Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS tear up the K-pop marketing playbook with pioneering promotion of latest album

A sophisticated three-stage plan has been put in place leading up to release of the boy band’s Map of the Soul: 7 album next month

It includes a package of contemporary art exhibition projects in five cities, including London, New York and Seoul

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BTS has decided on a new marketing strategy in the build up to the release of their new Map of the Soul: 7 album next month. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:30am, 23 Jan 2020Updated: 3:45pm, 18 Feb 2020

Following the well-established K-pop marketing formula, boy band BTS have always promoted their new album releases with advance teaser videos and music samples during their seven-year career.

But instead of getting advance hints and teasers about the band’s newest song, fans of BTS were completely left in the dark until the moment of the official release of Black Swan last Friday. Black Swan is the first single released from the next BTS full-length album, Map of the Soul: 7, which is scheduled for full release on February 21.

Adding to fans’ surprise, BTS also released a YouTube video for Black Swan featuring Slovenia-based MN Dance Company – the first BTS music video not to star any band members. The next day, the song topped iTunes’ Top Song charts in 93 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Russia and India, proving the band’s global fame as well as the power of the new marketing approach.

As BTS grew into a global sensation and made a splash in the world music scene, so did the band’s playbook for marketing its music. Map of the Soul: 7 is a major step forward in the development of the marketing of BTS as well as the broader K-pop genre.

K-pop’s established marketing strategy has often drawn as much attention as the music itself. Most K-pop artists drum up their music releases with teaser images and videos that sample the upcoming music from two weeks before the official music release.