Choosing the “right” clothes

You might have heard of the Korean boy band TVXQ, also know as Dong Bang Shin Ki. TVXQ has the Guinness World Records for having the world’s largest official fan club, with more than 800,000 official members in South Korea, more than 200,000 in Japan and over 200,000 international fans.

In 2010, TVXQ released its compilation album which sold around 413,000 copies on the first week. This set the record for the highest first-week sales by a foreign group, which was last set by Bon Jovi in 1995 for 379,000 copies.

What factors made the young Korean boy band evolve into an international pop star in merely 5 years? Undoubtedly, that would be their dynamic dance performance and professional vocal skills. However, we also need to credit TVXQ’s marketing strategy that effectively targeted their audience in Korea and Japan. TVXQ’s Korean fans are mainly young girls in their teens, whereas their Japanese fans are in their working ages.  To target the teen fans, TVXQ performed more powerful dance tunes, whereas in Japan, they are known for their beautiful harmony in their ballads.

Due to the distinct media culture of Japan and Korea, TVXQ promoted themselves through different channels too. In Japan, TVXQ became well-known through many reality and game shows, which appealed to many families who surrounded the TV during dinner. On the other hand, in Korea TVXQ were constantly performing on national music shows, which helped them dominate the K-Pop charts.

Reflecting on TVXQ’s success story, I feel that marketing strategy is just like a wardrobe. Depending on what audience you are targeting, you choose the clothes that would the most appealing for the culture. The good thing is, this marketing wardrobe never gets full, for as long there are new ideas, the wardrobe would keep on filling up, with no limits.