Weekly Toyo Keizai Highlights the 'V Effect' — Why BTS' V Is Sought by Global Brands

Weekly Toyo Keizai reported that BTS member V has demonstrated massive economic impact as a global ambassador. The weekly business magazine analyzed how his stardom and brand power translate into real consumer behavior and sales through concrete case studies.

In its August 15–22 issue titled "Entertainment Empire HYBE's Ambition," the magazine examined HYBE's business model, artist development strategy, fan platform Weverse, and its push into the Japanese and U.S. markets. The piece explains that HYBE treats artists not just as people but as data resources, building a proprietary business model to generate revenue from that data.

Toyo Keizai summarized V's influence with the term "V-ure," writing, "V is a figure coveted by companies around the world. Ads he appears in typically foreground V's visuals over the product itself." In other words, V functions as a brand in his own right and drives consumer purchase decisions.

One concrete example the magazine cited is the Japanese beauty brand Yoons. Toyo Keizai reported that Yoons shifted from a direct-sales-focused strategy to in-store retail and overseas expansion within a year of its listing, and that V's appointment as ambassador played a major role in that shift. Products featured in V's campaign sold out instantly, and Yoons' Instagram followers grew 2.5 times in a month, with both awareness and sales rising together.

Another example came after V was named global ambassador for U.S. sportswear brand Champion on the 10th. Once the news broke, the Champion pages on online retailer Target experienced a traffic overload that led to server downtime, and the items V wore sold out across stores worldwide, the magazine said.

Toyo Keizai listed that V currently appears in campaigns for a wide range of brands, including Champion, CELINE, Cartier, Coca‑Cola, HiteJinro, Snow Apparel, Paradise City, Compose Coffee, TIRTIR, Yoons, and Sim Invest. These cases illustrate a recent trend in which an individual artist's brand power directly shapes global companies' marketing and sales strategies.