After topping the Korea Institute of Corporate Reputation as top model of 23 Korean CF models studies in May, “Descendants of the Sun” actor Song Joong-ki placed number 1 in terms of brand power ranking in June.
The 30-year-old actor was followed by fellow “Descendants of the Sun” actress Song Hye Kyo in second place. Soompi reported that the brand power ranking was based on almost 35 million data of 17 various popular Korea actors.
The data were collected by the Korean Business Research Institute from May 10 through June 11. To analyze brand power, the institute looked at consumers’ action to measure participation value, communication value, media value, community value and social value, although in this specific study, social value was skipped.
Confirming that Song Joong-ki is the most popular actor in South Korea, and China too, the report said there was an almost 50 percent boost in the Hallyu star’s score from May. Second-placer Song Hye Kyo likewise logged a 42.5 percent increase compared to May data.
Although the two main leads of “Descendants of the Sun” topped the study, six Korean stars had the largest increase in brand power. They are Cha Seung Won, Song Kang Ho, Choi Min Sik, Ha Jung Woo, Yoo Hae Jin and Hwang Joong Mi.
Based on its analysis of the data, Soompi cited the institute which commented that the two main actors of the “Descendants of the Sun” maintained their high ranking even if the 16-episode blockbuster drama ended in mid-April, said Gu Chang Hwan from the institute.
During the previous month, Song Joong-ki was followed by Lee Dae Ho, a Major League baseball player whose total was almost 95 percent of Song Joong-ki, reported KPopStarz.