It is exhilarating to see how the current K-pop girl groups are loved and supported not just in South Korea but also globally in a boy band-dominated industry. Almost everyone knows about BLACKPINK, TWICE, RED VELVET, MAMAMOO, IZ*ONE, ITZY, and GFRIEND, to name a few. But there is an even better prestige when a Korean pop group is acknowledged in their own country. So, let us get to know more about TWICE, the Nation’s Girl Group of the third K-pop era.
SIXTEEN to SEVEN to NINE
Early in the year 2015, JYP Entertainment announced that they would decide the new line-up of their new girl group through a survival show in MNET. It is called SIXTEEN because there will be sixteen trainees, a combination of Korean and Japanese JYP trainees, who will compete to create a 7-member girl group. During the second half of that same year, the show ended where Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Mina, Sana, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung won and formed the group called TWICE. A little later, JYP announced that they would add two more members: Tzuyu, as she is the audiences’ pick in the show, and Momo, because he believes TWICE needed her high level of performance skills.
TWICE as the Nation's Girl Group
JYP himself chose the name TWICE for the company’s new girl group that means “The group will touch people’s hearts twice: once through the ears, and once again through the eyes”. This seems intentional because they embodied the meaning through their colorful sound and aesthetics. They entered the industry beautifully that even when they’re just rookies, they made everyone see that they deserve the “Nation’s Girl Group” title. Here are two of the best reasons why:
Impressive Record-Breaking Achievements in Just Two Years
Because of SIXTEEN, the members of TWICE were privileged enough to have public exposure and recognition even before they debuted. But somehow, their first single Like Ooh-Ahh didn’t catch the public’s attention at first. It was just after a month when it charted within the Top 10 of South Korea’s leading music charts like Melon, Genie, and Naver Music (renamed to Naver Vibe). Because of this, TWICE won the “Best New Female Artist” at the 2015 Melon Music Awards.
That was just the beginning for TWICE because their second year was even more fruitful. It was in 2016 when they released a new title track, “Cheer Up” that led to a phenomenal breakthrough early in their career. The album sold 150,000 copies that made TWICE the highest first-week sales by a Korean girl group that year. The song also debuted number 6 on Billboard World Albums Chart.
Right now, six years since TWICE’s debut, they have released quite a collection of hit songs that are loved both locally and internationally. They have been selling out physical and digital releases through their songs like TT, Signal, What is Love?, Yes, or Yes, Heart Shaker, Fancy, More & More, and Dance the Night Away. So, it is not a surprise when they are recognized as the Best-Selling K-pop Girl Group of All Time with 5.76 million units sold in South Korea and 3.29 million in Japan, for a total of around 9.06 million.
Brand Reputation and Influences
Because of their outstanding and unique style, image, and aesthetics, TWICE is proven to be a good ambassador of brands. Korean Corporate Reputation Research published TWICE as the top of the “Girl Group Brand Power Ranking”. This has already been proven in their first year when they signed 10 CF deals and earned a total of 1.8 billion Korean Won. And this is just the start. They continued to be celebrity endorsers for big companies like Lotte Duty Free, Pocari Sweat (gained 10% increase in sales), Estée Lauder, and a Japanese company called Ymobile.
TWICE’s influence does not stop in its brand reputation. They have also started trends that the whole nation followed. One example is member Sana’s famous line Shy, Shy, Shy from their song “Cheer Up“. During the South Korean election in 2017, both presidential candidates, Moon Jae In and Yoo Seong Min, used and modified the song for their campaign jingles.
Selling the TWICE Brand
Aside from outside brand deals, TWICE also has its own products to sell. Starting from their songs, they also display their exceptionally designed official merchandise that represents their identity as a bubblegum pop group. First, you can check out their light stick called CandyBong Z:
TWICE’s collections of albums are also aesthetically pleasing with its diverse concepts: cute, elegant, colorful, and bright. They also have DVDs showing their concerts, backstage stories, the makings in their season’s greetings, and more. You wouldn’t want to miss seeing all this extra footage of your favorite girls, right?
Another important piece of merchandise is accessories. Known for having a creative and artsy theme and concepts, you can guarantee that the same beauty is applied to their merchandise. You can check out their apparel, totes, jewelry, keychains, and hats and see it for yourself.
Official K-pop merchandise is now more accessible than ever. Because of the emergence of numerous online stores like KPOPSHOP, KPOPTOWN, Cokodive, KTOWN4U, G-market, and more, both local and international fans find it easier to look for their idols’ products. Ordering and paying for those goods are also more convenient. But the hardest part would be the shipping because not all K-pop stores’ couriers deliver to the majority of the K-pop fan-filled countries. That is why it is fortunate to have package forwarding services nowadays.
Package forwarding services will help you receive your orders from certain online shops, receive them in a local warehouse, and then directly ship them to your respective home country. This process is less expensive and faster than other shipping methods. And DELIVERED KOREA is one of the package forwarding companies that is already trusted by a lot of K-pop fans all over the world. You can check out our website to know more about us and our international shipping, consolidating, and personal shopping services.