SUPERM

Overview

SuperM triumphantly launched in October with the first-ever debut K-pop album to hit #1 in the US. However, managing the digital presence of the band presented several challenges. Integrating a global team spanning three continents, rival factions breaking out amongst the fanbase and meeting the sky-high expectations for K-pop’s biggest supergroup to name a few.

The campaign kicked off long before any music was released. Hype and tension were cultivated through the drip release of beautiful advertorial-level photos and film content of the band. The standard of photography and videography in K-pop is incredible and the band’s management SM Town did a fantastic job of capturing each band member to create a striking feed on Instagram. The concept of The Avengers Of K-pop was launched to bring rival band factions together.

The quality of the products in K-pop is also next level. The record has seven versions, each cover with the face of a different band member. On release day, fans were encouraged to put all versions together to form the SuperM logo and post on social media with a custom hashtag.

There are AR T-shirts, face masks, sticker packs and patch sets. Flash discounts on digital stores were promoted with slick animations. A partnership with Marvel offered further exclusive items.

As release day approached, Capitol unfurled an enormous roll-out. A Coachella-like stage was erected outside the Capitol Tower in Hollywood where the music was finally revealed. The event was live-streamed on YouTube with millions of fans tuning in globally. Fans also got the chance to ask the band questions live on YouTube the night before.

Key Learnings

• The album hit #1 on the Billboard charts in the US, the first-ever debut K-pop album to do so
• Sales were supercharged by physical with 168k equivalent albums sold in the first week
• Social numbers enjoyed uninterrupted growth over this period; the band have built up 2.3m followers on Instagram in under three months
• A key learning for us was the quality and breadth of content coming out of Korea and how popular that proved on social platforms
• The pristine photoshoots, BTS content, unboxing videos and interviews set an incredibly high standard for social content which we had to step up to

Key Metrics

Project Budget

Target Age Groups

Demographics

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