The brand reputation rankings for film and TV actors have always been considered significant for a celebrity’s relevance and credibility. In South Korea, the rankings are analyzed and determined by the Korean Business Research Institute in two categories, drama actors and movie stars.
The Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings are analyzed in areas of media coverage, consumer participation, interaction, community indexes, revealing how much actors are discussed online during their drama appearances or performances.
Meanwhile, the Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings are calculated using big data analysis from consumer participation, media coverage, interaction, and community awareness indexes, showing how they are perceived by the public, customers, competitors, and stakeholders combined.
In simple terms, a brand reputation is how an actor is positively viewed by the public, giving powerful recognition to their relevance and credibility. In this article, we have listed 18 Korean actors who topped the brand reputation rankings from year 2020 to 2022:
1. Lee Jung-jae
The Squid Game (2021) top star, Lee Jung-jae, earned the no.1 spot in the category, Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings, twice in 2022.
He acquired a brand reputation index of 9,840,853 in January 2022 from big data analysis dated December 31, 2021 to January 31, 2022. His most popular topics included Squid Game, You Quiz On The Block, World Expo 2030 Busan, as well as the related terms heartwarming, promote, and surpass.
Following his win as Best Actor at Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in America, Lee Jung-jae’s level of positive engagement from the public continued with a brand reputation index of 8,612,929 in March 2022. The big data was analyzed from February 9 to March 9, 2022 showing the most search-related words such as Squid Game, Best Male Actor, advertisement model as well as the terms award, congratulate, and thank.
2. Kim So-yeon
The Penthouse (2020-2021) queen, Kim So-yeon, topped the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings, twice in 2021.
Following her great performance in the popular show, The Penthouse: War In Life (2020-2021), she became one of the most buzzworthy drama actors, obtaining a brand reputation index of 9,344,658 and a score of 70.55% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis in January 2021. The data was assessed dated December 2, 2020 to January 2, 2021 and her most keyword topics included The Penthouse, Lee Ji-ah, Lee Sang-woo, as well as the related terms act, passionate acting, and award.
Kim So-yeon maintained the no.1 position in March 2021 with a brand reputation index of 5,141,911 and a score of 81.95% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis, with data collection from February 1 to March 1, 2021. Her most search-related topics included The Penthouse 2, villainess, Eugene, as well as the terms powerful, tough, and dominate.
3. Kim Seonho
Kim Seonho took first place in the category, Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings, for two consecutive years.
Remarkably, he rose to fame for his secondary role as Han Ji-pyeong in the series, Start-Up (2020), obtaining a brand reputation index of 6,024,503 and an impressive score of 82.40% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis in November 2020. The data was assessed from October 28 to November 28, 2020 and his most talked-about keywords included Suzy, popular, 2 Days & 1 Night, as well as the related terms confess, vanquish, and suspicious.
In the following year that Kim Seonho played the main role in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021), he topped the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings again. He garnered a brand reputation index of 5,551,730 and a score of 78.10% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis in September 2021. His most popular topics included Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Shin Mina, Lee Sang-yi, as well as the related terms romantic, kiss, and sleep together, collected from August 20 to September 20, 2021.
4. Kang Soo-yeon
The Korean entertainment industry mourned upon the sudden loss of a great veteran actress, Kang Soo-yeon, on May 7, 2022. She topped the Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings with a brand reputation index of 13,847,666 in May 2022. The big data was assessed from April 28 to May 28, showing her most discussed topics such as nation’s actress, world star, Im Kwon Taek, as well as the related terms pass away, condolences, and commemorate.
Kang Soo-yeon earned the “world star” title for her role in Im Kwon-taek’s The Surrogate Woman (1987) where she won Best Actress at the 44th Venice International Film Festival and received the Bronze St. George award at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival for her performance in Come Come Come Upward (1989). In January 2022, she finished her sci-fi film project with Netflix entitled Jung_E (2022) which is expected to be released in the second half of the year.
5. Youn Yuh-jung
Youn Yuh-jung is the first Korean actress to achieve an international win for Best Supporting Actress at the Screen Actors Guild Award, Independent Spirit Award, British Academy Film Award, and Academy Award for her performance in the film Minari (2020). With this, she topped the Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings with a brand reputation index of 12,497,492 in May 2021. The big data analysis was performed from April 30 to May 30, revealing her most popular keywords such as Minari, Oscar, Best Supporting Actress award, as well as the related terms award, thank, and congratulate.
6. Hyun Bin
Following the massive success of Crash Landing On You (2019-2020), Hyun Bin topped the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings with a brand reputation index of 11,366,256 and a score of 76.50% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis in February 2020. The data was collected from January 27 to February 28, 2020, revealing his most search-related keywords such as Son Ye-Jin, Crash Landing On You, Bargaining, as well as handsome, like, and love.
7. Song Joong-ki
Song Joong-ki claimed the no.1 position for Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings in May 2021 for his powerful appearance in Vincenzo (2021). He garnered a brand reputation index of 8,830,758 and an impressive score of 86.04% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. His most popular keywords included Vincenzo, villain, Jeon Yeo-been, as well as refreshing, unique, and passionate, collected from April 5 to May 5, 2021.
8. Kim Hee-ae
The World Of The Married (2020) queen, Kim Hee-ae, took first place in the Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings with a brand reputation index of 8,535,260 and a score of 83.09% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis in May 2020. Her most popular topics included The World of the Married, ratings, Park Hae-joon, as well as the related terms pour out, relate, and sympathize, using big data analysis from April 30 to May 30, 2020.
9. Park Bo-gum
Park Bo-gum topped the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings in September 2020 for his appearance in the hit series, Record Of Youth (2020). He obtained a brand reputation index of 7,498,341 and a score of 73.66% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. His most discussed topics included Park So-Dam, Seo Hyun-Jin, Kim Jae-Hwan, as well as the related terms sweet, root for, and relate, analyzed from August 30 to September 30, 2020.
10. Namgoong Min
Namgoong Min became one of the most buzzworthy drama actors in 2021 for his performance in The Veil (2021), making him topped the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings in October 2021. He garnered a brand reputation index of 7,318,385 and an impressive score of 84.28% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. His most popular topics included bulk up, The Veil, muscle, as well as powerful, release, and passionate acting, collected from September 11 to October 11, 2021.
11. Choi Woo-shik
In January 2022, Choi Woo-shik claimed the no.1 position in the category, Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings, for his appearance in Our Beloved Summer (2021-2022). He gained a brand reputation index of 6,556,797 and a score of 77.01% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. His most talked-about topics included Kim Dami, Choi Woong, heart fluttering, as well as dating, kiss, and love, collected from December 29, 2021 to January 28, 2022.
12. Son Ye-jin
Son Ye-Jin was one of the most-talked about Korean actors in the first half of 2022 for her marriage announcement as well as her appearance in the series, Thirty-Nine (2022). She took the no.1 spot for Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings in March 2022 with a brand reputation index of 6,510,613 and a score of 82.89% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. Her most popular keywords included Hyun Bin, Jeon Mido, Kim Ji-hyun, as well as marry, announce, and hot.
13. Kwon Sang-woo
Following the success of the action-comedy film, Hitman: Agent Jun (2020), Kwon Sang-woo topped the Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings in January 2020, using big data collected from December 27, 2019 to January 24, 2020. He garnered a total brand reputation index of 6,005,824 with most search-related keywords such as Hitman: Agent Jun, Son Tae-young, Jung Joon-ho as well as comical, fun, and promise.
14. Jo Jung-suk
In August 2021, Jo Jung-suk topped the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings for his performance in the hit medical series, Hospital Playlist 2 (2021). Using data collected from July 8 to August 7, 2021, he garnered a brand reputation index of 4,400,461 and an impressive score of 83.52% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. His most popular topics included Hospital Playlist, Jeon Mido, Gummy, as well as familiar, cute, and sweet.
15. Son Su-kku
Son Su-kku became one of the hottest heartthrobs of 2022 for his performance in My Liberation Notes (2022) and The Roundup (2022). In June 2022, he took the no.1 position in the category, Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings, with a brand reputation index of 4,323,087 and an impressive score of 84.57% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. His most popular keywords included Mr. Gu, Liberation Notes, Kim Ji-won, as well as the related terms worship, thankful, and act passionately.
16. Jo In-sung
Following the success of the award-winning film, Escape From Mogadishu (2021), Jo In-sung topped the Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings with a brand reputation index of 4,135,556 in July 2021. His most search-related keywords included Escape From Mogadishu, Kim Yun-seok, Go Hyun-Jung, as well as appear, root for, and donate, collected from June 30 to July 30, 2021 big data.
17. Lee Byung-hun
Lee Byung-hun who impressed the audience with his great performance in Our Blues (2022) took the no.1 spot in the category Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings in May 2022. He garnered a brand reputation index of 3,817,265 and a score of 76.14% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis. His most talked-about keywords included Jeju Island, satoori, as well as the related terms transform, real, and vivid, collected from April 5 to May 5, 2022.
18. Kim Soo-hyun
In August 2020, Kim Soo-hyun topped the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings for his appearance in It’s Okay To Not Be Okay (2020). He obtained a brand reputation index of 3,771,464 and a score of 72.06% positive reactions in the positivity-negativity ratio analysis, collected from July 27 to August 28, 2020. His most popular keywords included It’s Okay To Not Be Okay, Moon Gang-tae, Seo Yea-ji, as well as the related terms change, confess, and return.
Congratulations to these amazing Korean actors!
KORB 