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Kookmin capitalizes on BTS popularity
BTS / Courtesy of KB Kookmin Bank
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
KB Kookmin Bank continues to enjoy brisk success after hiring popular boy band BTS as spokesmen for the company.
The once-disputed choice to hire a young pop band to represent a financial firm, which has long sought to be associated primarily with conservative and strict values to maintain credibility with customers, turned out to be a full-fledged business strategy with much foresight, according to the bank.
As of Oct. 9, the number of holders of its installment savings account, KB X BTS, jumped to 124,386, a near four-fold increase compared to other regular savings account from a year earlier. The amount in the accounts totals 67.5 billion won ($59.3 million).
The number is “remarkable,” given the bank usually lands only about 30,000 accounts a year, according to an official from the bank.
“Given it has been only about four months since we launched the BTS-targeted bank account, the number is expected to increase further by the end of this year,” the official said.
The marketing strategy includes an interest rate that is a 0.1 percentage point higher than the usual 1.7 percent fixed rate on the band members' birthdays and the day the group was established.
“The account holders are given eight such bonuses a year as the group has seven members. The amount installed on those days increase over five times than usual.”
The notable domestic success aside, KB is also increasingly buoyed by the worldwide brand recognition thanks to the boy band, now becoming a household name as a global pop sensation.
“The primary goal for us to hire well-known public figures is to maintain and improve a positive brand image and recognition. Hiring BTS in that sense was a resounding success,” the official said.
The number of subscribers to KB's Youtube channel starring BTS more than tripled from 8,000 in March to 26,000 in October. An online advertisement starring BTS has recorded over 10 million views thus far.
“BTS fans watched the online ads and posted comments under the clip, asking what KB was, and others replied telling them that it is a Korean bank. It is great for us that many foreigners get to know who we are through celebrities they love,” she added.
The growing global recognition will help the bank whose top priority is digitalization and globalization.
“We think BTS is the perfect model that symbolizes both. We hope our brand will be associated with positive image along with the band's success.”