Korean heartthrobs set trends in media, marketing
Print Edition
KIM Soo-hyun is undoubtedly one of the hottest foreign entertainers in China. A recent report said he signed 16 deals in 60 days to promote overseas brands in China, including Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Samsung and Haagen-Dazs.
His phenomenal rise to celebrity status offers some insight into how South Korean entertainers are influencing branding, marketing and broadcasting trends in China.
Kim’s agent is Keyeast Co, a company owned by Bae Yong-joon. Bae himself was a TV superstar about 10 years ago, when the first wave of South Korean TV dramas won over millions of Chinese viewers. I can still remember how co-workers and classmates talked about how they, and even their mothers, idolized Bae’s warm smile, scholarly face and pair of signature eyeglasses.
Kim seems to be causing young Chinese women to swoon because of his long legs and cool demeanor in his role as an alien from another planet in the series “My Love From the Star.”
These two celebrities represent two generations of South Korean TV waves in China and make for some interesting trend comparisons.
The first wave, which began in around 2004, was dominated by the introduction of many South Korean actresses to Chinese audiences. Among the most prominent were such as Song Hye-kyo in the TV series “Full House” (KBS 2004); Lee Young-ae, in the series “Jewel in the Palace” (MBC 2003-04); and Gianna Jun, in the 2001 movie “My Sassy Girl.” (Jun also co-stars in the current Kim series.)
By contrast, the current South Korean TV wave — let’s call it wave 2.0 — has produced a paucity of new actresses.
Female audiences
Wave 1.0’s stars were older when they first emerged on the Chinese scene. For example, Bae was 30 when “Winter Sonata” was produced in 2002. By contrast, Kim and Lee Min Ho, another big star of South Korean wave 2.0 — were in their mid-20s when they shot to fame in China last year.
The success of the latest wave rests on introducing handsome, long-legged, younger male stars to attract younger female Chinese audiences.
According to iCTR online research in January, which polled 5,000 real-name registered respondents, viewership of South Korean TV drama was 32 percent higher than average among women. By contrast, viewership of US TV drama showed no significant gender differential.
South Korean TV wave 1.0 was aired via TV stations and pirate VCDs and DVDs, while the popularity of wave 2.0 has been mostly generated by online videos and has nothing to do with traditional TV stations. The two pillar South Korean TV dramas of wave 2.0 were “The Heirs” starring Lee, and “My Love from the Stars,” starring Kim. “The Heirs” was shown on Sohu, Tencent and Wasu, while the latter was shown on iQiyi, LeTV, Xunlei and PPS.
The change of media shows that online copyright protection has largely improved in China because these websites have bought the broadcast rights. In the wave 1.0 era, the popularity of the dramas mostly benefited TV stations as well as pirate VCD and DVD makers and sellers.
The trend places a big question mark over TV stations in China. If the most popular shows are not on TV, will advertising dollars keep rolling in?
GroupM, the world’s largest media investment management company, said in its China Digital Playbook 2014 that among its clients’ digital media buys in China, display ads still account for over 40 percent of spending, but online video pre-roll spending is rising like gangbusters, nearly doubling its share from 17 percent in 2011 to 35 percent in 2013. Pre-roll will likely overtake display in 2014, a testament to the power of online video.
Though wave 2.0 has produced only two megastars in China so far, it is much more effective in driving sales and consumption, given China’s more sophisticated e-commerce environment, its bigger consumer purchasing power and a stronger tendency to travel overseas.
By searching “My Love from the Star” on Taobao, you can find 426,300 items associated with this keyword. The practice is so common that one backpack Kim used in the show is now sold by 278 online shops. In 2013, China leapfrogged the US in e-commerce to lead the world in gross merchandise volume, said consultancy firm Forrester. The company estimates China had nearly 300 million online shoppers in 2013 and will add 250 million more by 2013.
Chinese mainlanders are forecast to make 114 million leisure trips overseas this year, 16 percent more than in 2013. Spending related to that travel will swell to US$140 billion, or an 18 percent increase, according to the China Tourism Academy, an affiliate of the China National Tourism Administration.
And guess where many young women on China’s mainland want to travel? To South Korea, of course, perhaps hoping to meet their idols Lee and Kim in the flesh.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
