Track Schedule for BTS: A Paradigm Changer in Martech and/or Innovation

BRANDING AS A TOOL FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION THROUGH LAW ENFORCEMENT, CONSUMERS, AND FANS: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH BTS AS A CASE STUDY

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 9:00-9:13 KST

Ribeiro, Ana C.; Eram, Jo

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of brand equity and branding strategies in the protection of Intellectual Property (IP) rights, with the Korean music group 방탄소년단 (BTS) as a case study for comparative analysis.

“BANGBANGCON: THE LIVE” – A CASE STUDY ON LIVE PERFORMANCES AND MARKETING STRATEGIES WITH THE KOREAN-POP GROUP BTS DURING THE PANDEMIC SCENARIO IN 2020

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 9:14-9:27 KST

Freitas de Jesus, Cristina

The purpose of this article is to understand how artists can create marketing strategies with new contents during the pandemic scenario, using as a case study the event “Bang Bang Con: The Live,” a paid live-streaming concert held by the Korean-Pop group BTS in June, 2020.

MARKETING BORDERLESS PRECARITY AND THE AFFECTIVE AFTERLIVES OF BTS’S WINGS ERA

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 9:28-9:41 KST

Bhattacharjee, Tannishtha

I study how a shared consciousness of borderless precarity appears in products supplementary to BTS’s music from the Wings era onwards. This shared consciousness markets BTS beyond their musicality, to include motifs of caregiving labor which cements a lasting and transcendental affective intimacy with the audience.

“DO THE BTS GALAXY BUDS+ WORK WITH MY IPHONE?” – BTS AND BRAND DESIRE

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 9:42-9:55 KST

Kakulapati, Lalitha

This paper explores how BTS employs all six drivers of brand desire to build and sustain the loyal ARMY fan base and how ARMY’s desire for the BTS brand overcomes lock-in effects of other powerful brands through examples, such as iPhone owners purchasing the BTS Edition Samsung Galaxy Buds+.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH: THE IMPACT OF BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT’S INDIRECT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STRATEGY ON FANS’ CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 9:56-10:09 KST

F.A.& E.W.  

This paper intends to explore the relationship between Big Hit Entertainment’s intellectual property strategy and their indirect artist projects and how this ultimately affects fans’ reception of content and the artist’s brand.

ARMYS: A MARKETING FORCE BEHIND BTS

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 10:30-10:43 KST

Kostanyova, Monika

The paper analyses the relationship between Big Hit Entertainment, a South Korean entertainment company, and their customers. An insightful look into BTS, a boy group signed under Big Hit, and their dedicated fans uncovers the power of customers regarding marketing and promotional activities.

WASTE IT ON ME AND #THEGREATBTSBILLBOARDHUNT: A CASE STUDY OF SOCIAL MEDIA-POWERED PROMOTIONS THAT MOBILIZED LOCALLY AND ENGAGED GLOBALLY

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 10:44-10:57 KST

Rubin, Sydney

A case study of promotions for 2018’s “Waste it On Me” by Steve Aoki featuring BTS, a social media-enabled campaign that allowed fans to create and own a story (#TheGreatBTSBillboardHunt) and which achieved global reach while focusing on highly-localized, US-centric engagement on- and offline.

SUCCESS STORY: HOW STORYTELLING CONTRIBUTES TO BTS’S BRAND

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 10:58-11:11 KST

Lazore, Courtney

BTS’s storytelling, deeply integrated into their brand through their music, concepts, and the Bangtan Universe, has revolutionized the pop music landscape, providing a new model for K-Pop idols that relies on open-structure narratives, affect, and audience engagement.

BUILDING THE BTS AND ARMY BRAND THROUGH FAN CO-CREATION STORYTELLING AND NARRATIVE

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 11:12-11:25 KST

Perez, Cecilia

This study explores BTS’s brand identity through fan co-creation storytelling and narrative. As an agent of BTS’s success, ARMY is crucial in driving a cohesive cross-platform brand narrative that has effectively helped build, foster, and strengthen both BTS’s and ARMY’s brands.

LABOUR OF LOVE: FAN LABOUR, BTS, AND SOUTH KOREAN SOFT POWER

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 11:26-11:39 KST

Proctor, Jasmine

Through the conjunct engagement of a political economy framework and theories of participatory culture, this paper argues that the globalized free labour performed by ARMY, premised on affect, has constructed the fan community as active agents of South Korean soft power alongside BTS.

FROM N.O. TO ON AND BEYOND: BTS’S JOURNEY OF INNOVATION IN MENTAL HEALTH DISCOURSE AND MODALITY MODELING

October 31, 2020 12:30-12:43 KST

Blady, Sharon (Speak Up: Mental Health Advocates)

BTS’s mental health messaging and organic modeling of mental health modalities represent innovation within mental health discourse. Most significant is building a peer support community within the group that extends to their fanbase ARMY, from which fan-created mental health programs have emerged.

WHAT BRANDS CAN LEARN FROM BTS: BEST PRACTICES TO GENERATE AUTHENTIC FAN ENGAGEMENT

OCTOBER 31, 2020 12:44-12:57 KST

Guitierrez Sanchez, Pamela (De la Riva Group)

Mainstream branding has been stuck in its view of audiences as passive targets. This strategy in nine best practices sums up how BTS’s approach to branding has the potential to engage audiences organically as conscious fans not only buy their content but also break down barriers in the industry.

CONNECT, BTS: AN EXAMPLE OF INNOVATIVE TRANSMEDIA BRANDING TO RETHINK SPATIALITY AND MEANING-MAKING

October 31, 2020, 12:58-13:11 KST

Piccialli, Stefania

This piece of research analyses the innovative techniques of meaning-making that BTS employ to build their brand identity. Principally, the analysis will examine how the strategies of media storytelling and transmedia branding in the project CONNECT, BTS are aimed at re-inventing the concept of spatiality.

“I DO WHAT I CAN, I DO MY PART”: PARTICIPATION IN FAN-ORGANIZED MARKETING AS A FORM OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY SURROUNDING BTS’S MUSICAL RELEASES

October 31, 2020, 13:12-13:25 KST

Donabedian, Tvine (Simon Fraser University)

Based on the data gathered from 22 interviews with BTS fans of varying cultural backgrounds, this paper aims to highlight the significance of the sense of communal responsibility in motivating fan-led marketing efforts in light of the group’s musical releases.

BTS, BIG HIT, AND ARMY: THE INFINITE PLAYERS

OCTOBER 31, 2020 13:26-13:39 KST

Rawcliffe, MacKenzie

A finite game is played to win; an infinite game is played to continue playing. Based on their statements and choices, BTS and Big Hit are, intentionally or not, playing an infinite game. Through their content they have passed this mentality on to ARMY as evidenced by events like Rhizome Connect.

BTS AND BUILDING A WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY

OCTOBER 31, 2020 14:00-14:13 KST

Rana, Shivakshi

As the collective power of the BTS fandom garners worldwide attention, ARMY continues to expand the scope of their involvement from consumers to collaborators. Targeted brandtech strategies as well as utilization of untapped engagement channels are just two of the contributing factors to this role shift.

IS BTS DIFFERENT? SHARED EPISODES ON SNS AS A GOOD INDICATOR FOR CELEBRITY ENDORSED AD EFFECTS

October 31, 2020, 14:14-14:27 KST

Bu, Kyunhee (Kwangwoon University)

Using SNS response data on ads featuring BTS , this study tries to appraise the factors that have been missed in celebrity endorsement literature, such as the effect of shared experience.

BEYOND THE SCREAMS: SOCIAL MEDIA PRACTICES OF BTS ARMY FANGIRLS IN INDONESIA

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 14:28-14:41 KST

Octoviany, Karlina

Because BTS ARMY in Indonesia are the global leader of active social media users, this paper examines their social media practices on gender, knowledge exchange, visual images, and community building. Considering the local cultures, ARMY Indonesia contributes as the global power to break music records.

COMPETITION AND COLLABORATION OF BTS ARMY ON TWITTER

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 14:42-14:55 KST

Santero, Nicole (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

This paper examines the Twitter power and competitive nature of BTS ARMY. Through both quantitative and qualitative analysis, this study aims to provide deeper insight into the fandom’s social media habits, strategies, collaboration, and motivation to support and promote BTS.

EVERY STEP BTS HAS TAKEN TO SUCCESS

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 14:56-15:09 KST

Ko, Sujin; Chung, Hyun Jung

In this study, we attempt to explain how BTS have achieved continuous growth chronologically by analyzing the brand “BTS” based on the brand life cycle theory. The authors employ the case study method, collecting social data from various websites and applications.

ARMY on Twitter Flock Together: Transnational Homophily Network Structure of BTS ARMY on Twitter

OCTOBER 31, 2020, 15:10-15:23 KST

Nam, Kyungjin; Kim, Heewon; Kang, Soowon; Kim Hye-jin

This study aims to understand the transnational communication structure of the world’s largest fandom, BTS’s ARMY, by analyzing the 2019 BBMAs voting network on Twitter. We expect that the clusters from various countries will show global solidarity by converging toward common goals, and consequently will provide a visual structure of pop cosmopolitanism.