The February Individual Idol Brand Reputation rankings have been released by The Korean Business Research Institute and, this month, they are quite interesting.
Primarily because, members of the new Korean boy band RIIZE appeared in the rankings for the first time.
Not only appeared in them, but grabbing a total of 4 places in the Top 10, and with RIIZE’s Wonbin skyrocketing to the #1 spot.
Not bad for a first time performance, is it?
What are the Individual Idol Brand Reputation rankings?
Unless you are in the entertainment business in South Korea, or an obsessive fan of some of the idols who appear on the list, the rankings don’t really mean anything to the average person.
Especially for anyone outside Korea.
They are, however, important for the idols who appear on them as they give them increased exposure and, thus, likely more offers for brand deals, appearances in commercials/in print media etc.
In other words, more opportunities to make more money while getting more exposure for their careers.
February’s Individual Idol Brand Reputation rankings are based on the same criteria they always are — an analysis of consumer participation (social media etc), media coverage, interaction, and community awareness indexes of 1,720 idols.
This time for the period January 22nd to February 22nd, 2024.
The February Individual Idol Brand Reputation rankings results
Along with RIIZE’s Wonbin being awarded the #1 spot, ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo is in the #2 spot again this month, Girl’s Generation’s Taeyeon is at #3 (same as last month), BLACKPINK’s Jennie is at #4, and BTS’s Jimin hit the #5 spot.
Meanwhile, RIIZE’s Anton is at #6, Eunseok is at #9 and Sungchan at #10.
You’ll find the whole list of the Top 30 idol’s for February over at Soompi.
Who is RIIZE’s Wonbin?
As for Wonbin (원빈), one of the seven-member boy band RIIZE, he made his debut with the other band members on September 4th, 2023 when their debut single album Get a Guitar (basically two songs) was released via the SM, RCA and Kakao labels.
The album went on to hit #1 on the South Korean Albums chart in Korea, and #2 on the Japanese Albums chart.
Wonbin himself was born in Seoul but was brought up in Ulsan, South Korea.
He plays the guitar, is one of the strongest dancers in the group, and says his role models are the members of the EXO boy band.
He is also, arguably (at least to me), one of the most handsome members of the RIIZE.
Something that may have helped him hit that #1 spot on the Individual Idol Brand Reputation rankings, right?