[NEWS] 120608 B.A.P ‘Matoki’ vs VIXX ‘Robik’ …Idol ‘Symbol’ is a New Business Risk

The number of idol groups who have put forth ‘symbols’ is increasing.

B.A.P, VIXX, and EXO, who debuted this year, have symbols to represent the group or its members. B.A.P has ‘Masked Tokki (bunny),’ abbreviated to ‘Matoki,’ while VIXX has the robot ‘Robik’ as their group symbol. EXO, in their debut music video, has the names of the 12 members of EXO-K and EXO-M written in unique calligraphy and has patterns as symbols.

These symbols are getting noticed as items that can maximize revenue for these groups. It’s because they make it easier for the group or the members to be imprinted into the minds of the public while raising their recognition quickly. They can also be items of MD product manufacturing or other business projects. In the case of Kara, who recently finished their first Japanese tour with great success, sales of MD products sold on-site were almost as much as ticket sales. MD products have a lot of gravity in an idol group’s sales, and cannot be ignored.

B.A.P’s agency TS Entertainment bestowed unique stories for the Matoki. The alien Matoki that lived on another planet was traveling in space crash landed on Earth and in order to restore their honor that fell due to the crash landing, they are taking over the Earth. The tool for world domination is B.A.P’s music.

B.A.P recently assigned Matoki characters for each member, accelerating towards merchanidising. Not only are they an MD product, but TS is also making an animation with Matoki as its main characters. Matoki is planned to be a ‘one-source, multi-use’ item.

Robik represents VIXX’s ‘winning spirit.’ Designer Charles Jang designed a form that features a robot that embodies ‘victory.’ Taekwon V’s eyes and Grandizer’s horns, Gundam’s forehead that includes a ‘V,’ and on Mazinger’s mask is the group name VIXX.

VIXX’s agency Jellyfish Entertainment manufactured rings and necklaces, etc of Robik and included the design in their clothes. The director of Jellyfish Entertainment Lee Juhong said, “Although only the members use it right now, once VIXX’s fanbase is more stable, we will manufacture products to be sold.”

CREDITS ;; NATE (SOURCE);; YOUR USERNAME@TSUNDERCOVER (TRANS)
TAKE OUT WITH FULL AND PROPER CREDITS.