The Most Bankable K-pop Idols In 2022
Johnathan Parker |
September 26, 2022 |
10:41 am
2. IU
Actress, singer, and record producer IU hails from South Korea. Her breakthrough came with the 2010 release of “Good Day,” which spent five weeks atop South Korea’s Gaon Digital Chart and is now placed first on Billboard’s “100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s” list. Aside from her music career, IU has ventured into acting and hosting radio and television shows.
IU is one of South Korea’s highest-paid celebrities, in part due to her endorsement deals. At different points in her career, she has promoted everything from electrical devices to apparel and makeup. Success in 2010 led to endorsement partnerships with Crown Confectionery (for their MyChew sweets), Crown Bakery, and Y’sb, a clothing company. Video games were among her first sponsorships that year. The developers of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Alicia: The Story of My Horse and I incorporated IU in the game’s music and promotional materials because her “simple and innocent” image fit in well with the game’s atmosphere. In 2011, IU performed during the Global StarCraft II League finals after introducing the players. She was an official Aion spokesperson in 2012–13, and the game has a model based on her likeness.
Since Gucci named IU their South Korean brand ambassador in February 2020 and their worldwide brand ambassador in March 2022, she has appeared in many photo shoots wearing the label’s wares. In addition, New Balance introduced IU as their global brand ambassador and began working with her on the “We Got Now” campaign in July of 2021. IU has been a spokesperson for many different cosmetics lines, including The Saem, Qdsuh in China, ISOI, and CNP Cosmetics. Since IU and Lee Hyun-woo had previously endorsed Unionbay in 2015, and since ISOI had chosen her as a model for two years, the two companies paid for product placement in The Producers, in which IU starred, in exchange for publicity.
Woori Financial Group, owner of one of the four major banks in South Korea, chose IU to represent the company in their advertising campaigns due to her widespread appeal.
