Multi-cultural K-pop stars expand brands’ appeal

Increasingly, multi-cultural K-pop stars are expanding bands’ brand ambassadorship potential, according to a new report.

Why it matters

K-pop is a big deal around the world, part of a soft power play that has brought the genre to audience far beyond East Asia. The phenomenon is such that it is now becoming a tactic that brands want a part of, as Chinese stars help brands speak to Chinese audiences.

What’s going on

Luxury sector publication Jing Daily takes a deep dive into the cross-cultural potential of these new stars.

• Luxury brand Louis Vuitton has announced a brand ambassadorship with the Chinese K-pop star Jackson Wang (who sings in English), who has grand ambitions for global fame, as the FT wrote recently.
• Many other Chinese or Chinese-American K-pop stars have signed-on with luxury brands focussed on selling to China.
• It speaks to a growing interest in expanding China’s presence in global pop culture.

A tried and tested tactic, now for brands

“K-pop groups will go to a foreign country, and there will be one member of your group that will know how to speak the language and will know how to reach those fans more directly,” explains CedarBough Saeji, assistant professor of Korean and East Asian Studies at Pusan National University in South Korea, to Jing Daily.

Sourced from Jing Daily, FT