CHAPTER 025: If You Want to Capture Buzz
CHAPTER 025: If You Want to Capture Buzz
Korea’s portal site entertainment news section was plastered wall-to-wall with one person’s face.
It was Ryu Sunho’s face, wearing a creepy smile with horrific burn scars.
[First broadcast 10.3%, episode 2 breaks past 15%!··, Wrote a new history of miniseries ratings success]
[Viewers say “chills”… The arrival of a villain that provoked pity and fear at the same time]
[“The gods should feel what burning is like”… Kang Seoho, possessed-level acting shown in his first drama]
[Meticulous clue bait that started even before the broadcast… the shocking twist hidden in “Kang Seoho Instagram”]
As a new-face rookie unexpectedly performed as a scene-stealer, the reaction boiled up fast.
With such a powerful new figure appearing in the broadcast world, there was one place that got the busiest.
The variety department.
“PD-nim, there’s this rookie called Ryu Sunho who’s been rising lately—what do you think?”
The youngest staffers on each variety show began recommending Ryu Sunho as a guest.
But the main PDs of TV variety programs—those with a firmly established core audience—were more cautious than anyone.
A single program had ad revenue hanging off it, and a lot of mouths to feed.
So even though the variety department was constantly criticized every year for “recycling the same faces,” it had been a long time since they’d become this careful about choosing a new face.
They didn’t move for just one season’s, one episode’s buzz.
“It’s still too early to invite him as a solo guest. It’s only his first project.”
“Let’s watch a bit more. If this momentum holds, then we can consider it again.”
“Instead, try contacting Park Juwon or Seo Yoonha. It’s true the atmosphere has been unusual lately.”
The conclusion of most variety-department meetings was the same.
It’s still premature.
Ryu Sunho was a gust of wind that had burst out in an instant, but the risk factor was that no one knew where that wind would blow next.
So, from the TV variety department’s perspective, Ryu Sunho was neither more nor less than a “person of interest.”
But unlike the TV side, heavy-butted and slow, there were people who moved sensitively and fast.
At the very front line of trends—YouTube web-variety production companies.
A small office on the outskirts of Seoul.
A small sign that read “Heungshildeongshil Studio.”
Men and women in their thirties sat gathered around a round table.
Among them, a man wearing horn-rimmed glasses was staring at “Ryu Sunho’s” profile.
It was PD Go Kangmin, who had produced hit content like Working Man and Wassup Bro.
“Wow, the views on the Choi Seungjun episode are the worst ever. The comment reactions are really bad too.”
“Should we just delete the Choi Seungjun episode?”
At the writers’ words, PD Go Kangmin shook his head.
“No… it has PPL attached. The advertiser would go crazy.”
“Ugh… we really shouldn’t have booked him.”
“Exactly. We have to pick the next guest well.”
“What about Park Jeonggyun?”
“Too old. His banter is an old style.”
“What about Jeong Haneul?”
“That guy’s too full of celebrity disease. Our ‘NaeSonNaePam’ isn’t fun if people hold back.”
.
A real self-sufficiency variety show with the slogan, “Not advertising, not variety—labor!”
A concept where the guest sells, with their own hands, the crops they harvested with their own hands.
In a situation where more viewers were tired of celebrities lounging around in “healing variety shows,”
it was currently evaluated as the trendiest, hottest web variety show, thanks to celebrities’ honest sweat, chemistry with elders, and even the “saving farms” good-concept layered on top.
PD Go Kangmin slammed an iced takeout cup onto the desk with a “bang.”
“Let’s go with Ryu Sunho.”
“Ryu Sunho? The rookie who just came out on ?”
“Isn’t there still too little information?”
“YouTube has to go like YouTube. If we only picked sure things, we couldn’t have made content like what we have now.”
At that, the writers nodded without resistance.
If only the same obvious faces from TV variety appeared, why would anyone watch YouTube variety?
That was PD Go Kangmin’s signature creed, and by that creed, he’d discovered plenty of variety rookies.
“From what I see, he’s not bad. Looks are decent, he’s trending lately, and he’s a rookie, so he won’t half-ass it. And I saw he promoted the drama insanely well on Instagram too. If he shows that side during live commerce, it’ll be a perfect picture.”
“Come on. Would an actor do that? The agency planned it, right?”
“I heard from someone at Flash Entertainment that he planned the idea himself.”
“That’s just media play too. Image-making.”
While the production crew’s mouths moved busily, PD Go Kangmin drove in the nail, firm.
“Either way. There isn’t a better guest than Ryu Sunho right now. Contact him right away. We have to dig him up while his buzz is at its peak.”
“We’ll escort you comfortably!”
“If it’s uncomfortable, you can just speak formally.”
“Understood!”
Jeong Daeyeop, the road manager, still stiff as a board.
On the way to the agency office in the car he was driving, a familiar notification popped up.
【Goal Achieved: Recognition Level reached 20!】
【Reward Delivered: Stat Point +1】
【Current Recognition Level: 20/100】
【When Recognition Level reaches 30, rank restriction lock will be released】
The effect of the drama airing was stacking up little by little.
In particular, the reaction to episode 2 exploded.
The episode 2 highlight clip uploaded to YouTube surpassed 1.3 million views and rose into the real-time trending videos.
When viewers’ reactions blew up, articles blew up too.
After JTBN reporter Seo Jiyeon took the first swing of the pickaxe, praise for my acting poured down.
To the point there was even more mention of me than of Park Juwon and Seo Yoonha.
Of course, in a positive direction.
It was a 180-degree different reaction from before the trailer came out, when only the casting article had dropped.
Putting an undervalued brand at the top.
The moment I’d felt the greatest thrill doing advertising was being recreated right now.
My Instagram followers had already surpassed 100,000.
With the drama’s popularity, the easter egg spread by word of mouth, and the inflow increased enormously.
-Seoho, you’re so pitiful, you
└Even so, arson murder is kind of…
└Honestly, I think Kang Seoho is refreshing payoff, yeah. That crazy shaman bitch needs to get the same thing done to her
-Why is he trying to kill Shin Myeongju? Is it shaman collective responsibility?
└Why are you so over-immersed;; It’s just a drama
└If you’re not going to be over-immersed, why even watch dramas?
Now Instagram had done all its work.
It had gone viral and pulled people in, and made it so viewers could focus on the drama.
Once it had fulfilled its duty, it was time to change its use.
After the drama ended, I planned to change the account name back.
To Ryu Sunho’s name.
I would absorb the followers as-is, so in the end, it was a win-win for both the drama and me.
The SNS start is good, and.
Now the problem was the audition looming right in front of me.
In one month, I had to build enough buzz and commercial value to beat Choi Seungjun.
But the drama alone wasn’t enough.
If I want to pull Recognition Level up in a short period… what is there…
Then, an image suddenly flashed past.
Celebrities smiling brightly on variety programs.
Right.
There was nothing like variety programs for a celebrity to raise Recognition Level, buzz, and Interpersonal Index all at once.
A single line, facial expression, or action on a variety show got turned into clips and shared, spreading quickly through SNS or communities.
If a drama showed the character, then variety was a stage to make the name “Ryu Sunho” known.
After arriving at the company, I looked for Manager Team Leader Jo Sehun.
“So, are you preparing well for the audition?”
“Now I have to.”
“How?”
“Do I have any variety-show offers that came in?”
At my words, Jo Sehun briefly ran his brain, then smiled and pulled out a notebook.
“Right. If you want to capture buzz, nothing beats variety. Mm, actually, a few offers did come in lately…”
Jo Sehun listed the variety programs that had come in for me.
“But none of the main flagship TV variety shows have come in yet. It’s coming in more from the web-variety side.”
“Web variety?”
“YouTube content, basically. If you think about it, for a rookie, it might even be better than TV variety. The video time is shorter, and it’s less of a burden.”
Well, I never expected I could go on a huge program like “YouQuiz” from the start anyway.
Still, I had to screen them.
Web variety was easy to access, but the quality varied wildly.
First, pass on content that’s provocative.
Even if it got views, it could lock in a weird image for me as an actor.
No matter how important buzz was right now, there was no need to leave a scarlet letter for life.
Also pass on content with too few views and low ripple effect.
It didn’t match the objective.
Then a name caught my eye.
“NaeSonNaePam?”
It sounded vaguely familiar, but my memory was hazy.
I searched it on YouTube, and results popped up immediately.
Content where a different celebrity guest appeared each week.
But then—
Choi Seungjun appeared on it?
A Choi Seungjun episode uploaded just a week ago.
But only that episode’s views were uniquely low.
It was a channel that averaged over 1 million views, but his episode only hit around 500,000.
The comments were savage.
-Why is he so half-assed?
-He made it obvious he didn’t want to do it even when digging sweet potatoes, and during the sales broadcast he talks like he has no soul
-If he’s going to be like that, he should just not come out. Why crawl out here at all?
What the hell did he do.
Curious, I played the video.
And about 20 minutes later,
I burst into laughter without realizing.
This… the board is set way too easily.
With a format like this, I could do much better.
And a thought rose.
The most effective comparison is showing different results under the same conditions.
If I went on a completely different variety show than Choi Seungjun, there would be no fair comparison.
But the same format, the same environment.
In a situation where every variable is identical and only the single variable of “the guest” changes, people would naturally compare the two and make a clear judgment.
Right. The stage I need to step onto is best if it’s the stage Choi Seungjun already passed through.
I decided.
“I’ll appear on this.”
Two days later,
in the middle of a field in Ganghwado, under blazing sunlight.
A handsome young man in a straw hat was sweating buckets as he worked hard with a hoe.
He seemed to be carefully digging something up.
But as if she didn’t like the look of it at all, a curly-haired grandmother watching from the side shouted in a grumpy voice.
“Ah, dig hard, dig hard! Why are you digging like you’re handling a baby, you bastard!”
Then next to her,
a grandmother in a red headscarf looked horrified and lightly smacked her arm.
“Don’t do that… if you provoke that bastard’s temper, he’ll set the whole field on fire…”