Korea Media Praises TWICE and Proves Why Their Success Wasn’t A Fluke
TWICE is being considered the case study for how to create successful girl groups!
Naver recently wrote an article praising JYPE’s fresh, innovative strategy when it came to promoting TWICE.
The article notes that TWICE’s beginnings weren’t exactly certain, as “the average rating for Sixteen was barely 0.5%” when it aired. While they do acknowledge the impact of the “sha sha sha” phenomenon, they note that three other factors played just as big, if not a bigger, role in helping TWICE reach such major success.
1. Mastering V-Live
TWICE was one of the first groups to take advantage of V-Live from the beginning of their debut in 2015. The article notes the group’s notable V-Live records and stats to show just how well they used the platform in order to grow their brand.
In the first three years since debut, their V-Live stats were:
- 21 V-Lives in 2 months in 2015 (more than any other girl group at the time)
- 200 total V-Lives in 2016 (#1 for V-Live TV shows among male and female idol groups)
- 600 total V-Lives in 2017
TWICE was noted as being able to use V-Live in a way similar to variety shows – introduce viewers to their personalities and make them feel closer to the group.
The article commends JYPE for letting the group host V-Lives relatively unmonitored, as at the time giving a rookie idol that much freedom was seen as insanely risky. As we all know, one wrong move could derail a career. However, TWICE was able to use the platform to drop their inhibitions and connect to ONCEs in a way never really done before.
2. Fluency in Korean for International Members
The article notes that in an unprecedented move, JYPE made sure that all of TWICE’s international members were relatively fluent in Korean by the time they debuted.
While other idol groups tended to have international members, the article states that most of those members tended to have a weak grasp of the language – thus not being able to properly show fans all their charms.
On the other hand, Mina, Momo, Sana, and Tzuyu had a relatively strong grasp of Korean when they debuted to do things like variety and other non-music promotions, and that command of the language allowed people to fall for them.
The article notes that it was the success of TWICE in Japan (with the J-Line being popular in both Korea and Japan) that likely convinced Mnet to partner with Aki-P and the AKB48 family for Produce 48.
3. All Members Are Pushed Equally
The article makes a strong point about how popularity disparities between members in a group could easily be a “fatal weakness” for the group that could eventually cause a disbandment.
They’re not wrong, and JYPE had to learn that lesson the hard way as well (cough…Miss A…cough).
In order to fix the mistakes of the past, JYPE vowed to push TWICE in either small groups or all together when it came to promotions.
The article notes that even in TWICE’s 4th year since debut, JYPE has held strong to that rule – no member has had any obvious solo promotions yet.
It’s either all or nothing – which is super risky as the general public tends to be fickle when it comes to choosing the current “it girl”.
But TWICE has been able to consistently work as a unit without discord from fans (which is a surprise given how they were created), and all members have relatively the same popularity with the general public.
TWICE really has become the gold standard for a girl group done right, and we hope future labels take note and use the “TWICE” model in making their next girl groups!
