#Their companies DON'T PROMOTE THEM!!! They literally don't invest any money to promote their groups!!!

[mila-carat]

I was watching this Chinese variety show just to see Ricky and Zhang Hao but then I saw one of the hosts was Zhang Zhenyuan and now I want to cry… 😭💔

[haesunflower]

Hi tee 🤗

How have you been? I had a marketing-related question in my mind for a bit but I don't know how to word correctly or if it even makes sense (I don't have an excuse, I live in a country where English is one of the two official languages so in conclusion, I'm just illiterate or don't know how to communicate).

I don't know much about the marketing field but if you were working on two "projects" or campaigns that were "competitors" to each other, how would you go on about it? I'm asking because Wakeone (W1) is managing ZB1 and survivors of the W1 trainee layoff and although it's not certain, I'm hoping they have plans to debut the three known survivors (lolol).

Like It's nice of them (referring to W1 trainees) to do covers or post pictures daily (for the time being) so they don't lost momentum but I don't know why but I feel like it's not enough for me 😂 I don't know if this is weird but at least for kpop groups that I will gladly throw my 💸 at, I much prefer watching behind the scenes content (applies to Boys Planet and ZB1; think Bangtan Bombs for BTS if you know about that), something like the Boys Planet Top 18 Pyjama party, or the W1 trainee live (I kid you not, I've watched that live three times with english subs...to be fair, I'm trying to learn Korean 💪). Anyways, apologies for the ramble but I'm also curious if you have any theories about this lolol.

Have a good one 🫶 Don't forget to take care of yourself 🌻

hey moni! this question got me excited, i pulled out my laptop to type my response hihi

long marketing/business ramble under the cut lol

honestly, i've been thinking of that too! I was pleasantly surprised to see wakeone promoting their korean trainees and keeping their presence online alive whilst preparing for ZB1's debut. I do agree that it would be nicer to have more personalized content for them - we're literally being fed crumbs with their cute little dance covers and photos and what not. Maybe something like The Boyz' Flower Snack? They had a pre-debut show where they served in a cafe.

Going back to the initial topic of working on two separate projects that are in competition to one another: it honestly seems like a conflict of interest at first. But, we have to remember that wakeone (legally) "owns" the wakeone trainees and has invested much more in their training. Whereas ZB1 members are not bound by a longer contract, and there was little to no investment in the training of these members (except Taerae of course) because training came from the members' respective companies.

Thus, it would make sense to keep their in-house talent like the korean wakeone trainees active and relevant for as long as possible - making sure the general public and star creators know that they're still in wakeone. This builds up anticipation and support for the company from the fandoms of wakeone trainees. I think it's no coincidence that they started posting more around the same time woongki and haruto announced their departure from the company. It seems that wakeone has no plans with them at all, so they did the sensible thing and just left.

Going back, keeping their in-house talent relevant is important NOW given that zb1 is actively preparing and documenting their debut journey. Because when zb1 disbands, wakeone's source of money will be their in-house talent.

On a marketing perspective, these two groups (should they debut at around the same time) MUST have two differentiating branding. This means they must target a different target audience, embody different concepts, and dominate in spaces where they would not conflict with one another. I honestly think a boy-group trio hasn't been popularized ever (unless it's a unit like exo-cbx or nct dojaejung), and I wonder if wakeone is going in this direction. If ZB1 gets a darker group concept, wakeone's in-house group should go the opposite direction.

However, it is also possible that they might be applying SM's strategy when it comes to company promotion. SM groups are uniquely distinct from one another. But do you ever notice how more than 1 SM group seems to promote at the same time as another SM group or soloist? Lee Sooman's previous strategy was like "I'll make my artists comeback at the same time so all the charts are dominated by SM. doesn't matter which SM artist you choose to support at that time, it won't matter, because SM artists will dominate all the charts". SM takes a "company" approach when it comes to dominating the market.

On a business level, I don't know if Wakeone is staffed well enough to handle another full functioning group ON TOP of their current workload with Kep1er. Thus, I think it would be smart for Wakeone to focus on the quality of their management, rather than the quantity of their groups. In short, they're not prepared for this type of artist expansion.

But as a phanbin voter :') i hope he gets to debut tho. I believe he'll make it big one day! hoping for his success and happiness

also hope you're doing well Moni <3 love conversations like this!! make sure to sleep well and eat all your meals mwah