A well-known sing-along chorus rang out across Nguyễn Huệ pedestrian street right at the stroke of midnight, welcoming in 2023.
That’s exactly what CL’s fans had been hoping for — and she truly didn’t disappoint, delivering an incredibly fiery performance on countdown night.
Following the success of that countdown night, some information started spreading widely on social media claiming: “A former member of the hugely popular boy band Big Bang will make a trip to perform in Vietnam around March 2023.”
Would inviting this former member be worth the estimated cost of over 3 billion VND? Let’s discuss this a bit with The Fool!
First, let’s look back at Big Bang’s 2012 performance in Saigon with The Fool
There’s no denying they’re a massively popular group who helped reshape both Hip Hop culture and EDM across Asia (back when I was still a kid in middle and high school, and even now, I still love their music and often listen to their songs, like…).
How did Big Bang perform when they came to Vietnam?
Let’s look back at the 2012 CocaCola Fest, when the full Big Bang lineup came to Vietnam and disappointed audiences: a disjointed performance, feeling more like a rehearsal than an actual live show (even worse, their outfits for the performance showed a clear lack of respect).
Big Bang’s 2012 performance in Vietnam showed a clear lack of respect toward local fans.
However, that wasn’t the only time Vietnam has welcomed a foreign act (you can look back at Vicky Zhao, or even Korea’s EXO — a much better-researched case in Vietnam, with the song “Người Ấy” being covered and sung back to them).
Though not a fan of EXO, The Fool felt their Vietnam performance earned a perfect 10 in fans’ eyes.
Applying the 4P in marketing to weigh whether the cost of inviting a former Big Bang member and the ticket price would be worth it
Back in 2012, when their performance was that poor and tickets were already going for 1-2 million VND, what about now?
If the cost of inviting CL is estimated at 3 billion, the cost of inviting a former Big Bang member could well be even higher.
Let’s analyze the 4P with The Fool to see whether the price for a former Big Bang member’s concert would be worth it!
Product:
Of course, the mystery former member of Big Bang (6/10).
✔️ Aside from the member involved in a scandal, the other members still receive plenty of support from fans (TOP recently released a photo album that went to space and received plenty of praise).
✔️ A large fan base, thanks to the group’s catchy sound, which fits both late-Gen-Y and early-Gen-Z listeners, roughly born 1994-2002.
✔️ A distinctive sound that stands apart from other groups of the same era (which often share a similar Korean style).
❌ The group has passed its peak and faced a scandal from one of its members (Seung Ri’s 2019 scandal).
❌ Aside from GD and Taeyang, the other members have few solo releases.
Place and Physical Evidence:
If it’s Hanoi (8/10)
✔️ While the previous visit was to Saigon, where the whole group put on a fairly poor show, Hanoi hasn’t yet had a chance to welcome this idol in person.
✔️ Hanoi’s weather is somewhat similar to South Korea’s (possibly making it easier for the artist to choose fitting stage outfits compared to the earlier Saigon show).
✔️ Creates more surprise for fans, having already invited a different YG guest to Saigon earlier this year.
✔️ The stage in the capital would likely get more investment (given it ties to national image, similar to when EXO visited Vietnam), with more room for the artist to perform. If held at Mỹ Đình Stadium, it would also give organizers more budget to renovate…
❌ Big Bang’s fanbase is slightly larger in the Southern region.
If the location is Saigon, the reverse applies (2/10).
Price
At over 3 billion, ticket prices would work out to roughly 3-5 million VND per person (assuming a venue capacity of over 2,000 people just to break even), since you can’t invite just this one artist alone, not to mention other costs (4/10).
✔️ The 2012 payout the whole Big Bang group pocketed for their disappointing show came to 5 billion (split 5 ways, roughly 1 billion each). At today’s valuation, a price above 3 billion still seems fairly reasonable.
✔️ A Big Bang concert could draw in more tourism and food-service revenue for the host city (since fans need to arrive early to greet their idol, generating extra tourism income). A brand could apply a partnership model to at least break even on organizing it.
❌ That older payout was for all 5 members performing over 4 songs (this time, with just one member, the number of songs would likely still need to be similar or more, as with CL on New Year’s countdown — putting strain on the singer and on song quality).
❌ As with the countdown event, organizers also felt pressure having to invite an opening act for the main star, a former Big Bang member (since this could create unwanted scandal for those opening singers, already well known in Vietnam — as happened with Tóc Tiên and CL).
❌ With this performance, without the other members, how would it go if they landed TOP or Daesung instead — and if GD or Taeyang were invited, the price would be even higher.
Promotion
On online platforms (10/10)
✔️ No official confirmation yet, but EDM communities and the V.I.P fandom have already been posting enthusiastically in support of inviting a former Big Bang member back to perform in Vietnam.
✔️ Major online news outlets like Yan News, Kênh 14, Beatvn, Theanh28, and others would continuously cover this event (as seen with CL’s news being posted the moment she landed at the airport).
✔️ State media channels like Thanh Niên or Tuổi Trẻ would also dedicate several articles to the event (Thanh Niên has shows like iHay TV recordings or live meet-and-greets that could also feature the artist).
✔️ YouTube channels of major outlets would livestream events related to this idol on their own channels.
✔️ The artist would also post their schedule on Instagram for fandoms to follow (as CL of 2NE1 did).
People and Process (8/10 or 10/10)
✔️ The Vietnamese side would prepare a team of bodyguards and security staff to closely protect the idol, just as they did for CL during the Countdown event.
✔️ Organizers would create the best possible conditions for the Korean artist to prepare (possibly 1-2 rehearsals before the official performance to get familiar with the band or the stage’s sound and lighting — avoiding a repeat of what happened in 2012).
✔️ Vietnamese press, while closely following the story, would likely avoid digging too deep into the past legal troubles of Big Bang’s members, to avoid affecting the singer’s morale — and to help prevent unpleasant tabloid coverage aimed at the group.
✔️ The band or the sound and lighting crew would certainly fix the issues that occurred in 2012 (no pigeons landing on stage, and sound preparation would be improved to prevent unwanted mic issues or other glitches).
❌/✔️ This last point depends on whether the member performing on Big Bang’s behalf prepares a proper outfit — just needs to match CL’s Countdown look, not be careless like in 2012.
Learn more about the 4P in business marketing.
Big Bang’s music is genuinely great and wonderful — here, The Fool is only discussing whether spending this much on a concert makes sense based on the 7P marketing principle, not judging their music (I personally still really love this boyband’s music).
THE FOOL — EASY KNOWLEDGE CHANNEL