Chapter 17 Chapter 5 How Han Xing was Made

Since HOT in 1996, the "Korean Wave" has continued to hit, and it has intensified.In China, those who are fascinated by Korean idols are no longer limited to those boys and girls who are still in school, and more white-collar workers and housewives have also joined the ranks.South Korea, which is only half the size of Guangdong Province, has only about the same population as our municipality, but it can continue to produce new stars active on the Asian stage.A large number of idol exports have brought huge benefits to South Korea.This is not only economic gain, but also cultural input and invasion.Korean pop music is already the second largest market in Asia after Japan, and it is also another pop culture center in Asia after Japan.And all of this has only taken ten years.Ten years ago, like teenagers in China, South Korea was caught in the "Hari" frenzy.In just ten years, the Korean entertainment industry has formed a relatively complete operating mechanism, promoting stars with "Made in Korea" to the world.

The Koreans are eager to win, and they want to take Confucius and the Dragon Boat Festival as their own.There is a joke that Jobs' iPhone does not have a Korean system, just to prevent the Koreans from saying that Apple is their trick.On the other hand, Koreans are very possessive of culture.Hallyu stars are an important weapon for their cultural output in conquering the city, and it is the many entertainment companies in South Korea that are leading this cultural war.Among them, there are Korean SMs who have KANGTA Hyun, BoA, "TVXQ" and other Korean red stars. Entertainment company as representative.This company is the most representative comprehensive media entertainment culture company in Korea.The star-making mechanism and process of this company is typical of the Korean star-making assembly line.

SM company is known as "Star Factory" in South Korea.The boss, Lee Soo Man, was involved in the music scene in the early 1970s. He was a very famous singer at the time. After retiring behind the scenes, with his keen vision, he founded SM Entertainment Culture Company in 1989, creating a new era of Korean planning companies. In 1998, SM Corporation introduced its HOT and SES to China and Japan, setting off an upsurge of "Korean wave" in Asia. In April 2000, SM Corporation registered with KOSDAQ and issued stocks, becoming the first entertainment and culture joint-stock company in Korea. In 2001, Boa, who was trained by SM, became one of the most popular singers in Japan.

This company has now set up a branch in China, and together with the Japanese branch established in 2001, it is jointly building an entertainment network in Asia. SM is ambitious and hopes to become a large enterprise like Time Warner, Disney and other entertainment groups in the United States through its unremitting efforts, and hopes to become the strongest entertainment group in Asia. Although it is an entertainment company that mainly focuses on singers, SM's mode of operation is representative and typical of the entire industry. And our sister Qiao was trained to assemble and sell finished products on an assembly line machine like this.

The two celestial groups under the SM company, HOT and the "Mythology" group, have different recruitment methods. Recruitment of earlier HOT members was more traditional.Kim Kyung-wook's agent went to high schools across the country to search for so-called "talented" talents, and thus absorbed Kangta, Moon Hee-joon, and Lee Jae-won.Director Lee Soo Man chose TONYAN in the United States, and Jang Woo Hyuk attracted attention because of his outstanding performance in the dance competition. When it was time to form Shinhwa, which is popular in Asia, the company began to establish a draft mechanism. In 1996, the company selected ANDY, who had trained with HOT before, the lead singer Shin Hyesung, and Eric, who had won the American Dance Competition champion, through the American draft. And won the Korean dance competition championship and was favored by SM company. JUNJIN was recommended to SM company by KANGTA because of his talent as an artist.

Good members were recruited in 1996, the list of members was finalized in 1997, and then devil training began.And this period is the initial period of the Korean star training mechanism from selection to draft. It was at this time that Song Hye Kyo entered the entertainment circle smoothly as a school uniform model's draft winner. It’s just that the training mechanism for early entrants like Song Hye Kyo and Shinhwa is not systematic enough.As the industry develops more and more mature, the selection and training mechanism has also become rapid and effective.Take TVXQ, a boy group that became popular in Asia as soon as it was formed in 2004, for example, the five members were all discovered and cultivated through rookie selection and training institutions.At first they served as captains in 5 different groups, and through continuous training and selection, they finally formed the ultimate dream group - "TVXQ".

In the process of selection and training, Korean stars have several distinctive features. First of all, the stars are getting younger.The younger age of idols has become a common phenomenon around the world. "The Twilight Saga" came out of boys and girls in their teens and early twenties.And "Gossip Girl" simply tells the story of high school students.The official saying is that Song Hye Kyo debuted at the age of 16, so she mixed up until she was less than 30 years old. While maintaining her youthful appearance, she only had a lot of experience in acting in TV dramas and movies.In terms of industry profits, debuting at a young age can help the company earn more money by acting for a few more years.The earlier the talent is recognized, the lower the cost of packaging and the stronger the plasticity is, which is good for company training.The Emperor of Hong Kong also likes to sign little girls. Leung Roshih was only 14 years old when he debuted. At the age of 24, he had already won the actress and gave birth to two sons. His net worth is appalling.The entertainment industry is an industry for young people, and only young people are fresh and eye-catching. In 1997, SM Company drew up a strategy to cultivate a big-name star who could represent Asia.Judging from the situation in South Korea, it is more advantageous for girls to enter the overseas market, so 11-year-old Boa was selected out of thousands of choices.At the time of the interview, Bao'er was only in the fifth grade.But the singing and dancing she performed proved that she had star quality.After passing the interview, Bao'er began to receive special training.Of course, the 11-year-old Baoer is just a special case, and the most newcomers in Korea are still 18 or 19-year-old newcomers who enter the entertainment industry as deep as a sea.

Second, train strictly.This is the stage that fame must go through.When any entertainment company in South Korea produces idols, it not only requires the artist to have the talent to become an idol, but also requires the artist to undergo strict post-training. Before the release of HOT's first album, 12~16 hours of super-intensive training every day, member Jang Woo Hyuk fell into the problem of shoulder pain after dancing.And the training process of "TVXQ" is almost hell-like, and the member Xi Ya has been trained for more than seven years before he is allowed to stand in front of the scene.Boys aged 16 or 17 are often hungry and practice songs in the afternoon until after 11 o'clock in the evening. They must be satisfied with the person in charge before they can rest.

When she first debuted, Song Hye Kyo, like Ahn Jae Wook, Shen Yinhe, and Cui Zhenzhen, all studied acting at the MTM school that specializes in cultivating entertainers.However, despite the basic knowledge of acting, he can only take on some short plays and stage plays.Wanting to get more opportunities through transformation, Song Hye Kyo chose to continue her studies.She participated in the "Institutional OO Student Number Examination" hosted by South Korea for the first time (a bit like the Japanese examination for training skills), and she was admitted to the Department of Film Arts of Sejong University as she wished.After that, she began to try various jobs in the entertainment industry, including advertising models and hosts.In South Korea, advertising models are actually a category that can make female artists famous and successful.Actress Jin Shanya is a professional advertising model, and occasionally takes some movies.And the learning experience of being a host made Song Hye Kyo practice coping skills.You will find that Ms. Qiao is always very decent and eloquent when she is being interviewed.

Korean artists not only receive strict training in song and dance performances, but also in language expression, expression, etc., no matter when and where, as long as there is a camera to shoot, they can speak calmly.This can be seen from Song Hye Kyo's decent interviews with the media many times.Playing Tai Chi in the face of scandals, talking about the work, summarizing the experience of the previous work, and not forgetting to moderately disclose the information of the next work, this is really well-trained.In addition, regarding the cultivation of Asian stars, the company has not forgotten to actively carry out language training for stars.For well-known Asian artists like Song Hye Kyo, there are specialists in Japanese, English, and Chinese.

Compared with the training and hard dancing of singing and dancing stars before entering the industry, film and television stars conduct intensive training before the shooting of each new drama. For more than a year before the filming of "Hwang Jin Yi", intensive training was required in everything from dance to skills, and even the posture and walking posture of ancient women.In order to play a good croupier in ALLIN, Ms. Qiao must master both English and Japanese.And in the play, I wanted to speak Japanese, but the script gave me Korean, which meant that Qiao Mei had to translate it herself.Behind the celebrity scenery, all the hard work and sweat are paid. Third, attack in groups.As far as singing and dancing stars are concerned, groups are the entertainment products that brokerage companies like best and are best at producing. SM has successfully launched several groups: HOT, SES, "Mythology", "TVXQ", "Heavenly Wisdom", and the 12-member group SuperJunior launched after 3 to 4 years of selection and elimination.In terms of performing arts stars, the most commonly used tactic by Korean brokerage companies is the male and female gossip route.So Song Hye Kyo will have gossip with the male lead in every film, and every gossip has the same number of ways, digging out kiss scenes, passion scenes, sex scenes, and can dig out "No. 1" every time.There are only two occasions when Ms. Qiao was not rumored to be scandalous. One was with Cha Tae Hyun, which was a special case in the entertainment industry, and the other was with our Tony Leung.Tony Leung has already passed the stage of relying on gossip to gain popularity. Fourth, pay enough attention.Whether it is capital or manpower, entertainment companies spare no expense.Take Baoer as an example, in order to make Baoer a perfect and capable singer, SM Company invited many art experts to be her special teachers.Every time Song Hye Kyo makes a film, the company invites many big-name professionals to train her.In this aspect, it reached the extreme when filming "Hwang Jin Yi".Song Hye Kyo devoted herself to practicing for more than a year in order to become an artist who is proficient in all aspects of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting like the real Hwang Jin Yi in history. If you study artists in the developed entertainment industry and those in the underdeveloped entertainment industry, you will find that Japanese and Korean artists often choose "I should" in their film selection and stardom.However, many artists in the mainland are still in the initial stage of "I like it".Of course, there is nothing wrong with deciding the development route based on preferences, but, in a mature industry assembly line, there should be a system for artists to choose styles. Due to the training they have received since childhood, the development routes of Korean artists are often tailored by the company according to personal characteristics and industry trends.Some singers are obviously very talented, and the company will not let them publish their works.Because the company has its own plans.For example, if SM company wants to open up the Asian market for you, it will devote itself to making music that meets the trend of young Asians.Before packaging and promoting artists, the company will spare no effort to carefully analyze various popular elements such as local basic culture and music, and integrate them into Korean artists, so as to avoid risks to the greatest extent. In 2004, a music company in China released a "2004 Strongest Mandarin Original Singing Collection", in which the Korean version of 13 popular Chinese songs surfaced.Roughly speaking, there are hundreds of well-known Korean songs covered by Chinese singers.Cover singers include Sammi Cheng, Jacky Cheung, Karen Mok, Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, Liming, Zhao Chuan, Zhang Huimei, Xu Zhian, SHE and so on.There was once a successful model of "newcomers + cover Korean music = inevitable popularity".Korean TV dramas are also in the same trend. From the beginning, Mango Channel introduced Korean TV dramas with great enjoyment, and later bought out the copyright to remake them. The production concept and tone of Korean TV dramas have become the objects of our imitation. If the company decides to let an artist enter a certain market, the first thing is to let him learn the local language. "TVXQ" and Tiantian Zhixi can both say hello in Chinese, Jang Nara can already sing in Chinese, and Song Hye Kyo is willing to work hard on the language. The first is to determine the target consumers.This process consists of three steps: market segmentation, target market, and market positioning. SM will make a detailed plan before launching each newcomer.For example, for Boa's debut, the company intends to let her enter the overseas market, first gain a foothold in the Korean domestic market, then aggressively attack the Japanese market, and then enter the Chinese market.Since An Qixuan was disbanded by HOT, the company planned to let him focus on the Chinese market and hold concerts in China.Song Hye Kyo's every attack, whether in Japan or Hong Kong and other Chinese film markets, is accompanied by a considerable amount of publicity and promotion, and the marketing staff are experienced. In terms of designing a marketing mix, the artist is a product of the entertainment company, and the production is also a product of the entertainment company.Whether the works are sold or not depends on the artist's performance, so the artist is the most important product.As mentioned earlier, a mature training mechanism is very important.Secondly, for the artist product, the company needs to design different routes and package it.Aiming at the target market mentioned above, we design the route of each artist according to the market positioning, and highlight the characteristics to distinguish them from other products, so many adjectives have become synonymous with artists.For example, sexy is synonymous with Lee Hyori, and naturally it is synonymous with Song Hye Kyo. Of course, Lee Young Ae is called an oxygen beauty, which is similar to Song Hye Kyo.Explain that although the positioning work is sufficient, it is not simple.After designing the route, it is necessary to carefully craft the appearance and dress.In South Korea, celebrity plastic surgery is an open secret.In addition to appearance, Han Xing's clothing and hairstyle are also very elegant. The company spends a lot of money to package it, and has a special clothing consultant.Senior stars like Song Hye Kyo have their own beauticians who specialize in grooming and hairstyles. In terms of increasing popularity and exposure, the company not only often arranges for artists to participate in various TV variety shows, but also strives for various public welfare activities and special events for the artists.Singing and dancing stars will have an album launch event for their new album, a fan meeting at the end of the year, and small birthday parties, and film and television stars will also have various activities to increase their exposure. In addition, it is also the marketing method of entertainment companies to create and promote scandals of their artists in a planned and step-by-step manner.Some people jokingly say that in the past two years, celebrities have made public love affairs, Choi Ji Woo and Lee Jin Wook, Lee Dong Gun and Cha Ye Ryun, Kang Hye Jin and Tabla, Han Go Eun and Kim Dong Won... The public relationship between celebrities is not unrelated to the global financial crisis.When the economic crisis hits, the workload of celebrities has decreased, so naturally they have more time to cultivate love flowers.And the fans have gradually matured, and no longer change their minds due to the celebrity's marriage, which also gave the celebrity the confidence and courage to openly fall in love.Of course, the main reason is that the brokerage company feels that the marketing method of gossip is eye-catching and story-telling, so it is very cost-effective to push it away. Going further, we will establish a good image and leave a good reputation through some charity performances or donations. In mid-2010, Song Hye Kyo participated in the "Share Green" charity event in South Korea, and personally designed a T-shirt, and wore the T-shirt to shoot a promotional poster for the event. The "Share Green" activity is a public welfare activity in which T-shirts are donated to children in impoverished countries. Because all the T-shirts are packaged in recycled paper, it also plays a role in promoting environmental protection.For stars in the entertainment industry, it is really a piece of cake. Public welfare activities are also a very good means of entering new markets.It's a bit of a gesture of goodwill.Song Hye Kyo once won the title of "Loving Public Welfare Figure-Asian Love Panda Ambassador" issued by the "2009 Star Awards".The organizer specially invited the person in charge of the Chengdu Giant Panda Base to present the award to her, and the photos of Song Hye Kyo playing with the giant pandas were reposted everywhere.During that time, Song Hye Kyo was having an affair with Rain, and public welfare activities were also the best safe haven.The agent "warned" the media: only talk about public welfare and fashion content, and don't answer anything else.When Rain was mentioned, even the translator around her refused to translate it. Participating in the selection of various awards is also an important means of artist marketing.This method is also a unique promotion method in the entertainment industry. It is word-of-mouth marketing. Authoritative awards are a full affirmation of the singer's strength, which can increase the audience's attention and ensure popularity.All entertainment companies attach great importance to this. Although there are many insiders, the more insiders there are, the more they have to break the ice.Probably only in the profile of Korean celebrities, there will be a list of winners dozens of times more than the work itself.In addition to various authoritative awards, there are countless online titles.Interesting, if you look carefully, the positioning is clear, each takes what it needs. SidusHQ is Song Hye Kyo's old club and also the earliest record company established.At the beginning of its establishment, it positioned its business purpose on "promoting Korean culture and international integration", which can be described as ambitious.As a comprehensive entertainment company, Sidus spans multiple fields such as music, video and print. As a subsidiary of Sidus Film Business, IFILM not only produces movies that meet the taste of the public, but also makes full use of its true strengths by investing in relatively high-level movies that have raised the popularity of Korea in the world, participating in the production and sponsorship of TV dramas. strength. Star-studded artists under Sidus include: Song Hye Kyo, Jang Hyuk, Jun Ji Hyun, Sung Yuri, Cha Tae Hyun, Lim Soo Jung, Jo In Sung, Ji Jin Hee, Choi Ji Woo, Kim Hye Soo, Park Shin Yang, Jung Woo Sung, Lee Mi Yeon, Jeon Do Yeon, Yeom Jung Ah, Kim Sun Ah, Yoon Ji Sang, DANNYAN, Kim Su Lou, Rui Zhiyuan, Shen Miner, etc. Sidus entered the Chinese mainland in 2008.Although Sidus is strong, the ambitious Song Hye Kyo is still worried that it does not know enough about the mainland market.In the same year, Song Hye Kyo jumped to Star City Entertainment where Michelle Yeoh was the boss.The publicity at that time was to participate in the filming of John Woo's "1949". Although the film plan was aborted later, Qiao Mei successfully received the film work of Wong Kar-wai.