local marketing teams had more influence than headquarters.
Of course, the marketing teams at the luxury brands made a certain kind of contract based on the agency.
They would announce it after a specified condition was met, or several months after the group’s debut.
‘At a glance, it might look like the luxury brand is losing out.’
But it was not a loss.
There was either no signing fee at all or merely a nominal, extremely small amount.
‘It’s different from recruiting top-tier stars like CoralBlue’s Lira or NND.’
The rookies from major agencies simply took advantage of popularity cultivated through luxury-brand imagery.
And since idols from major agencies had a very high chance of succeeding, the luxury brands’ sales would gradually increase.
It was a win-win situation.
“Who are the members?”
“They say it’s still a secret.”
“A secret? Then what are we supposed to base a contract on? And a group contract is impossible to begin with. Don’t you know we have to open the brand’s doors only a crack? Tell them we’ll discuss Eunsera separately.”
“What about Lee Jeonghyeon? She just had a huge hit with a Netflix drama.”
“She doesn’t have the right face. We’re targeting sales in China and Korea right now. Consider appearances. Don’t you have any other decent proposals?”
Of course, the very highest-end brands, such as Cartier, never signed contracts with rookies.
‘Eunsera is an exception because she has already debuted once.’
They needed exclusivity.
They needed to indulge in a little more pride.
That was why Cartier currently had only two ambassadors contracted in Korea.
NND’s Jaehyun.
CoralBlue’s Lira.
They were the absolute top tier among both actors and singers.
Therefore, even if the influencer they signed this time was not quite at their level, the minimum had to be one step below it.
‘Headquarters wants us to narrow down the ambassadors quickly, but... This is when we need to be thorough. For now, Eunsera is the strongest candidate.’
“Um, what about Lee Dohee...?”
The low-ranking employee, Park Suyeon, timidly raised her hand, gauging the cold atmosphere.
“Lee Dohee?”
“Yes, the... former Se7en member. After Se7en disbanded, she ranked second in individual brand reputation, though Lira has taken first place again... She was ranked first before that...”
“Who doesn’t know that?”
Lee Dohee.
Naturally, she was a celebrity that the marketing teams of most luxury brands were watching closely.
‘There are probably marketing teams already in talks with headquarters...’
But there was only one reason he hesitated.
Her agency was not a major one.
They could not guarantee the success of her follow-up group.
If it turned out like Jeodol Season 1,
the follow-up group would fail again.
Of course, Eunsera was an exception.
JS was one of the four major agencies.
No matter how outstanding Lee Dohee was or how high her brand reputation ranked, if the follow-up group performed poorly,
Cartier’s brand image could be tarnished.
Top East had succeeded once with ‘Pastel Love,’ but it was not enough to guarantee the success of the group they would debut next.
That was why it felt premature.
“Still, she spent so long surrounded by rumors based on her history, and then proved herself at the piano competition recently. Even after Se7en disbanded, she’s continued to attract attention...”
He opened the materials Park Suyeon had handed him earlier.
They included evaluations from other pianists, as well as posts from online communities.
“If you look here, you can see the increase in traffic...”
Among the community posts, there was also a fair amount of negative public sentiment toward Lee Dohee.
That, if anything, pleased him.
‘Anything refined is bound to inspire jealousy and envy.’
After reading through the materials one by one, Lee Yongho looked at the section chief.
“Do we have a portfolio from Top East?”
“No. Apparently Top East doesn’t send out portfolios.”
“Really? Have they never collaborated with a luxury brand?”
“Pastel Love’s Vita is probably a Jimmy Choo ambassador.”
“Then they may have received a few proposals from them as well.”
Setting down the materials, Lee Yongho opened YouTube on his laptop.
Then he played Lee Dohee’s performance video.
Classical music.
It was only natural that it carried a more classical, refined, and antiquated image than popular music.
That was also the image Cartier had pursued.
For that reason, Cartier regularly sponsored the classical music industry and collaborated with famous pianists.
It was an impeccable combination.
‘Besides, even Coco Chanel, the very symbol of luxury, had an extremely close relationship with pianists.’
Lee Yongho watched Lee Dohee’s wrists and nape as she played.
It was a pictorial shoot.
A thin bracelet or wristwatch on the wrist playing the piano, and a beautiful necklace over the dress.
‘And when Lee Dohee holds a concert...’
They could provide special sponsorship.
An enormously expensive necklace.
Not merely worth hundreds of millions, but tens of billions of won.
It would become an instant sensation.
Classical music, Lee Dohee, Cartier.
Articles would spread everywhere, carrying those three keywords.
When he pictured that scene,
regardless of whether the follow-up group succeeded or failed...
“Send a proposal to Top East. Adjust the terms appropriately.”
She was exceptionally well suited to the brand’s image.