Chapter 128: Industry Trend Report
Chapter 128: Industry Trend Report
Rewinding time slightly.
Around the time when Seo Juhak’s drug scandal was turning the entertainment industry upside down, the advertising industry was also in a state of emergency.
Brands that were drafting marketing plans for the new year were especially troubled.
In an era where an advertising model’s image became the face of a corporate brand, a model’s misconduct was no longer a personal issue.
It was a disaster that directly struck a company’s reputation and brand credibility.
As a result, companies significantly strengthened their criteria for selecting advertising models.
They no longer looked only at recognition, likability, or fandom size.
They began examining potential risk factors under a microscope—such as the model’s private life, past behavior, and online activity history.
“Come on, Team Leader. Honestly, how are we supposed to know everything about an advertising model’s private life? We’re not a detective agency.”
“That’s actually a good idea. Maybe we should investigate everything like a detective agency.”
The marketing team leader slapped the desk.
“From now on, when advertising agencies propose model lists, make sure they bring a full risk check with them. If something goes wrong, they take responsibility.”
Thus, industry rumors and behind-the-scenes stories began to be quietly compiled.
The more that happened, the more natural it was for Ryu Sunho’s value to rise.
“I even asked a reporter friend in the entertainment section. They said that even if you dig into Ryu Sunho thoroughly, nothing comes out. For someone who rose to fame so quickly, he apparently doesn’t have even a hint of arrogance.”
“I heard that too. They say he remembers the names of the staff he works with and calls them individually.”
“That’s what makes the contrast with Seo Juhak even stronger. On the day Seo Juhak got arrested for drugs, Ryu Sunho was out with actor seniors—going to the arcade, watching a movie, chatting at a café.”
“His debut itself was from receiving the Brave Citizen Award, wasn’t it? He ran into a fire to save people. He doesn’t seem like the type of person who would do anything shady.”
“And after that he consistently did donation activities… and even personally planned an advertisement for firefighters…”
“But are we sure that wasn’t just media play? Did he really do that himself?”
“If it were false, someone would have exposed it by now. Even Producer Yeom Jaeho staked his retirement on it.”
The research staff compiling the rumors clicked their tongues.
“Wow… then his value will skyrocket. Clean private life, clean narrative, solid skills, and versatile talent—he’s practically perfect.”
“Alright then, should we compile it at this level? I think we’ve gathered most of the stories.”
“Let’s do that. Assistant Manager Kwon, gather the contents and organize them into a PPT. Make it neat for the executives’ report.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Executive office of the food brand Singgeut.
Executive Director Park Byeongwoo spoke sharply.
“See? What did I tell you? I said we should secure Ryu Sunho earlier.”
“I’m ashamed…”
“Before the drama started, didn’t I give that order clearly?”
“We did keep contacting them, but the agency delayed giving a definite answer due to scheduling issues…”
“Tsk. Scheduling is just an excuse. They must have smelled the money.”
Executive Director Park clicked his tongue.
“They were confident the drama would blow up. That’s why they waited until his value rose.”
He flipped through the documents irritably.
It was the Industry Trend Report sent by an advertising agency.
The estimated fee for Ryu Sunho written there far exceeded the amount they had predicted just a month ago.
1 billion won for a six-month contract.
For a one-year exclusive contract—
“…Two billion won.”
It was an estimated value.
And that was the minimum.
Park laughed dryly.
The money was painfully expensive.
But even so, they could not give up.
“How could we give up after seeing this?”
Starting a week ago, the sales graph for their flagship product—banana milk—had surged sharply.
Despite no special marketing campaign.
The cause narrowed down to one thing.
In Doctor Princess, the character Han Jushin, played by Ryu Sunho, drank banana milk instead of soju at a company dinner.
Right after that episode aired, banana milk began selling out nationwide in convenience stores.
Even more attention came when a behind-the-scenes video revealed that the scene was Ryu Sunho’s ad-lib.
—Han Jushin’s gap moe is insane lol
—I’m drinking banana milk at every drinking party from now on
└ Your face isn’t Han Jushin though
└ Shut up
—That was an ad-lib? Ryu Sunho’s sense is crazy
—Banana milk stocks rising thanks to him lol
—Singgeut should literally bow to Ryu Sunho
Wanting to take advantage of the momentum, Singgeut quickly moved.
They tried to send Ryu Sunho’s agency several similar milk products as gifts.
A gesture of gratitude—and a subtle attempt to attach themselves to the trend.
However, the agency politely refused.
It wasn’t because of an existing contract with Mate Beverage, since the product categories didn’t overlap.
In that case—
They must mean they won’t accept anything unless it’s a formal advertising contract.
A professional decision.
Then there was only one choice.
Make a formal proposal.
Properly.
With the best treatment.
“I heard the drama filming is almost finished. That means his schedule should open up soon, right?”
There was no time left.
The merger between Singgeut and Haechi Ice Cream was approaching.
The massive industry-shaking event needed to be announced and promoted.
And for explosive synergy, there was no card better than Ryu Sunho.
No.
He was the only answer.
“If the effect is certain, the most expensive model actually becomes the cheapest model.”
Executive Director Park clenched his fist.
“I don’t care how much it costs. Contact him and secure him no matter what. This is an investment worth paying for.”
On a day with a slightly lighter schedule, I met Team Leader Jo Sehun at the company.
Numerous brand proposals offered to me were spread across the table.
Since I couldn’t delay the decision any longer, we set aside an entire day to finalize it.
Even at a glance, there were more than thirty brands.
But I planned to select only one or two.
If I became the advertising model for too many brands, my image as an actor would wear down.
And I also needed to consider ripple effect.
From what I had observed so far, to increase the ripple effect demanded by the System, I needed to be involved in advertising planning or production to some extent and shake up the board.
But it was physically impossible to participate in the planning of dozens of brands.
And if I selectively participated in only a few, rumors might start.
Then the answer was simple.
Choose a brand that would create a stage where I could move freely.
After careful consideration, the brand I selected was—
“I’ll go with this one.”
Team Leader Jo Sehun widened his eyes in surprise.
“Singgeut…? Ice cream?”
The list included luxury fashion brands, high-end electronics, and car companies.
But after evaluating several factors, I concluded that the food company Singgeut suited me best.
The reasons were clear.
First, it had to be a flexible brand that allowed creative freedom.
Luxury brands followed headquarters’ guidelines like strict laws.
No matter how creative my idea was, it would be dismissed with a single sentence: It doesn’t match the brand tone and manner.
That was a board where I couldn’t hold the initiative.
Second.
This was the most important factor.
The level of consumer involvement.
Luxury goods, electronics, and automobiles were high-involvement products.
They were expensive, used for a long time, and carried high risk if purchased incorrectly.
Therefore, even if I created an impactful advertisement, consumers wouldn’t impulsively buy a million-won bag or a car after watching it.
My idea wouldn’t immediately translate into purchasing behavior.
There would always be a time gap between advertising impact and actual sales.
That structure didn’t suit my goal of maximizing ripple effect.
On the other hand, ice cream was a low-involvement product.
It was cheap and frequently purchased, meaning consumers bought it casually without much thought.
Advertising worked much more directly on such products.
“Oh? That’s the ice cream Ryu Sunho advertised. Maybe I’ll grab one on my way home.”
That kind of immediate reaction.
And finally—
At this timing, Singgeut should be merging with Haechi Ice Cream.
I remembered the event clearly from my previous life when I first entered the advertising industry.
The two companies merged and poured massive marketing resources into securing the No.1 market share.
That meant strong support for advertising ideas was highly likely.
So Singgeut it was.
“Well, if that’s what you want.”
Afterward, Team Leader Jo Sehun and I visited Singgeut headquarters to sign the contract.
Inside the meeting room sat a middle-aged man who clearly looked like a high-ranking executive.
“Hello. I’m Park Byeongwoo, Executive Director of Singgeut.”
Normally, advertising model negotiations were handled by the marketing team leader.
But an executive director came personally?
This feels familiar.
Come to think of it, the same happened with Mate Beverage.
But back then the executive didn’t attend the first contract.
He appeared only after seeing the result of the one-take advertisement and offering an exclusive contract.
In other words—
Now my name alone created expectations.
Even the numbers reflected the difference.
“For a one-year exclusive model contract, the amount is 2.5 billion won.”
An amount unimaginable during my days in advertising.
It meant their expectations for me were that high.
Then I should prove I deserve it.
The massive contract between Singgeut and Ryu Sunho was conducted under strict secrecy.
Considering the shockwave that the unprecedented amount of 2.5 billion won would cause in the market, both sides agreed to maintain a strict embargo.
However, keeping the secret of the Industry Trend Report—which had passed through many hands—proved difficult.
[Advertising Industry Trend Report (Confidential)]
The file leaked somewhere and spread openly on the internet.
Among its contents, the most eye-catching detail was the initial “R.”
Though it was meant to anonymize the identity, guessing the owner of that initial was easy.
Ryu Sunho’s trajectory was simply too unique.
—Wait… Ryu Sunho gets 1 billion for six months?? What am I seeing
└ Then that’s 2 billion for a year lol insane
└ Actually one-year contracts are usually a bit cheaper
└ Still around 2 billion though… and that’s just an estimate
└ “Name your price” lol crazy nickname
—Isn’t this just rumor data?
└ It’s way too detailed for that
└ My friend works in advertising and said it’s roughly accurate
—Does this even make sense? He debuted only two years ago
└ But everything he’s done has been a hit
—Doesn’t that mean he earns more than top idols?
└ Not even comparable
└ Idols split earnings with their companies but actors have better revenue shares
└ Ryu Sunho alone could surpass the revenue of most entertainment companies
—Also “private life risk: none” lol
└ “Mental management: excellent” lol
└ Compared to drug addict Seo Juhak ^^
Regardless of whether the document was genuine, people were astonished as they realized Ryu Sunho’s value through numbers.
But whenever someone rose high, jealousy and resentment inevitably followed.
—Don’t worry about celebrities lol they make money so easily
—What a ridiculous bubble
└ Seriously this is excessive
└ Even Gong Hajin, who won the Grand Prize at Baeksang last year, doesn’t earn that much
└ That Grand Prize was for Whisper, not him
└ Who was the lead actor in that movie? ^^
—Why do celebrities earn this much anyway?
└ Exactly, what trust does a celebrity give to a product
└ Unless they’ve used it for years and truly love it
└ They just show their face in a shoot and earn billions
└ The world is broken
└ Ryu Sunho barely sleeps with his schedule though
└ I’d also work without sleeping for that money
—I’m jealous lol pretending to be nice in public while earning billions
└ He bragged about doing Ministry of Health and Welfare ambassador work without pay
└ But ambassadors only show up at the ceremony and disappear
└ Just image-making
└ Ryu Sunho is totally a money chaser lol
At that moment, inside the Ministry of Health and Welfare office, staff members looked excited while watching Ryu Sunho on a monitor.
“Wow… seeing it like this in video form really hits harder…”
“Seriously… he’s such a good actor. Even knowing roughly what happens, I still held my breath watching.”
“It’s just perfect.”
They were previewing an edited version of Doctor Princess provided by JTBN.
Since the heart transplant scene was connected to the ministry’s campaign, it required approval from the working staff.
But—
“There’s nothing to fix, right?”
“No. It’s perfect as it is!”
“I have nothing but praise.”
“Seriously.”
The confirmation process was only a formality.
There was nothing problematic.
And it carried more impact than any organ donation awareness campaign the ministry had previously conducted.
“The idea itself was brilliant…”
“Exactly. Honestly, for something suggested by an actor, it’s not just good—it’s better than the proposals other agencies presented during the competitive pitching.”
“I agree.”
“To be honest, when I first heard he’d be a volunteer ambassador, I thought he’d just take a few photos and disappear.”
“Me too…”
“But seeing him genuinely propose ideas and help realize them… wow.”
Everyone nodded slightly in agreement.
“I can’t wait for this to air.”
“How long until it broadcasts?”
“This is Episode 9, and Episode 8 aired the other day… so in a few days people will see it.”
“Good. Let’s release all the articles at that timing.”
Soon, a powerful ripple-effect bomb would drop.
.