How Hello82 Brought KPop Fan ECommerce To The Top Of The Charts & On Tour With ATEEZ
How Hello82 Brought KPop Fan ECommerce To The Top Of The Charts & On Tour With ATEEZ
For millions of K-pop fans, hello82 is a destination to watch their favorite idols go viral, cater to celebrities, try out karaoke in foreign languages, and star in other upcoming videos. But over the past year, the company behind multilingual YouTube channels has expanded its e-commerce offering to better meet the needs of its viewers. The results led to the company's four-year run on the Billboard charts and the conclusion of its first "tour" last week.
When ATEEZ's first US shows since 2019's The Fellowship: Beginning of the End Tour kicked off in January, the band sold out but like many of their peers had to crack the Billboard 200 Top 40 across the board. While the relationship with Korean management company KQ Entertainment led to the channel's most-watched video (an 11-minute prank by ATEEZ member San disguised as an elderly dancer has seen over 32 million views), hello82 saw an opportunity to better connect with K-pop. Tifozët's ATINY to join the group. directly to the United States.
With offices in Los Angeles, hello82 has spent 2021 becoming a trusted hub for international K-Pop fans to purchase imported physical albums, merchandise, and virtual experiences like live events and fan calls. Artists during the pandemic after COVID-19 concerns forced the company to expand into other offerings. The album's physical distribution in the United States helped Korean artists climb the Billboard album charts (largely due to their release in deluxe collector's packages, each with a standard set of items and random items). hello82 realized how expanding their e-commerce channels could create new business opportunity while providing the same aspect of the community that they wanted to develop with their video content.
“We just wanted to match demand with supply,” says Sang H. Cho, co-founder of hello82's parent company, KAI Media, and current chief operating officer, from his Beverly Hills office. “We felt that quite a few K-pop groups were well represented and got the kind of recognition or recognition they deserve when it comes to things like charts. Of course we are a company that wants to make money, but we also understand fans, their psychology, and their needs. Get them involved and give them a sense of accomplishment.” And of course we knew there was an opportunity for all of us to make it happen together.
What began in 2021 with two ATEEZ albums being distributed from a virtual store — September's Zero: Fever Part.3 , which peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200, followed by Zero's Zero: Fever Epilogue at No. 72 — has grown into greater ambitions for ATEEZ's album The Release World EP.1: Movement this past July. Not only was this ATEEZ's first release after they reunited with their fans ATINY on their tour in early 2022, but it also ushered in a new era of music for the band.
"We saw the potential to make it much bigger," says Chu with his team, who are looking at traditional retailers and local fan-run pop-up stores.
Large chain stores increasingly showed K-pop content, but almost exclusively those with deals or representation in the United States. While RCA Records under Sony Music signed ATEEZ in 2019, the group's music was not yet available in retail stores in the United States. in the United States of America. (RCA declined to comment on its relationship with ATEEZ as of press time.) With Cho's background in retail finance, as well as other inside contacts, hello82 quickly caught on.
"There are two retailers who understand and know the K-pop market well: Target is one, Barnes & Nobles is another, and we've been working with both for some time," says Cho. “These people don't necessarily buy from new suppliers very easily, especially when it comes to physical media, but we've been fortunate to know a few people who have been able to get us in touch with these buyers on a formal basis fairly quickly. Be sure to check all the boxes to make sure we are authorized to do so.
The move immediately linked hello82 and finally the ATEEZ album with some of the biggest retail giants in the world. World EP.1: The Motion was available online and in Barnes & Noble stores, as well as Target, Walmart, and FYE online stores. "These big retailers have small profit margins," says Chu. "But it also gives you a lot of reach and gets you more fans who aren't close to places like big cities, so we're really excited about that." It is hoped that future ATEEZ designs will be available in physical Target stores.
Perhaps the most important part of their goals, however, was to open more than a dozen pop-up stores across the country directly with fans. With a hello82 representative in every store, local ATINYs volunteered (some took to social media even before the company asked for help) after being vetted by the team to help out at their local locations with photo walls, decorated gifts and personalization with freebies. .
"We knew we could probably set up pop-up shops ourselves, but we really wanted to get fans involved and make them part of the overall campaign," Chu said of the 19 pop-up stores they run in stores. Hot as Chicago and Atlanta. , but also in smaller cities like Yuma, Arizona, and Southfield, Michigan. Existing coffee shops and stores (some of which are very popular with K-pop fans, such as LINE Friends stores in New York and Los Angeles that sell BTS' BT21 and TREASURE's TRUZ) have allowed fans to pick up their copy of The World EP.1 . Exclusive box edition sponsored by hello82 and personally connected with other ATINY's.
“Creating pop-ups has advantages; they can be flexible in terms of location, time, and everything in between,” says Zhou. “I think that right now, K-pop fans in certain regions deserve a place to go and hang out, not just access to all the products and albums. These fans love being together. And this isn't just worshiping K-pop, I think this is more attractive: I'm a k-pop fan.” Football is in the Philadelphia Eagles and I'm going to a sports bar just to hang out with my fellow geeks Philadelphia M Evers.
Strategy bested ATEEZ with The World EP.1: Movement , which opened at number three on the Billboard 200 (behind Beyoncé and Bad Bunny) with 50,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending August 4, with album sales of over 47,000 making up this the shape. . In general, according to Luminate. The group has accumulated 86,000 album-equivalent units in the United States as of December 1.
The first week saw a big boost from the opening sales of Fever Epilogue (totaling 16,000 units in the first week) and the third installment of Fever (13,000). Along with KAI Media co-founder and current CEO Jae Yoon Choi, Cho stresses ongoing dialogue with Billboard and Luminate to ensure "we're doing everything right."
"It's the first time we've done it on this scale, so there were definitely some hiccups, but the release week was very smooth," he recalled. “We kind of knew where we were going, but you never know… when we were at the top of the charts, obviously we were blown away. Not just us, but the fans we got a lot of 'thanks' and 'cool feats'.” Community Manager Our own, who speaks to many of these people directly, also shared a happy moment almost on launch day and finally when the leaderboards were officially announced.So that was exciting.
The company kept that energy alive by pop-shopping on ATEEZ's 11-day North American tour The Fellowship: Break the Wall, the band's second tour in 2022 and their biggest to date. Each of the seven cities on the tour, as well as two that were not on the tour route, were designated as official tourism goods fairs for at least two days each.
"After the successful distribution of the album, we are now distributing merchandise related to their upcoming North American tour," explains Chu. “We have always seen ourselves as a bridge for management companies between South Korea and the American market, as we can help them connect directly with their fans here and build a lasting fan base.”
The Los Angeles and Oakland stores opened ahead of the ATEEZ shows November 7-8 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Fans can snap up new items such as jackets and T-shirts while participating in activities such as writing Post-it letters for ATEEZ.
With their final stop in Toronto on December 2nd, hello82 showcased perhaps their most iconic project yet when they released their video "Project Star 117 - From ATINY to ATEEZ" during the show with fancam messages and notes written across pop-up posters by attendees. The same group gave him a righteous look and tearfully brought Chief Hongjoong to a meeting. The officially uploaded video garnered more than 50,000 views in less than five days.
hello82 is not a company dedicated to music services but monitors industry trends and consumer behavior to consider new business.
He adds, "The music industry is now maturing in this mix of on-demand and ubiquitous music consumption, but also this energetic, passionate kind of fan activity that's generating a lot of commerce." "I think all of those things were always part of the music industry, but now they're coming back and we'd love to be part of being at the forefront of all that activity, so we see a bright future financially and so do our investors."
Chu notes that ATEEZ's strategies have sparked interest from other artists and companies looking to make a difference in America. However, the company is interested in partners who interact more intensely with fans and "experiment a bit". The company also hopes to expand beyond North America and "we hope eventually to expand into other underserved markets around the world."
While Zhou and his colleagues discuss high-level plans directly with the ATEEZ team (“Thanks to KQ for the vision and ATEEZ for his great collection—they were kind enough to give us the chance and were willing to risk a lot.”), he also works in the hello82 shops.
"We make sure everyone takes turns," says Cho. The look and joy you see on fans' faces, especially when you pull out the appropriate photo card for them, makes our day."
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