Chapter 500
Chapter 500
Spacer’s comeback was orchestrated by Park Moon-dae.
At first, it seemed like he was simply aiming for a gap in the schedule, a calculated move while the top-tier male idols were inactive.
It was timed for when Cheong-ryeo’s comeback promotions would be ending and TeSTAR’s next comeback was still only in the planning stages.
That was why, when the news articles about a "Spacer Comeback Teaser" first appeared a few months ago, they didn't cause much of a stir.
It was expected.
[Spacer to Storm the Music Industry This Fall... "Preparing an Intense Comeback"]
Excluding random hate comments, the vast majority of the reactions came from existing Spacer fans. Since no official announcement had been made, the general public’s expectations were practically non-existent.
That was the end of it back then.
As time passed and Spacer’s scheduled comeback became something only their fans remembered, another group began a massive promotional campaign.
[Iter Announces October Comeback! The Advance of the Monster Rookies]
It was Iter.
Having left a brilliant impression with their debut, they were jumping back in for another round of promotions within the year to maintain their momentum.
This, too, was expected.
‘They’re trying to solidify their Rookie of the Year win.’
It also meant they were confident in their song and concept. Park Moon-dae guessed they had probably prepared this alongside their debut track.
‘They need some time before the end of the year for their results to reflect in the awards, so I figured they’d come out in the fall.’
In a way, the fact that Iter’s appearance at Summer Pool had been completely overshadowed by TeSTAR’s Waterbomb performance was actually a blessing in disguise for them.
There was no need for painful comparisons because Iter’s fans had been tactful enough to keep quiet and let it pass.
Thus, retaining their status as "super rookies," Iter’s agency, Wonder Hall, set their comeback date and even announced the pre-order schedule to the press.
The third week of October!
‘Good.’
Park Moon-dae checked it off with satisfaction.
And shortly after, as if they had been waiting for this exact moment, a flurry of articles suddenly broke.
[Orbit Stars Entertainment: "Spacer’s Comeback is Set for Early October"]
[October Music Scene: The Male Idol War Approaches... "From Spacer to Iter"]
["World Tour K-POP" Spacer Comeback: Will the October Male Idol Matchup Happen?]
Spacer’s specific comeback schedule was finally announced.
The articles subtly emphasized the fact that Iter was coming back around the same time.
The gap was only two weeks!
Furthermore, Spacer was going first.
This meant Iter couldn't even use the strategy of swooping in to win the "image battle" by hitting Spacer’s tail-end numbers as they declined from their peak.
On the contrary, it was the perfect setup for Iter to easily crush Spacer.
Naturally, the majority of netizens interested in idols were far more focused on Iter.
Spacer was no longer a rookie group.
Moreover, the existence of TeSTAR—who were essentially a perfect, superior version of Spacer in terms of origin and talent—had negatively impacted Spacer’s buzz and image from the moment they were formed.
It was unavoidable.
Only low-level, troll-tier interest was keeping their buzz alive.
Besides, around this time, idol communities and social media were already buzzing with a different topic.
The collaboration stage between Cheong-ryeo and Park Moon-dae!
The fans' reactions to the unexpected collaboration between two 1st-tier male idols were intense.
For reference, it felt something like this:
“…….”
It was a heavy kind of "hot" topic…
Still, the public reaction itself was positive.
People praised both Cheong-ryeo and Park Moon-dae, finding their unexpected friendship interesting. Because of that, the already well-executed stage gained massive traction and became a huge hit.
In particular, the fact that two people from different groups harmoniously performed two songs with completely different concepts made it meta-textually more impressive and entertaining.
It was so popular that it even made it onto the global YouTube trending list.
However, the more popular it became, the more the hardcore fans of both sides felt their moods plummeting into the abyss…
These were groups that had been at odds for years due to all sorts of incidents. Seeing their own member acting all friendly with a rival group they had a deep-seated grudge against was a bitter pill to swallow.
Of course, they couldn't say these things openly on the surface. It was an undeniable fact that the reaction to the stage was good.
So, the dominant trend was to try and rationalize the situation by sharing GIFs and videos cropped to show only one member, attempting to move past it as smoothly as possible.
In short, it was a time of stimulation and upheaval!
In the midst of all that, the comebacks of Iter and Spacer?
To the TeSTAR fandom, it was a bit annoying; to the general public, it wasn't that big of a deal.
Thanks to the massive success of their latest album and the public recognition that exploded after Waterbomb, the fans weren't that anxious.
And so, everyone thought Spacer and Iter would make their comebacks in that lukewarm, flat atmosphere.
Until Spacer’s teaser dropped.
[Spacer ‘Hi’ Teaser]
The teaser itself didn't cause a massive stir.
It was just short cuts of the Spacer members happily going about their daily lives over a pleasant song.
The song was addictive even upon a first listen.
Spacer’s composing member created the top line, Kim Rae-bin participated in the arrangement, and Park Moon-dae verified it with his "Catchy Ear" trait, resulting in a sleek, well-polished track.
An ambitious project!
However, the general public didn't usually go out of their way to watch teasers for male idols they weren't interested in. As always, it was a typical scene of domestic and international fans leaving comments.
But Spacer’s title track this time wasn't something you could only encounter through the teaser.
A few days later.
A link was posted on the fans' social media.
‘What is this?’
People who clicked the link without much thought were soon shocked.
“…!”
They heard the melody they had already heard in the teaser and the familiar voices of the Spacer members.
But it wasn't a video uploaded by their agency, Orbit Stars.
[Your own hydration boost, honey-flavored sports drink!]
[Honey Shake Water]
It was a scene of various people taking turns drinking the beverage refreshingly after a long, hard day.
The 15-second edited clip was… a YouTube advertisement for a new drink.
Spacer’s title track was being used as the background music.
It was a CM song.
Spacer had provided a version of their title track with slightly modified lyrics to be used as a CM for a product from a company that was marketing very aggressively.
For free!
Naturally, it was a private agreement.
Park Moon-dae had almost resorted to using the system again to find this company, which was planning an aggressive marketing campaign around the same time as Spacer’s comeback.
‘Lousy intel.’
Regardless, the efforts of the staff, whose bonuses were on the line, paid off, and the contract was successfully signed.
In reality, it was almost like a one-sided donation from Orbit Stars Entertainment!
They might not have been able to sign it if the song hadn't been promising, but Kim Rae-bin’s name as an arranger carried significant weight.
‘He’s the guy who already composed a successful OST.’
When the company heard that the composer of "Black Hole," which had even resonated at the recent Waterbomb festival, was the main participant in the arrangement, they finally signed the deal.
And so, right now.
[Hi, Hi, Hello
Can you hear this voice?
If you can, please answer me now]
Spacer’s song was being exposed to smartphone users across the country.
Park Moon-dae even logged out of his YouTube account to check the frequency of the ad’s exposure.
‘It’s quite significant.’
He was very satisfied to see it would be broadcast like this for at least a week.
‘It’s not like our company is in a position to aggressively increase TV exposure right now anyway.’
The agency’s relationship with T1 had soured, leading to many broadcast opportunities being cut off.
While they could manage for TeSTAR, last year’s Grand Prize winners, and Mirinae, a girl group with good public appeal, the number of programs Spacer could immediately appear on was truly small.
‘In that case, I’ll expose them to the public through other means.’
Thus, the drink advertisement was broadcast on YouTube in all sorts of versions.
This meant that the most public-friendly, catchy, and memorable chorus part of Spacer’s new title track began floating around in the users' heads.
This was a strategy a 1st-tier group couldn't use.
Handing over your title track as commercial music the moment it was released could potentially lead to issues with the album’s image or the group’s prestige.
But the effect was certain.
As long as the song was good, there was no promotion as reliable as increasing exposure.
Moreover, it was exposure without prejudice.
‘People who usually skip male idol songs might feel differently if the song is first ingrained in their minds as a CM song.’
The Spacer members had also agreed to try it without hesitation as soon as they heard the plan.
In particular, this album was said to be the one the members had participated in the most so far.
Therefore, to put it simply, the Spacer members were in this state:
So, there was nothing to hold them back.
Public appeal.
Everything was set up to target exactly that!
Furthermore, there was one more decisive move.
Spacer kept their MV simple.
A clean story without excessive concepts, lore, or fictional elements.
The MV, which featured sporty choreography scenes filmed on an outdoor basketball court on a nice day and a story about boys uploading those videos to their social media, was easy to digest.
It maximized visual beauty and a feel-good atmosphere.
By minimizing the barrier to entry, fewer people were turned off by the music video.
And so, Spacer’s new song began to spread through word of mouth.
[My pick for this year’s best CM (Subjective, I might be wrong, if you disagree you’re right)]
[Did you know this was a Spacer song?]
[Honey Shake? What do I search to find this ad song?]
Five days later.
Spacer’s song began to slowly climb the music charts, eventually breaking into the top 40.
Excluding their debut album right after <Aju-sa>, it was their highest ranking ever!
Park Moon-dae chuckled at the screaming KakaoTalk message from Kwon Hee-seung, but he was actually considering the limitations of this strategy.
‘It’ll be hard for the song to climb much higher at this rate.’
There was one more downside to making it a CM song.
Fatigue builds up.
Seeing a forced advertisement repeatedly can lead to resentment.
‘Plus, the effect starts to drop once people realize it’s an idol song.’
From here on, a chart reversal was half up to luck.
And the rival agency knew that as well.
‘Wonder Hall.’
Iter’s agency.
They were the ones who had plotted during the Cha Yu-jin incident after finding out about his runaway status in real-time.
Park Moon-dae knew there was someone inside his company leaking information to them.
But he deliberately didn't catch them yet.
‘Let’s use them just once.’
He painstakingly set a trap.
He purposely scheduled Spacer’s comeback two weeks before Iter’s to make them look like an easy target.
And he didn't hide the downsides of this promotion. He intentionally left them exposed so Wonder Hall could gather that information. To make the weakness look obvious.
“There it is.”
[Iter Teaser Release Imminent... Monster Rookies to Take Over the Music Industry]
As a result, Iter did not bother to adjust their comeback schedule.
‘They think they can see a way to beat Spacer.’
The weaknesses seemed clear, and they calculated that they could push through with their own buzz once they made their comeback.
‘They think that for male idols, building a fandom is more important than public appeal.’
They might have even thought it was perfect that Spacer was getting a decent amount of attention for them to swallow up.
However, there was one thing the Iter side had overlooked.
“Good.”
The fact that Park Moon-dae had been grinding his teeth while planning this scenario for months.
That night.
A post quietly appeared on an internet community.
====================
[Spacer’s song is doing well]
But is it just me, or does this title track concept remind anyone else of T-Holic? lol
====================
The conversation suggested that Spacer’s music video subtly overlapped with T-Holic’s golden age.
This opinion didn't face much backlash or sarcasm.
T-Holic’s peak had passed quite a while ago, and Spacer wasn't in a position where their image was seen as a threat.
It was just a discussion framed as the keen insight of a connoisseur.
A day or two passed with this minor interest in the community and among a few hardcore idol fans.
Then, articles began to surface.
[Spacer Resembling T-Holic, Iter Resembling TeSTAR... The Contrasting Visions of Their Agencies]
[Will Spacer Become the Second T-Holic?]
But this time, it wasn't Iter’s side that released them.
‘You think you’re the only ones who know how to use media play?’
It was released by Park Moon-dae and Orbit Stars Entertainment.
Articles linking Spacer with T-Holic, and Iter with TeSTAR.
It was framing.
Setting the stage and weaving the narrative!
And so, Park Moon-dae began to reverse the group positioning strategy that Iter had used during their debut.