The branding of imaginary couples in boys’ love series
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2024
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2567
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eng
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272 leaves
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Ittithep Leenawarat (2024). The branding of imaginary couples in boys’ love series. Retrieved from: https://repository.nida.ac.th/handle/123456789/7045.
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The branding of imaginary couples in boys’ love series
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Abstract
This research aims to: 1) study the branding process of the “imaginary couples” in the Boys’ Love (BL) series, 2) examine the brand communication of the “imaginary couple” in the BL series with their fan groups, and 3) explore the fan groups’ perception of the “imaginary couple” brand in the BL series. The researcher studied two couples: Bright-Win and Yin-War. This study is qualitative research, using in-depth interviews as the primary tool for data collection. The participants included four BL series producers and marketing executives, as well as fan groups: five fans of Bright-Win and six fans of Yin-War.
The research findings are as follows:
1) The Branding Process of the “Imaginary Couples” involves two approaches: (1) A full-scale conventional branding of an “imaginary couple,” starting from being actors in a BL series, leading to the emergence of an “imaginary couple” who can represent product brands, eventually becoming international idols and global brand ambassadors, such as the Bright-Win couple. (2) A brand extension approach where an already established and successful “imaginary couple” is featured in a BL series to further boost their popularity and name recognition, as seen with the Yin-War couple.
2) Brand Communication differs between the two companies studied. For the actors, Bright-Win, GMMTV chose to utilize online communication strategies through owned media to reach their teenage target audience, presenting content across multiple platforms to engage the target group. In contrast, fans of the Yin-War couple are more attached to the actors themselves than their characters in the series “Love Mechanics.” Therefore, WeTV Thailand primarily uses social media, focusing on Twitter and YouTube, as its communication strategy. Since WeTV Thailand does not own a television channel, Yin-War’s reach is not as broad as Bright-Win’s.
3) Perception of the Imaginary Couple’s Brand: The findings show that viewers initially like the characters in the series, leading to their interest in the actors. Fans admire the actors’ appearance, personality, and acting skills, which results in increased followership and the formation of fan groups. These fan groups primarily follow news and updates about the “imaginary couple” through social media channels, both of the actors and their affiliated companies and also maintain private group chats. Fans share similar memories and impressions, such as enjoying the actors’ appearance, acting skills, singing abilities, and natural on-screen chemistry. They also have shared experiences, such as attending events or buying concert tickets. Fans can recall each brand the couple represents as product endorsers and support those brands by purchasing their products. Most fans hope the “imaginary couple” will star in another BL series together again, and they are fully prepared to continue supporting the couple’s future endeavors.
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Thesis (Ph.D. (Communication Arts and Innovation))--National Institute of Development Administration, 2024