Episode 56. Sunbaenim (2)
Pureum Entertainment, an entertainment agency where Producer Na Jun-tae is the CEO.
As Kang Dae-oh entered the entrance, he was able to walk directly into the building without a separate identity verification.
Originally, entertainment agencies with celebrities usually have guards stationed at the entrance.
This was because malicious sasaeng fans sometimes came to the company.
Entertainment agencies have a duty to protect the personal safety of their artists.
Since they might encounter an unpleasant incident while visiting the company, they often contracted with security companies to focus more on security.
Pureum Entertainment was no different.
Moreover, since this place had Ha Rin, one of South Korea’s most popular solo female singers, they had no choice but to pay even more attention to security.
Despite this, Kang Dae-oh was able to pass through with a free pass, even though it was his first visit here.
The reason lay with Kang Dae-oh himself.
“You are CEO Kang Dae-oh, aren’t you? Our CEO is already waiting for you. You can go up to the top floor.”
“Thank you.”
Because he frequently exposed his face and name on broadcast, the security company employees immediately recognized who Kang Dae-oh was as soon as they saw him.
Thanks to this, he didn’t need to go through a separate identity verification process.
‘Being famous is good at times like this.’
Although there were certainly downsides, Kang Dae-oh had grown somewhat accustomed to the life of a celebrity, so he didn’t feel much discomfort from being well-known.
As guided, Kang Dae-oh got on the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.
Since the building itself wasn’t as grand as a large corporation’s headquarters, Kang Dae-oh could easily find CEO Na Jun-tae’s office on his own.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, an employee who had heard the news from the first floor and was waiting politely greeted Kang Dae-oh.
“I will guide you to the CEO’s office. Please follow me.”
“Ah, yes.”
Anyone could ride the elevator up, but finding which part of the top floor was the CEO’s office would have been difficult for Kang Dae-oh, a first-timer.
That’s why an employee was waiting to greet him.
With the employee’s help, Kang Dae-oh was able to reach the CEO’s office where Na Jun-tae was waiting.
As soon as the door opened, Na Jun-tae showed intense delight towards him.
“CEO-nim! It’s been a long time since we last met!”
“Hello, Producer-nim. This is a small gift I prepared.”
“Oh my! Why did you bring all this? You could have just come empty-handed.”
“I heard you recently moved into a new company building. I couldn’t come empty-handed. Do you happen to like coffee?”
Producer Na Jun-tae replied, shaking his head in disbelief.
“People like us can’t live without it.”
In fact, Na Jun-tae had once appeared on a broadcast program and shown himself drinking coffee more often than water.
It wasn’t for broadcast purposes; he was genuinely known as a coffee enthusiast.
As soon as he saw that broadcast, Kang Dae-oh immediately decided what gift to bring.
“These are coffee beans I personally bought when I went on a business trip to Ethiopia.”
“Such a precious thing…! Thank you. I’ll savor it.”
“You don’t have to save it. If you want, I can get it for you anytime. Isn’t this my job? Haha!”
Coming from the most successful coffee businessman in South Korea, it couldn’t have been more trustworthy.
“Now that you mention it, I was really surprised when you contacted me first, CEO-nim. When I quickly checked the message while driving, I thought I had seen it wrong.”
“I did contact you out of the blue, didn’t I?”
“No! I didn’t mean it that way… It’s just that it’s been so long, and I was happy to hear from you. I hope you didn’t misunderstand.”
Kang Dae-oh knew well enough that Producer Na Jun-tae hadn’t said this with any ill will towards him.
Since things had come to this, Kang Dae-oh decided to gradually bring up how he came to contact Producer Na Jun-tae.
“Actually, our company is planning to announce a new food and beverage brand this time…”
Producer Na Jun-tae suddenly interjected.
“It’s ‘Kang’s Tteokbokki’, right?”
“Oh, you knew.”
“I saw it in the news. I really love snack foods anyway. You probably don’t know how happy I was to hear that you’re launching a snack food brand.”
It wasn’t that he decided to venture into the tteokbokki snack food sector specifically to target Producer Na Jun-tae’s taste buds.
‘Still, good is good.’
Although it felt like a lucky coincidence, Kang Dae-oh thought that thanks to it, things would proceed more smoothly.
“To be frank, I wanted to ask you, Producer-nim, to create a CM song this time.”
“A CM song for Kang’s Tteokbokki, from me?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I see. I didn’t expect this either.”
Following Kang Dae-oh’s sudden contact, even a CM song request.
Everything kept exceeding Producer Na Jun-tae’s expectations.
Kang Dae-oh apologized to Producer Na Jun-tae once again.
“I’m sorry. I feel like I keep putting you in an awkward position, Producer-nim…”
“Oh, no! A CM song… Just a moment.”
Producer Na Jun-tae went to his desk and soon brought a laptop.
Then he suddenly started playing a few music samples.
“How about this kind of feel?”
“Oh, it’s good! You didn’t, by any chance, anticipate a CM song request and prepare a few songs in advance, did you?”
Producer Na Jun-tae laughed heartily at Kang Dae-oh’s joking tone.
“When inspiration strikes, I work on melodies in advance like this. It’s good because I can immediately play them for people who suddenly come looking for a song, like now. Shall I play something else for you?”
“Yes, that’s great. But by playing me various songs, can I interpret that as you being willing to accept the CM song request?”
It didn’t seem like he would just carelessly play his work.
Producer Na Jun-tae nodded his head up and down as if it were obvious.
“Didn’t you, CEO-nim, help me with Yera before? This time, I should repay you even a little.”
Thanks to Kang Dae-oh approving the recording, Producer Na Jun-tae was able to lay some groundwork as a producer through that result.
He still held onto that grateful feeling, even after a long time had passed.
Whenever good deeds from the past returned in this way, Kang Dae-oh felt a sense of pride.
“Thank you, Producer-nim. I’ll make sure the commission fee is generous, so please take good care of it.”
“Yes. You don’t have to worry. I’ll put my life on the line to create it for you.”
Producer Na Jun-tae showed strong confidence.
Just seeing this, Kang Dae-oh felt as full as if he had already eaten three meals for the day.
As Kang Dae-oh expected, the CM song request was successfully completed without difficulty.
All the executives and employees gathered to listen to the result sent by Producer Na Jun-tae.
The reaction to it was quite positive.
“It really sticks in your head, doesn’t it?”
“You know, there’s a genre called hook song among idol songs, right? It’s incredibly addictive. This melody seems to be exactly that kind of form.”
“The melody is easy, and the lyrics are simple. Once you hear it, you keep humming it.”
These were exactly the reactions Kang Dae-oh and Vice President Yoo In-seok had hoped for.
Everyone, regardless of age or gender, reacted positively.
However, there was still one problem left to solve.
“But CEO-nim. Are you going to use this recording as the CM song as is?”
Kang Dae-oh shook his head at Vice President Yoo In-seok’s question.
“No. Producer Na-nim told me that what he sent us was a guide vocal track.”
“So, it’s not a formal recording.”
“Yes. We need to find a singer to do the vocals now.”
Since it’s a CM song, we don’t necessarily need to hire a super famous singer.
After all, we need a song that will be played regularly in the stores.
Any singer with a voice that suits the CM song’s melody will do.
However, one of the younger employees cautiously raised a hand, appealing that he had something to say to Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Dae-oh nodded his head once firmly, granting him permission to speak.
“This is just my personal opinion, but I think it would be better to hire a famous singer for the CM song vocals. Just the fact that a certain singer sang this CM song could be a huge promotional boost. And we could edit scenes of the recording into a highlight video and upload it to YouTube.”
Nowadays, with so many forms of media developing, marketing methods have changed significantly from the past.
As the media people access increases, so does the diversity of promotional strategies.
A prime example is YouTube.
It’s gotten to the point where life without YouTube is unimaginable, with people even saying they watch YouTube more than TV these days.
If we release CM song production videos as content on this platform, interest in Kang’s Tteokbokki will increase.
As expected from a younger employee, his way of coming up with ideas was fresh.
“That sounds like a good idea. What do others think?”
“I like it too.”
“We’re not a company without money. I think it’s not bad to spend generously when it’s appropriate.”
There’s a saying that a good start is half the battle.
A start is that important. What’s the point of saving money here?
As one executive said, it’s good to spend when it’s necessary.
Then we face another challenge here.
Indeed, who should be hired as the vocalist?
A problem arises concerning this.
The most standard answer, of course, was.
“How about Yera?”
She was Kang Dae-oh’s eldest daughter.
Kang Yera had actually helped promote her father’s businesses in various ways, including Amare, La Dolce, and Youth.
It wouldn’t seem too awkward if she took on the role of promotional model and CM song vocalist for Kang’s Tteokbokki.
Since she’s also Kang Dae-oh’s own daughter.
If a daughter steps up to help her father, would anyone really have anything to say?
Probably not.
Kang Yera herself even actively wanted to help her father with his work.
Entrusting it to Kang Yera seemed the safest option.
However, there was also a point raised that if it was always entrusted to Kang Yera, it might lose its freshness for customers.
Since Kang Yera had served as the promotional model for all three brands.
There were quite a few opinions suggesting that a new face might be needed this time.
Watching the heated debate in the conference room, Kang Dae-oh thought to himself.
‘Promotion is really difficult.’
He realized it anew now.
