As broadcaster Ahn Sun-young's remarks about home shopping appearance fees are being reexamined, news that influencer Hong Young-gi earned sales in the hundreds of millions of won has followed, bringing renewed attention to the "hundreds of millions" figures in the commerce market for entertainers and celebrities.
Ahn Sun-young recently said on YouTube, "The appearance fee for a 60-minute live home shopping segment is about 15 million won," and said, "It is the result of 20 years of broadcasting experience." It was later revealed that she founded a company herself, achieved 3 billion won in sales in three years and built a company building, leading her to be cited as a representative case of a "self-made broadcaster CEO."
Adding to this was Hong Young-gi's sales record yesterday, the 24th. On the day she launched the cosmetics line, she recorded 16 million won in 10 minutes and more than 400 million won in accumulated daily sales, certifying sold-out streaks and becoming a hot topic. Analysts said it was likely the result of fandom-based purchasing power combined with personal brand power, and some reacted that because she was known in the past as part of the "ulzzang era," that recognition likely continued to affect sales.
As the home shopping and commerce market for entertainers and influencers grows rapidly like this, positive assessments follow. The view is that trust built over a long broadcasting career, speaking skills and a fan base translate into sales as a "successful case of personal branding."
But on the other hand, there are many bitter reactions. Compared with the reality of self-employed people suffering sales declines amid an economic downturn, responses such as "It's the same consumer market but the temperature difference is huge" and "The talk of hundreds of millions in sales feels like another country" have appeared. On online communities and in comments, voices continue such as, "Hearing about hundreds of millions in daily sales hits home hard," and "Is the world really supposed to work like this? People running businesses are struggling to survive, the gap is too large."
It is clear that the success of celebrity commerce is the result of individual effort and brand strategy, but at the same time it is also true that the gap with the felt economy is greatly felt. The more glamorous the numbers that become a hot topic, the more they expose the public's relative sense of deprivation and concerns about market polarization, leaving a bitter impression. It often leads to the phrase "that.they.live.world" — a world where only they live.
[Photo] SNS
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