A TWICE CASE STUDY
SUCCESS FACTORS
ADAPTING THE "CULTURAL DIAMOND" MODEL
Seo (2012) uses the “cultural diamond” model to explain the four major factors behind K-pop’s global success. I will adapt his model to illustrate three main reasons for TWICE’s accomplishments in what I call the "Triforce Model".
Success of K-Pop: Cultural Diamond Model
Success of TWICE: Triforce Model
KOREAN WAVE AND K-POP
Existing Korean Wave and popularity of K-Pop
‘Hallyu’ or the Korean Wave was coined by the Chinese media to describe the South Korean entertainment boom in China since the late 1990s. It spread through Asia with Korean television dramas, K-pop and celebrities at the centre of the wave (Kim and Ryoo, 2007). In 2011, K-pop videos posted by the three leading entertainment agencies (Big 3) attracted 2.3 billion YouTube views in 235 countries. Accompanied by the worldwide success of “Gangnam Style”, K-pop today has advanced globally. Owing to the efforts of entertainment agencies and famous idols such as TVXQ, Big Bang, Girls’ Generation and EXO, there has been a spike in the number of K-pop fans in recent years.
The Korean Wave also influenced the foreign TWICE members and guided their decision to begin training in Korea. Moreover, debuting when K-pop is already popular in Korea as well as in so many foreign countries allowed the group to garner attention from many K-pop fans.
TWICE, Hallyu & K-Pop
"When I was in middle school, my best friend was learning to dance. That friend saw Girls’ Generation’s MV and asked me to do a dance cover together. That was when I began dancing and at that point I became interested in K-pop and went to a few concerts. The K-pop singers looked so cool on stage so it was then that I wanted to become a singer."
– Mina
ENTERTAINMENT AGENCY AND IDOL GROUP
Systemised production, well-planned promotion and appealing content
JYP ENTERTAINMENT
The Big 3 were at the centre of the development and success of K-pop and were crucial makers of trends and drivers of the production process (Kim and Shin, 2013). One of the three, JYP Entertainment, has a strong “brand image” that is widely recognised and “JYPnation” builds an image of family for their artists. This generated hype and TWICE gained attention from fans of the other JYP acts, since the members made pre-debut appearances in the other JYP artists’ MVs.
"SIXTEEN"
TWICE was highly anticipated as it had been five years since JYP last debuted a girl group. The members were selected from 16 trainees through reality show “SIXTEEN”, a collaboration between JYP, Koen Media and CJ E&M. The programme aired on cable channel Mnet from May to July 2015 and followed the tried and tested competitive survival shows with the goal of creating idol groups, such as “WIN: Who Is Next” and “Mix & Match” that formed YG Entertainment’s WINNER and iKON, and “MyDol” for Jellyfish Entertainment’s VIXX. To further boost the “family” concept, other JYP artists also appeared on the show to provide advice to the trainees.
“SIXTEEN” allowed trainees to showcase their talents and years of training via various missions and tested their “star qualities” necessary to become a successful idol. Such trainee evaluations typically done behind closed doors were aired and viewers could influence eliminations and the final lineup through on-site and online voting. The show got the viewers emotionally involved and cultivated a sense of ownership by giving them the power to vote. TWICE then gained a sizable fanbase and recognition months before they debuted.
"SIXTEEN" final episode mobile ranking
DEBUT AND PROMOTION
A week before the debut, JYP released a series of YouTube video teasers of each member on a staggered basis, each video garnering between 300,000 to 700,000 views. They concluded their teasers by uploading a group video and a separate video containing instrumental clips of the album songs four days before the official debut.
TWICE then released their album "THE STORY BEGINS" and their debut MV for "Like OOH-AHH" and held their debut showcase on 20 October 2015. Despite the fanbase gained from "SIXTEEN" and JYP Entertainment's brand image, the song did not do well on the charts when it was released, dropping to 99th place on the MelOn music chart. Netizens scoffed at their overhyped debut and trended #flopliketwice on Twitter to mock their ranking.
"Like OOH-AHH" Nayeon individual teaser
To further promote "Like OOH-AHH", they performed on the music broadcasts of public and cable television channels for weeks. In addition, the group ramped up promotions and guested on programmes in the following months which were crucial to getting public recognition. From talk shows to variety programmes, the members appeared on television at least once a week for promotions and increased visibility of the group.
With the consistent promotions of the song, the group was nominated a few times for the song of the week on several music programmes and they finally reached the top 20s of the local music chart rankings and placed 9th on the MelOn music chart. With an increase in public liking of the song, TWICE has gained so much popularity that they re-promoted the song in January 2016 and have starred in their own reality television show, “TWICE’s Elegant Private Life”, which began broadcasting just last week.
GROUP APPEAL
TWICE captivated fans with stable vocals, powerful dancing and jaw-dropping visuals. What separated them from other girl groups, oldest member Nayeon explained is their “reversed charms”. Although the members look haughty and chic, they are very bright and love to “ruin their image”. They break away from the stereotype feminine image of girl groups usually have and their humble and approachable image allow fans to connect with the group (Maliangkay, 2015). Another factor as to why they draw attention is the fact that each member is individually unique and bring their own flavour and colour to the group, but the group as a whole functions seamlessly at the same time.
@twicetagram: Congratulations how could you do this!!!!!! Everyone!!! JYP for the first time! has debuted a boyband! They all produce and compose and are very multi-talented people. They are #DAY6 ~~~^0^
Their title track, #Congratulations to their music video is perfect jjang jjang jjang👍
The other tracks on their album are amazing and cannot be left out!
Thank you for releasing such a good album! It’s a pleasure to my ears hehe
#Twice_Band_On_Fire
@twicetagram: Yesterday's #DAY6 #Congratulations video behind the scenes ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ah seriously I don't know how many times we laughed while making this ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I think we're crazy
#Im_Nabongs_are_you_OKs?
#These_days_'s'_is_trendings
#JY Park's_work
#Why_of_all_things_am_I_like_this? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The inclusion of foreign members is also a strategy to extend their global reach. As the world’s second largest music market and the third largest economy, many K-pop groups have aimed for Japanese advancement. Although TWICE has not promoted in Japan, Momo, Sana and Mina have already attracted fans from their home country. The group will attend KCON Japan 2016 in April as their first Japanese activity and it remains to be seen how popular they will be.
Similarly, China is the world's second largest economy and Tzuyu garnered much interest from Taiwan and the Chinese-speaking communities in Asia before and during debut. However, her alleged support for Taiwanese independence sparked a furore in both China and Taiwan. Controversy aside, it placed TWICE and Tzuyu on national and international media, such as the New York Times and Bloomberg, and the group gained attention and publicity from around the world.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND FANS
Effective SNS usage; active and supportive fans
SOCIAL MEDIA
TWICE SNS links
With the ubiquity of the Internet and the recent proliferation of social media, Korean entertainment companies and idol groups have taken advantage of popular social media platforms to promote and simultaneously disseminate content as well as receive and respond to feedback (Jung, 2015).
While building a fandom through “SIXTEEN” and song promotions, JYP actively leverages on social networking services (SNS) and YouTube to promote TWICE’s activities and share information. The source of the fandom power is mainly online spaces, especially social media (Dixon, 2015) and many fans connect with the group through social media. TWICE currently has 626,000 Instagram followers, 540,000 Facebook likes and 222,000 Twitter followers. The members also regularly post pictures or videos of themselves and provide fans with updates. In addition, JYP’s creative use of a “reward system”, such as revealing additional footage after YouTube views for “Like OOH-AHH” hit seven million, encourages fans to support the group on these platforms.
'HALLYU 2.0' AND INNOVATIONS
The original Korean Wave is now termed “Hallyu 2.0” where Korean and international fans can enjoy cultural products through innovations in SNS and smartphones (Dal, 2012). One such innovation is “V”, a live broadcasting application by NAVER that enables celebrities to communicate and interact with fans from around the world in real time through their Internet browsers or mobile phones. Besides broadcasting their debut showcase live to 320,000 viewers, TWICE has accumulated millions of views and likes on their scheduled and spontaneous broadcasts.
Momo's special broadcast - TWICE Moguri Momo's MANIA V
Fans can know the group more personally and intimately through special broadcasts by the members - Sana held a virtual date and Momo did cover dances according to live requests from fans. "V" bridges the distance between the group and fans and international fans benefit too as some broadcasts are translated live and subsequently subtitled in English, Mandarin and Vietnamese.
FANS
Fans play a very significant role in a group’s success and popularity. TWICE has a strong and passionate fanbase that buys their albums, votes on awards and polls, streams music online, buys fan gifts and dedicates a lot of time to the group. Fans also help to promote, circulate, appropriate, recreate and recirculate media contents through social media (Jung, 2015). Known as “participatory culture”, TWICE fans, called "ONCE", create new ways of having fun with the group and the songs, such as dance covers and fan art. There are also organised groups who subtitle TWICE-related content for international fans within 24 hours of release.
TWICE's "fan service", wearing and using fan gifts
TWICE fan art of the group's "fan service", drawn by @twicedoodle_
TWICE has a very supportive fanbase because the members reciprocate the fans’ love. Not only do they use the fan gifts and do “fan service”, they also show appreciation of their fans, such as dancing to this fan-created 8-bit version of their song. They have also held multiple fanmeets, some of which lasted three hours long to ensure that the fans have enough time for full conversations with each member.