Chapter 255 The Birth of an Anti-Fan
"How are the arrangements for IZONE and ITZY coming along?" Jiang Shu leaned back in his chair, looking at Li Duohui opposite him.
"Sit down," Li Duohui nodded at his words, then sat down in a chair.
"We've already started guiding the ITZY fan groups, and after a few more days of settling, we can move on to the next phase of article placement," Li Duohui explained.
"How's the reaction?"
"Everything is under control as planned. Some fans are unwilling to join the rhythm, but more fans are still willing to compete with IZONE."
Jiang Shu laughed at this.
"Once a group gets popular, 'red-person fans' appear. As long as there's a wave of these fans, the rhythm will eventually pick up."
Before 'Dash' came out, NMIXX's fans, Ensé, were in a state of self-contained enjoyment. When faced with attacks from other fans, they would immediately surrender and admit defeat, fearing that it would affect their idol's reputation. Their main strategy was: if you bully me, I'll let you bully me, just don't mess with my idol.
After 'Dash' first exploded in popularity, the fan base changed. The addition of 'red-person fans' caused the entire group to transform.
Ensé's public perception gradually shifted from "abstract" and "no negative reviews" to the same negative labels as many other fan groups.
This is inevitable. Almost all popular groups have fans that disgust passersby.
Among the girl groups under DM Entertainment, NMIXX's fans have the best public perception.
Why?
Because they aren't popular enough.
But this is relative to DM Entertainment's other groups. If compared to groups from other companies, NMIXX's fans still fall into the category of negative public perception.
The two people with the most anti-fans are naturally Liu Yuan. According to statistics from DM Entertainment's marketing department, nearly 30% of the sisters' anti-fans became anti-fans because their fans constantly provoked and disgusted people.
The same situation also occurred with various artists under DM Entertainment. It's very rare for artists themselves to have problems that lead to being disliked.
As for bizarre reasons like "seeing her face makes me sick" or "hearing her talk makes me uncomfortable," these are classified as special circumstances. Such data is useless unless it can form a large scale.
A considerable portion of an idol's anti-fans are a result of "fans' actions, idols pay the price." However, restraining fans is very difficult. Do you think fans won't cause trouble just because the idol tells them not to?
Therefore, companies generally don't restrain fans but rather strengthen the idol's positive image, thereby creating a separation from the fans, making passersby dislike the fans, not the idol.
This is a last resort.
There are many cases where passersby dislike idols because of their fans. Idols who rely on the fan economy cannot completely eliminate this situation; they can only try to avoid it.
"Yes," Li Duohui agreed, nodding. "ITZY's fan base is actually already close to IZONE's, but they are still lacking in national popularity."
Actually, ITZY's popularity is quite unreasonable. IZONE was able to achieve top-tier popularity because they had various contributing factors.
And ITZY?
ITZY still doesn't have a truly breakout song, but their popularity is incredibly high.
The marketing department spent a long time trying to understand it but couldn't. However, the fact is there, so they could only attribute it to a very high baseline.
Although ITZY doesn't have a song like IZONE's 'Gee' that became popular across Asia, every one of their songs is a K-pop classic. While not as widely known as 'Gee' outside the fan base, they are very familiar to those within the industry.
Furthermore, the team's style in their songs is more distinct, resulting in extremely strong fan loyalty.
The marketing department could only analyze it forcibly this way.
This is also one of the reasons why Jiang Shu doesn't think ITZY can overturn IZONE.
Their foundation is too weak.
They look very popular, but in reality, their popularity is artificially propped up by their connections. Once these connections are lost, it will all become a house of cards.
The songs Tian Xiaojuan wrote for ITZY are all good, but they lack the breakout potential of songs like 'Queencard' or 'Tomboy.'
However...
The song Tian Xiaojuan meticulously prepared for ITZY, intended to challenge the great demon king, might have a chance.
Without performance references, Jiang Shu wasn't sure if this song could break out, but based on his years of listening to songs...
There's a chance.
As for the song he prepared for IZONE, it was a continued transfer.
Originally, he planned to follow 'Gee' with 'Genie,' but for ITZY's challenge, Jiang Shu felt it would be better to use IZONE's own songs.
After all...
IZONE isn't a group that can't hold its own.
As a group that was still considered a fifth-generation ceiling before he transmigrated, IZONE's songs are naturally flawless.
This time, with another continuation of ITZY's future path going up against an enhanced version of peak IZONE, what will the result be?
Frankly speaking, Jiang Shu still thought IZONE would win, but to say ITZY has no chance of winning...
That's also not very realistic.
"Oh, right, bring me all the songs Jeon Soyeon has written for ITZY since their debut," Jiang Shu picked up the phone on the table and instructed Choi Ji-yeon outside the door.
"Do you want to study your opponent?" Li Duohui asked Jiang Shu with a smile.
Jiang Shu was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Jeon Soyeon is almost ready to graduate. I, as her teacher, haven't taught her much. Let's use this top-tier showdown to give her the final lesson before she graduates."
"Do we need to promote it?" Li Duohui keenly caught that this seemed to be another point that could be used for promotion.
Hearing Li Duohui's words, Jiang Shu was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Yes."
"The second-generation girl group showdown for the top, and the final lesson between you and Jeon Soyeon as teacher and student—that's quite a high topic of conversation," Li Duohui exclaimed.
"Also, who is our DM Entertainment's number one girl group," Jiang Shu added with a chuckle.
"Yes," Li Duohui agreed, nodding. "Our DM Entertainment's number one girl group, which means the best girl group of this era."
Before DM Entertainment, no company dared to say they could represent K-pop, but after DM Entertainment appeared, no one would question it if someone said DM Entertainment represented K-pop girl groups.
The current state of K-pop girl groups is inextricably linked to DM Entertainment, and most of the currently popular girl groups are from DM Entertainment. The current top two girl groups, IZONE and ITZY, are even independently managed by DM Entertainment.
Knock, knock, knock.
After a brief knock, Choi Ji-yeon entered, holding a document.
"Chairman, President Li," Choi Ji-yeon greeted them with a nod, then stepped forward and placed the requested documents on the desk.
Li Duohui glanced at the document on the table and said with a smile, "Chairman, I'll head back then."
"Mhm, report to me regularly once the public relations plan enters the next phase," Jiang Shu instructed.
"Okay," Li Duohui bowed to Jiang Shu, then exited the office.
Jiang Shu looked at Choi Ji-yeon.
Choi Ji-yeon also bowed, then exited the office.
