Son Jong-won overtook Anh Sung-jae to take first place in the K-brand index expert entertainer institutional sector.
This is the result of the Asia Brand Research Institute, a big data evaluation agency, analyzing 309,328,683 online big data records for the top 30 portal search volume figures in the expert entertainer institutional sector from March 1 to March 31.
The Asia Brand Research Institute said on the 7th that Son Jong-won was selected as the No. 1 in the "K-brand index" expert entertainer institutional sector.
The K-brand index, which claims to be the national representative brand, is calculated as a composite figure applying weighted exclusion criteria such as trend (Trend)·media (Media)·social (Social)·positive (Positive)·negative (Negative)·activation (TA)·community (Community)·AI index for each institutional sector. This K-brand index expert entertainer institutional sector analyzed 309,328,683 online big data records from March 1 to March 31, 2026, for the top 30 portal search volume figures among expert entertainers active in humanities·science·psychology·culture·cooking.
The "K-brand index" expert entertainer institutional sector listed Son Jong-won at No. 1, followed by Anh Sung-jae (No. 2), Jang Hang-jun (No. 3), Oh Eun-young (No. 4), Choi Kang-rok (No. 5), Kim Poong (No. 6), Choi Hyun-seok (No. 7), Kwon Seong-jun (No. 8), Choi Tae-sung (No. 9), and Lee Dong-jin (No. 10) among the top 10.
Ryu Won-seon, research center director at the Asia Brand Research Institute, said the K-brand index this time is analyzed as reflecting the active trend of entertainers with professional knowledge entering the broadcasting world in each field. He noted that Son Jong-won, who captured attention by showing the essence of fine dining, recently proved an overwhelming presence through wide-ranging activities and earned the honor of first place. He said the public's focus has shifted beyond mere entertainment value to a tendency toward "real experts" with thorough skills and craftsmanship.
He added that the most notable phenomenon is the large deployment of experts from the dining-out industry. With the chef corps led by Anh Sung-jae and Choi Kang-rok sweeping the charts, the rise of experts from various fields such as Jang Hang-jun, Oh Eun-young, Choi Tae-sung, and Lee Dong-jin stands out. He explained that amid rapid changes in broadcast content, experts in knowledge-based fields closely tied to the public's daily life—such as film, education and history—are forming new leadership based on established images.
This K-brand index expert entertainer institutional sector is an online index figure that does not reflect offline figures.
[Photo] OSEN DB, Asia Brand Research Institute
[OSEN]