Figure skating sensation Kim Yu-na has been the biggest hit item in the local ad market, even raising concern that excessive exposure in various campaigns could write off her value in the end. The star athlete signed contracts up to over 3 billion won ($2.6 million) this year, with local companies rushing to put the skater in their ads.
Hyundai Motor's determined move paid off when she won the Trophee Eric Bompard Championship last weekend.
The automaker, one of Kim's official sponsors, produced a commercial depicting her as the champion before the final results. The new television commercial was first aired Monday, during Game 3 of the Korean Baseball Organization league championship series.
Another major supporter, Samsung Electronics, expects its recent mobile phone model named "Yu-na's Haptic" to hit the 1-million sales mark this year.
Launched in May, the number of the products sold exceeded 500,000 in a record-short 80 days.
Maeil Dairy is also hoping to capitalize on Kim's title. The maker was one of the most active players to focus on her during the competition, by concentrating on television campaigns featuring the skater.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of Kim's success, the company expects record sales this year. In the first half of this year, sales rose 19.1 percent to 418 billion won and operating profit jumped 129 percent to 17.2 billion won.
Other corporate sponsors are jumping on the bandwagon. Tous Les Jours, CJ Group's bakery franchise, is promoting its bread brand named Yu-na.
Jewelry maker J.Estina has also launched a new accessories' collection named after Kim.
Other firms are devising tactics to associate Yu-na in its sales promotion.
Hyundai Department Store said Tuesday it will play a piece from the James Bond movie series and George Gershwin's Concerto in F major in all its nationwide stores over 20 times daily for a week starting today. They are the songs that Kim is using in her routines this season.
There were frequent requests from customers to listen to the songs while shopping.
The 19-year-old prodigy proved her supremacy on ice with a dominating 36.04-point margin on her perennial archrival Mao Asada of Japan, kindling hopes of becoming the first Korean gold medalist in figure skating at the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Advertising experts say Kim's sponsors do not need to worry that her value in the market might wane any time soon.
"Companies using sports stars in ad campaigns usually take risks if their results fall below expectations," an official of an advertising agency said on condition of anonymity. "But as for Yu-na, they don't need to worry about it as long as she remains as invincible as she is now."
Source: Koreatimes
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment