Chapter 103
“Congratulations.”
“Congratulations.”
A series of well-wishes and greetings were exchanged. Youngjun nodded in response and continued speaking.
“To be honest, I’d love to take all of you out right now and have some kind of celebratory dinner, but isn’t it still a bit early to get ahead of ourselves after just the first episode? And riding on this opportunity, there’s something I’ve planned—”
The moment Youngjun finished speaking, the staff member beside him, as if they had been waiting for it, handed out a bundle of documents to each of the judges.
The project name written at the very top was—
“A guerrilla event?”
“Yes.”
At Jihyun’s words, Youngjun nodded confidently.
“Originally, it was something I planned so we could proceed if episode one was a huge hit, but based on the first episode’s ratings and the reaction at the time, I thought it wouldn’t be possible.”
However, thanks to the explosive response that followed, the broadcasting station revived this plan, which had originally been slated for cancellation.
Youngjun tightly rolled the stack of documents in his hand and fixed his gaze on Jihyun.
“I think it’s a great event where we can gain many things at once.”
“Many things, huh….”
Well, that made sense. As Jihyun flipped through the documents Youngjun had given them one by one, she nodded.
Just thinking about it briefly, dozens of benefits came to mind, but the first and foremost was clearly sustaining buzz.
With awareness already boosted by the first episode’s ratings, holding a guerrilla event in an unexpected location would definitely spread by word of mouth through SNS and online communities.
On top of that, it would climb up and down the real-time search rankings on portal sites, and related articles would pour out.
And that wasn’t all. Fan cams filmed on-site and footage of the participants themselves would be shared on SNS, bringing even more benefits in terms of recognition.
Without spending a lot of money, natural viral marketing would be possible.
Jihyun admired Youngjun’s meticulousness as she read through the proposal.
Youngjun was planning to turn the on-site guerrilla participation event into behind-the-scenes footage and upload it to the broadcaster’s YouTube channel or SNS, using it as supplementary content.
From a fan’s perspective, this would create more content to obsess over for the participant they support, beyond what’s shown on broadcast. Naturally, loyalty would increase.
Moreover, no matter how talented they were, the participants were still trainees.
For them, meeting their fans would become a motivating experience that encouraged them to keep going in the survival program and toward their dreams.
Participants meeting their first fans in their lives. And fans who, captivated by the participants’ pure reactions, decide to devote themselves.
Was there any narrative more attention-grabbing than that?
“And it’s not like the benefits are limited to broadcast success alone.”
On-site participation would naturally lead to sponsorships—of the event venue, the outfits worn by the participants and judges, and more.
It was hard to even grasp how many birds could be killed with one stone.
There was just one thing that bothered her—
“I have one question.”
“Please go ahead.”
The one who raised his hand was Heecheol. In the brief exchange between Youngjun and Heecheol, it felt like a momentary tension passed between them.
But the question Heecheol asked next unexpectedly struck right at the core.
“If it’s a guerrilla event, it means suddenly having the participants meet fans. How are you planning to draw out reactions on site? To passersby, the participants are highly likely to just look like unfamiliar girls.”
“Considering the first episode’s ratings and the reactions afterward, I think it’ll be sufficient. And you’ll all be there as well—there’s no one who wouldn’t recognize your faces.”
“But the reactions you draw out that way might have little to do with the audition participants themselves.”
Resting his chin on his hand, Heecheol continued.
“The on-site reaction will obviously be fine. After all, this is a program that heavily advertised the appearance of superstars—people whose songs casually hit number one on the monthly charts, artists you can’t not know if you live in Korea.”
“Then—”
“But wouldn’t the spotlight naturally shift toward the cast?”
“You won’t actually appear, or even if you do, it’ll just be briefly on video. I don’t think that’ll happen.”
“Well, I think a bit differently. Since you called us to hear our opinions, let me say a few things.”
Heecheol’s gaze turned to Jihyun. She felt like she already knew what he was going to say.
“As you said, if you don’t appear or only briefly show your faces, once that’s over, I think the on-site reactions will quickly die down.”
“Even if you run various events on site?”
“Of course. The audition participants are still rookies. In the end, you’re entrusting the atmosphere of the venue to amateurs with no recognition and no experience in the entertainment industry. Isn’t that an overly burdensome and arrogant judgment?”
People would just keep looking around to see whether An Jihyun was there or not.
And if, on the other hand, the judges or Jihyun’s screen time were completely removed—
“There’s no denying the possibility that it would become a dull guerrilla event in its own way.”
“Then how do you think this should be resolved?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I was only giving my opinion.”
The waiting room sank into silence. It wasn’t about reading Youngjun’s mood, nor Heecheol’s.
Just as he said, there really wasn’t a solution—at least, not for them.
A star producer, an outstanding dancer, and a singer who easily topped the music charts whenever he released a song.
They were all remarkable figures who formed and led a major pillar of K-pop, but they shared one thing in common.
They were producers, not consumers.
“If you’ve never been a fan yourself, how could you know this?”
Of course, she didn’t know whether they would accept the solution that suddenly came to mind. Still, a guerrilla on-site participation event like this would clearly be of great help to Ayoung as well.
Just as Jihyun had changed Ayoung’s life when she first saw her at the showcase.
“I have an idea.”
Jihyun curled one corner of her lips upward.
“Would you like to hear it?”
“Jihyun…!”
Seeing the confidence on Jihyun’s face, Youngjun finally looked relieved and gave her a pitiful smile.
Jihyun responded to his unspoken gratitude with a light nod, then carefully began to speak.
“How about gathering participants through SNS on the day of the event?”
“Could you explain that in more detail?”
“In other words, I mean directly recruiting people to participate in the guerrilla event on the same day.”
That way, order wouldn’t become chaotic, meaningful reactions could be drawn out on site, and those reactions could be properly captured on camera.
“Then it wouldn’t be ‘guerrilla,’ would it? Wouldn’t that damage the meaning of the event?”
Heecheol raised an objection.
Jihyun nodded readily.
That was a fair point. Even if it was on the same day, the fact that there was prior notice did, to some extent, undermine the original intent of the event.
“But if this leads to the event being carried out successfully, the additional benefits we gain from that will be far greater.”
“That may be true, but then what kind of people are you planning to recruit, and in what way?”
“We should set our 기준 around people who can generate on-site reactions. For example, promoting it in communities with a lot of idol fans.”
“Are you saying we should plan an event for a specific group of people? What if people start talking behind our backs because of that?”
“What’s there to talk about? We’re not planning an event exclusively for them—we’re planning an event that would appeal to them.”
“This sounds like something worth hearing in more detail. Could you explain a bit more, Jihyun?”
At Youngjun’s words, Jihyun nodded.
“Yes, of course.”
What was there to hesitate over? This was the field I knew best.
“As I said earlier, we recruit event participants through SNS.”
“Of course, we won’t completely exclude ordinary people who find out about the event on site and want to participate, even aside from the pre-recruited participants.”
