The opinion that Cha Eugene gave was actually not an outlandish publicity method.
"Let's make a challenge!"
"Challenge?"
"A dancing challenge!"
In a word, 'please take a video of yourselves dancing to our song'.
It was a short video content that was popular a few years ago. To be honest, I hadn't seen a group that made a comeback lately and didn't try this.
'Gold 1's group also got a lot of attention with this.'
But that was because the company did a good job, and most of them just ended up with results that were worth the effort. Because the song was good and the choreography was good, people did it.
I didn't know, but it seemed that there was a preference for pleasure there.
However, Cha Eugene had a surprisingly good sense of catching it.
[After putting on the sky filter… We're going to change the filter to Halloween and change the song!]
"Oh."
[In Wheel's pre-chorus, after feeling like it's piling up…]
Cha Eugene adjusted the music, adding a dark and intense whistle refrain from Drill to the end of the upsurge part of Wheel, which was refreshing and daunting.
[A whistle! And another! If we put a drop of Drill, we're done. How is it?]
'It's actually okay?'
It was a bit childish, but the atmosphere, song, and choreography all changed at the whistle, so it had a taste that drew attention in an instant.
Even Seon Ahyeon, who was not interested in this, nodded.
"C-cool… !"
"I know!"
It was plausible. Even without prior knowledge, a similar context to popular things was seen.
'If we do well, we'll see some effect.'
"What do you all think…"
I immediately tried to confirm the pros and cons with a raised hand, but saw the faces of several people who looked like they were saying, 'I can't understand English.'
… Was translation a priority?
"It seems that if we create a dance challenge by connecting the two title songs, we can bring out the charm of the twist."
"Ah~"
And then opinions came out.
Most were in favor.
"Then both songs will be able to receive publicity."
"Our promotions and stories are similar, right? The taste of reversal! Oh, Cha Eugene~"
"Hehe."
It wasn't a risky gamble, and honestly, it was a standard method these days, so it passed quickly both inside the group and at the company.
"They say they put in arrangements through platform partnerships."
"Yeah~"
"Then, we should shoot a video for the announcement of the challenge. One per person."
Bae Sejin swallowed.
"… Alone?"
"Yes."
Due to the nature of this kind of video, it could be hard even if you tried to do it really well.
Bae Sejin's face was filled with worry.
"Mememe! Starting from me!"
Of course, Cha Eugene took the video with excitement.
To be honest, he was the most plausible in my opinion. It seemed that he suggested it because he had a finished picture in mind.
It was perfect to put in the catchy choreography of the hand movements from Drill's chorus while bending his head.
'Is it because he's young?'
This kind of sense was instinctively good.
However, there was also a guy who was the same age as Cha Eugene and had failed to film about 10 times.
"Eh, if I do this…?"
"Hahaha! Kim Raebin is completely incompetent!"
"…! It's my first time trying it, but if I understand the principle a few more times, I can do better than you!"
"No, stupid!"
And Kim Raebin barely succeeded but was mentally defeated by Cha Eugene.
"All right, all right…"
Cha Eugene enjoyed the leisure of being the winner.
"Everything was good. It's because I like Kim Raebin's songs!"
He was giving him a bottle and medicine.
(TN: "giving a bottle and medicine" is a proverb/idiom that means an attitude of a cunning deceiver who pretends to be generous and help others after being mean or in trouble)
Wait a minute. Come to think of it, strictly speaking, Kim Raebin was the youngest based on his birthday… Well, it had nothing to do with this kind of latest craze.
Anyway, the video uploaded like that went viral because it matched our promotional strategy.
It even developed itself from Cha Eugene's original plan, and even created a new trend that was modified among users.
[TeStar's Reversal Challenge!]
Bae Sejin looked at a collection of videos on WeTube and spoke with a mysterious face.
"So wearing a doll mask and running between butterflies… They're suddenly throwing their masks away and pretending to be a villain."
"… Yes."
"… Isn't it so different from what we did?!"
Bae Sejin said it a little harshly, but it was the correct answer.
The Drill stage, which was first introduced at the awards ceremony, became quite famous, so it seems that it was influenced by it.
'It's rather good.'
It was a great success because it had been reproduced more excessively. Videos would continue to pour in.
'Youngrin can never do something like this with her news song.'
It was a song that focused only on the 'pleasure of listening'.
As planned, wins and losses were decided in content beyond music streaming.
With this happening, the company was excited and even suggested that we do a 'filter partnership for Drill', but Cha Eugene was adamantly opposed.
"There are many people who would hate this challenge because it'd be too cheesy. We can't use our music video because it's so cool!"
"Um, yes."
It meant lowering the barrier of entry by only going viral with the song and its familiarity, and not being directly involved in it too deeply.
It also matched what I was trying to say.
'He's useful.'
He was a smart guy. But it was a problem because he only cared about the things we were interested in.
With Cha Eugene's publicity strategy playing a part, the activities proceeded as planned, as if the emergency immediately before was a lie.
[TeStar's new song]
[Drill Music Video Views Trend.jpg]
[Drill choreography video is up]
Articles and videos about TeStar's activities this time flooded the Internet. It meant that the popularity was on the right track.
And as soon as the results began to be reflected, they were immediately nominated for first place on public TV music shows.
And the result?
"Live music song! Number 1 this week… Congratulations, TeStar!"
Of course, we won. However, the score was as expected.
'It's about 1,000 points less than Youngrin in music.'
But it was fine. It was because it was a 'deserved' atmosphere unless you were a fierce music supporter or an anti.
It was a victory for the strategy of making justification.
I nodded my head in a rather thrilling sense of satisfaction.
We won.
"… Thank you!"
"It's been a long time… Thank you so much for not giving up, for supporting and waiting for us. Thank you very much, Loviewers… !"
Maybe it was because we were 1st place on a music show for the first time in a while, but there were a lot of people who were particularly emotional.
"Is Lee Sejin crying too?"
"Yes, hyung is crying loudly~"
It was a little funny because even the unexpected guys were thrilled, but the feeling of winning was much better than I thought.
'In Korea, we did it.'
We sang five encores.
It was the point at which the words 'It's too bad that TeStar's songs came out with Youngrin's song' were changed to 'It's a pity that Youngrin's song came out with TeStar's'.
It was around the time we spent about two weeks doing promotions through variety shows.
'I'll have to check the other editions.'
Gradually, I began to look at news from abroad. It was after confirming that the scale of the tour had increased tremendously.
'In the first place, Drill was released with the global response in mind.'
It was fun to listen to without being complicated, and the visual beauty with money was just amazing and the choreography was also amazing… It was a sentiment that was common all over the world.
'Is that why demand increased with this album?'
However, the moment I did the search, I was a bit perplexed.
"… ?"
'What, why are there so many?'
The results were more spectacular than expected.
Globally. This was where Cha Eugene's PR strategy began to reveal its true value.
• * *
It was said that 'TeStar's Reversal Dance Challenge' created by Cha Eugene deeply inspired overseas fans.
'This is what Muggles eat!'
So, KPOP fans who were interested in TeStar put in a request for WeTubers and people around them to watch this new song like a bombardment.
The format was simple. It was to make them see 'Wheel' first, and then 'Drill' in succession.
In fact, quite a few people liked it just for 'Drill'.
It was a blockbuster comic movie + game cinematic trailer-style video aimed at nerdy tastes around the world.
However, when they had them watch the opposite 'Wheel' in advance, the reaction was better because of the gap shown by the same group with the same background.
[Oh, the same place is the background? This amusement park promoter… what? Are they the same people?]
[My God, my God! This cycle-riding bastard is cool!]
[I'll tell you now, the only men I can accept with dyed hair are K-pop stars like dope animated characters.]
The number of views had become better. Regardless of this guy or that guy, even people who weren't reaction WeTubers filmed videos.
And since the videos and songs were selected with the goal of global tastes, as the exposure increased the number of views of TeStar's music videos for new songs increased accordingly.
In particular, 'Drill' was said to have even entered the U.S. real-time popular video rankings.
'… It's becoming mainstream.'
It was a pleasure.
I conceded.
For Cha Eugene… I'd have to grill him some meat
"Do you want beef or pork?"
Like a ghost, Cha Eugene answered from across the room.
"I like beef! Korean beef is good!"
"Okay."
But it didn't end there.
And when something was very popular, gossip would naturally follow from everywhere.
I think it was Japan this time.
[I'm surprised this fits so well (video) (*´ ω｀*) _]
Some anime fans used our challenge and music video to synthesize a fight scene out of the blue… It seemed to have become more famous.
It didn't even explode between TeStar fans and anime maniacs, but people who disliked Korea asked.
-You can't use Japanese singers whose portrait rights are precious, so they're using Korean idols? The class itself is different, so you better stop
-Hallyu fans always don't want to see beyond the topic
-Are they really going to react like this? The so-called K-pop fans are too radical
-I'm not interested in K-pop that copied America and Japan. I would like you to return to your country.
└ TeStar never entered Japan in the first place, right? (´・ω・｀) ?
-Only the net rightists are excited (laughs)
It was said that a dogfight broke out between K-pop fans and forces that they absolutely hated in Korea.
A WeTuber who organized Japanese reactions summarized it in a lively tone.
[Then, is TeStar being boycotted in Japan as the net rightists claim?]
[Oops, TeStar's album topped the Oricon chart this week!]
"… …"
In other words, the Japanese viral, which was not even attempted, succeeded.
Since it wasn't a controversy caused by us, there was less resistance, so people who watched it and wondered, 'What is this?' flowed in.
And since we were conceptual and, well, handsome guys, it seemed that the number of fans had rapidly increased.
'Come to think of it, we haven't been to Japan since the trip.'
It seemed that the latent fan base came in at once because public exposure was suddenly created due to the controversy.
-The member's faces are so amazing that they can only be described as princes.
-Is the one with the black hair the center? He's really handsome. It's dangerous. I'm already watching the video for the 5th time.
-Pink! Pink! Pink! I'm a fan of pink puppies now! (screenshot of Park Moondae)
And was as if these people had filled the concert weight class that had grown from an arena to a dome.
At last… The dance challenge started by Cha Eugene exploded in all directions like branches.
"… …"
This… Wasn't this album really getting the grand prize?
'There is a possibility.'
After a moment of wishful thinking, I was about to end monitoring.
I would have turned it off if it hadn't been for a news article popping up on a search engine.
[VTIC (브이틱|) February comeback confirmed… The top of the music industry is back.]
"… …"
These bastards… didn't they want to rest?
Even a confirmation kill came after a while.
[VTIC Chaeyul sunbaenim: We're making a comeback next month, Moondae-ssi! Please give us your interest~]
[VTIC Shinoh sunbaenim: (Emoji shooting a gun with its hand)]
I didn't know why these guys were inviting me to a group chat to announce news that they could have sent individually. Were they trying to provoke me?
[Yes, congratulations.]
I gave a definitive answer. Then, a personal message came from the guy who sent pictures of dogs.
[VTIC Cheongryeo sunbaenim: Really?]
This bastard was really…
[Yes. I hope you do well during your activities. It's just a pity that I won't be able to see you if you go to the army.]
It meant that I wanted him to go to the army immediately.
After some delay, the answer came.
[Hmm? Why me?]
What?
The next message arrived one after another.
[I'll only serve for six months because my mother is a national merit. Didn't you know?]
"… …"
[Ah, I didn't make an announcement this time. I'm sorry ^^ hoobaenim.]
[You'll have to be on duty though, right? Come back safely.]
Son of a bitch.
I made a resolution by turning off my smartphone.
'From this tour… All schedules are used to raise our weight class.'
I'd make this bastard enlist in the lamentable army next year.
And just then, a suitable offer came from Netplus.
"A documentary."
"Yes! They do it a lot these days."
It was the behind-the-scenes documentary of the concert tour.