After conquering 2010 with their successes from “Hoot” promotions late last year, it was recently revealed that SNSD had received a “surprise present” from their agency, SM Entertainment, as a way to give them time off before their soon-to-come full fledged venture into the Japanese market.
SM Entertainment reportedly rented out an entire holiday home in Gyeonggi-do for all nine members to stay for two days, and designed it in the form of an ‘exclusive club’. The girls were free from their bodyguards and managers during their two day stay, where they were able to enjoy their time with wine and appetizers.
With regards to their surprise gift, a representative of SM Entertainment stated, “The average age of SNSD is 21.5; they’re at a young age where they want to have fun too. We gave them this time for them to have fun amongst themselves without having other people looking down at them.”
They may be idol stars who show amazing performances with overflowing charisma on stage, but they’re also young adults in their teens and early 20s. From an agency’s perspective, handling these ‘active’ young adults isn’t an easy task. Major entertainment agencies are having to rack their brains to think of ideas like this in order to take care of their idols as efficiently as possible.
Major entertainment agencies find that it is these kinds of ‘unexpected presents’ that their idols appreciate the most. “Rather than the things that these kids know exactly when and what they will get, like end-of-year bonuses or regular pays, it’s those surprise gifts that move them the most and find motivation to work harder,” said an agency representative.
Recently, JYPE recently gifted two of their miss A members, Fei and Jia, with a two week ’special break’ for them to visit their hometown back in China. A JYPE representative stated, “The two cried a lot from being so touched by the present they never thought they’d get. Whenever the kids receive these kinds of ’surprise gifts’, their fighting spirits increase a lot more than before.”
It’s also the ’small, abrupt gifts’ given by their agency CEOs that also greatly move the hearts of these idols. Soon after returning from his business trip to America, JYP’s singers were said to be deeply moved when their producer J.Y Park visited the recording studio and said, “Take care of your health“, and handed them vitamins to eat.
An SM associate also stated, “Idols who can earn tens of thousands of money from one event alone were very touched when producer Lee Soo Man visited them on his way to his business trip to America to hand them a $100 pair of jeans he bought and said, ‘I think these will suit well if you wear them for this performance’.”
Agencies such as YG Entertainment are also known to use the effective ‘carrot and stick’ method for when they allow their artists to undergo personal activities. A worker in the entertainment industry stated, “Big Bang’s case is a model example. When one of the members receive explosive popularity through their solo activities, other members seem to work harder and manage themselves in order to receive their own opportunity for solo promotions.”
A similar strategy applies well to agency trainees who dream of becoming idols. JYPE uses the ‘carrot and stick’ method for their monthly showcases in order to keep their trainees consistently thriving to be the winner. However, when the atmosphere becomes stressful, the company allows for a surprise ski camp or rafting trip to cool down the mood. In SM’s case, they often hold company dinners with both their trainees and top stars like TVXQ to help maintain their motivation and determination.
