The Most “Expensive” K-pop Idols Right Now: Cha Eun-woo at 3rd, Karina at 2nd, and No. 1 Will Surprise You...

The January 2025 rankings for idol brand reputation have been unveiled, with BLACKPINK’s Rosé taking the top spot, followed by aespa’s Karina in 2nd and ASTRO’s Cha Eun-woo in 3rd. The Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute analyzed 163,322,138 pieces of big data related to 1,730 individual idols from December 29, 2024, to January 29, 2025, and released the results on the 28th.

According to the institute, the brand reputation index is calculated by combining participation, media exposure, communication, and community metrics. Compared to the previous month’s data of 194,169,629 pieces, there was a 15.89% decrease. The index measures consumer engagement, brand consumption, media interest, and online interactions, including risk assessments and monitoring by reputation editors.

BLACKPINK’s Rosé secured 1st place with a brand reputation index of 8,692,225. Her participation index was 643,754, media index 720,638, communication index 2,638,084, and community index 4,687,749. This marks a 53.84% drop from the previous month.

aespa’s Karina came in 2nd with a brand reputation index of 6,352,554, reflecting a 5.91% increase from the previous month. Her participation index was 861,100, media index 880,315, communication index 1,583,401, and community index 3,027,738.

In 3rd place, ASTRO’s Cha Eun-woo recorded a brand reputation index of 6,268,597, a 25.16% increase from the previous month. His participation index was 828,400, media index 905,680, communication index 1,890,564, and community index 2,643,952.

IVE’s Jang Won-young ranked 4th with a brand reputation index of 5,171,231, marking an 11.97% decrease. Her participation index was 900,340, media index 839,466, communication index 1,279,231, and community index 2,152,194.

BIGBANG’s G-Dragon took 5th place with a brand reputation index of 4,705,310, a 23.06% decrease from the previous month. His participation index was 775,644, media index 972,778, communication index 1,033,056, and community index 1,923,832.

Koo Chang-hwan, head of the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, stated, “BLACKPINK’s Rosé ranked 1st in the January 2025 idol brand reputation rankings. Compared to December, the data volume decreased by 15.89%, with brand consumption down 13.60%, brand issues down 10.17%, brand communication down 15.23%, and brand expansion down 18.06%.”

He added, “In Rosé’s case, the link analysis highlighted frequent terms like ‘release,’ ‘rebound,’ and ‘appear,’ while key keywords included ‘apartment,’ ‘Rosie,’ and ‘vinyl album.’ The positive sentiment ratio was analyzed at 92.97%.”