Money can buy you views, but it cannot buy you brand.
How did a morally-branding mistake turn child labor disaster into a billion dollar brand?
Cat's eye. I think that people are going to be so good. Will they tie us this way? It's not a seal. No, it's not a seal.
If there was a group, cursed to flop, it must be Cat's eye. Despite pretty privilege, massive talents, these strongest industry backing, all the data point to a disaster. The graveyard of Korean wannabe K-pop groups. The scripted exploitation of children, it feels like we've reached a breaking point.
I'm done. The amazing chemistry of a corporate retreat, icebreaker. So, if you just gave me the dirtyest look on planet Earth, the milking of teenage mental
“health into content, you have to create that drama, you have to create that competition.”
It's entertainment. It's entertainment. Everything came with a twinge of cringe. And that was my first impression of Cat's eye too, until the Cat's eye, as we know today, became the sh*t.
Face offending coach Glossier, cover of Teen Vogue Nylon, billboard 21 under 21, and got a list artists like Kamil Ikabeo using their sound. How? Are we all hypocrites? Or is there something much darker about what we actually reward in pop culture?
Brutal. Question of all. It's all marketing, babe. As you're marketing bestie, you graduate a type 1% UCLA Business Economics.
“We're going to explore how a tweak and branding turn a desk and disaster into a huge”
hit. That's all. And how you can take things from Cat's eye story. I'm going to apply to your dreams. Because by brand, I don't just mean slapping your name on a t-shirt, Randy, is about
how you future client, future boss, future boyfriend, sees you. And yes, you have one. These girls all hate each other secretly. I bet she's out making those fake accounts to ask that question. No, honestly, it's probably her.
She punched me in the nose in a long time ago. I'm creating this series to analyze pop culture brands from a marketing perspective, because I won't all of us to unlock the potential to build successful businesses and personal brands. I feel to be so iconic.
Join the free email list below for a free additional marketing knowledge. And I'm so excited to talk about the five genius branding secrets of Cat's eye. But there is a small caveat I will mention in the end that they show watch out for because no brand is impeccable. The question you all have is probably this cat's eye temporary hype, or are they built
to the last? Cat's eye, one point out, no shame, but 14-year-old Zoe's dream was to become a K-pop idol because who wouldn't?
These young gorgeous girls always wearing the 20est fits with the coolest hair driving
the hottest cars showing off their talents being proud of their heritage and culture. And always seem so happy. Why wouldn't anyone want to be exactly like them? And that's exactly why 120,000 young girls sign up for Dream Academy. It hopes up becoming one of six girl group members after two years.
That is 0.0, 0, 5% chance.
“Now why would any rational parent want their child to go through that?”
They're starting to question, "Do I even want to be here?" I don't recognize myself really anymore, having the TV just to show your picture and like you're out of here, that's crazy to me. Well, you do have hype. The powerhouse behind BTS, teamed up with Geffen Records, a legacy label under Universal
Music Group that worked with Olivia Rodrigo, Lana, Gaga, Selena Kendrick, a billion dollar
experiment that cannot fail. Except, Kenneth, dying. What in the toxic environment when some of these girls were 14? TLDR on the show, it's literally the Roman Gladiators, except, instead of sweaty slaves killing each other with weapons for the entertainment of the rich.
It is teenage girls whose dreams are killed minute by minute, where the happy and healthy minds of the world to be entertained. Have you got a ER? With a dash of dance moms without moms. I did not watch the show from a marketing angle, it is a PR machine in three ways.
First, global casting equals built-in international hype.
Second, the more cruel, the more drama there was.
Of who deserves or does not deserve to be on the show in the group? You voted me out, you voted me out, you voted me out, and you have a listen to me. I love every single one, but you can't pick every single one. The Adeleversus Menon drama, Mano, she's getting so much attention. You know, people are upset because she doesn't put a lot of effort.
But then there's some people like Menon. The more talks I've all money, which leads you to the third. The clips were made for TikTok, not TV, 60-second performance cuts, dramatic crying professions flooded with comments of people picking their favorites. It's a viral marketing strategy, not just for Dream Academy cats.
But what I wanted to do is not the chemical management of the studio. The master-by-tack-leptopychis soft-behind the internet, so it's a master-sacred. I'm saying, you can say that you're a hero. You're a hero, right? But you don't believe it.
It's not a joke. It's a joke. It's a joke. It's a joke. It's a joke.
And if you then know how to work, it's a joke. That's right. It's a joke. It's a joke. It's a joke.
Now, you can try it out.
“As you can see, the work is very important, but it's also very important.”
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And so creamy? Huh? We can go to Pappa Creamy. Notella. Or from Mama's and father-in-law.
Notella. It's notella. By major artists, the podcaster's friends and me clipping my own videos actually grew me 300,000 followers on Instagram. But each video took 40 minutes to an hour to edit.
Time's up, I took 300. But imagine the edits done for you by Opus Clip.
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You're welcome. Go to the link in the description to stop wasting time on brand building because time cuts like a knife. One moment you're the hottest star, the next you're sent home. Which makes the eventual winners catch eye, feel first, manufactured, second, like a product
that came from everything wrong in the industry. It started obviously feeling more like a competition, but it just didn't align with my values. It just felt like a drama show that got its messy attention, but soon we'll follow the ashes of every other global group that ever existed.
A group of UN ambassadors, not pop stars, targeting everyone, so no one, feeling quote-unquote "grange" and "careeaboo". Another manufactured K-pop wannabe group, but from a Netflix reality show, but I was wrong. The brand started branding.
I'm so excited to talk about this. I'm breaking down Katzai's re-brand into five key success factors.
Each, especially the last, is essential.
Do there seemingly overnight success? Wow! Wow! It's crazy! But nothing is a coincidence.
First, unique, valley prop. The biggest marketing win for Katzai is not it to not try to be something it is not.
“A K-pop group, which I think is the biggest downfall of all the past global groups.”
When you brand yourself after someone or something else, you can only ever be second of that. Imitation is not flattery, it's embarrassing. The cross cultural branding that would have felt so scattered and lead to no brand actually feels quite representative of LA, instead of purposely trying to mold them into a Korean
girl group, Katzai ironically feels and looks like an organic friend group in LA. With members from the Philippines, Korea, Switzerland, the U.S., so now it has one major advantage, because instead of competing, with black pink twice new jeans, let's airfim, they're in a separate lane, and this lane, well, has a lot of talented people.
But, nails and comparison when it comes to branding power, and when you becom...
brand in one category, it is very hard to not become bigger than the category. Think, black pink BTS, you start it as the top of K-pop and now has become global.
“In the best part is, you now cover key global markets, U.S. Korea, Southeast Asia, Latin”
America, Europe, instead of becoming Frankenstein K-pop wannabe, you now have a Pinterest mood board of the world's coolest girls, mid into one group chat. Second, visual brand, in the digital age, no matter if the product is audio or visual, a brand needs a visual identity.
This was so crucial to Sabrina Carberto Groom from just another forgotten Disney child
to trend, setter, and is how cat's eye avoided a catastrophe. Instead of trying to look like Frankenstein K-pop, look like Walmart version of black pink, they tapped into a different aesthetic. Hyperfeminine futurism, that is ethereal, iridescent, soft glam meets sci-fi. Think, if Sarah Moon joined a hype girl group, got styled by Pinterest algorithm in LA.
Everything feels fresh, new, and jenzy. Burning text overlays, allergensy, IG stories, and TikTok edits, and most importantly, there is unity through variation. Each girl has a distinct personal aesthetic, cool girls off girl edge girl ethereal girl, but together, they form one cohesive brand visual, the typography, high text on syrup,
y-curning, clean, and neutral, debut visuals, use water, mirrors, and glass, symbolizing clarity, depth, and duality.
“And this is so important when we go into their current and future endorsements.”
Leading to third associations. Ooooooh, this is not! Ooooooh, with the backing of Geffen and Hyde, it is no surprise that tons of brand collaboration opportunities will fall out in. So the challenge is not saying the right yes, but saying the right nose.
And here's what their team did well.
Every association only make Katzai's brand more clear, instead of confusing. Keep getting all of these game ads, and I'm not really a gamer, but remember this name, travel town. I'm gonna tap on the lightning and make more, make all these. Starting with the labels themselves, Geffen and Hyde intrinsically come with the associations
with all the notable artists from BTS to Olivia Rodriguez, Elina Gomez, Lana Dauray to
“Lady Gaga, that gives an immediate, good tip stamp of approval next.”
The Ice Bice Remix Instant Relevance Injection Katzai had hype, but Ice Bice brought heat. And more over, Ice Bice has the right type of genzi audience that would appreciate Katzai. Katzai got introduced to millions, without a single concert. The most confusing thing about Katzai, and especially the recently recently, is figuring out who's my bias.
It was about brand placement and getting Katzai in the room. So what about brands, very curated picks, Fendi as the intro to luxury, coach as a practical pick for their young female demo, gender monster for the insider status, and fashion. Think blocking Jenny, the leolish, Rihanna, but at the same time, not losing the young campy on seriousness.
What's smart about the partnerships is they always allow the individuality of each member.
Six shades tinted lip oil with glossier, six different batmoms and soaps with lush and the monster high partnership, so fun, aligned with the tween audience and the nostalgia for girlhood for young women. Visually, the Y2K was spooky soft aesthetics, also reinforces your message of diversity and self expression, and this of course gets amplified.
By fourth, algorithm, design, since pre debut, Dream Academy was literally a data collection machine, global voting, engagement tracking, comment analysis, fans unknowingly, A.B. does it the members, girls who perform well on TikTok move forward, because they're not tied to a specific country, language, or style, the algorithm can push them anywhere. No national controversy, no local bias.
They are a blank slate made for Maximum Reach, Katzai's lyrics are genius and strategically engineered to work on two levels. First, singable in real life and second, loopable on TikTok. Harry, like a bag of talkies, I'm the shit, I'm the shit, very catchy, on serious and very easy to remember.
One tactic they use really well, hook first, meaning second, songs are structure to get the catchiest part in under 20 seconds. First pre-chorus or hook is front-loaded to maximize chances of going viral, and then the vocal simplicity means crowd participation. Melodies are easy to sing, even off-key.
Built for TikTok duets, dance routines and get spun and to pop culture quickly.
Many lyrics are structured like affirmations or real captions, built for virality, but
we of course still need to address the elephant in the room, how in the world, after a manufactured doggy dog environment, are they a group? Why are you upset that we're frustrated at you, fifth, authenticity in manufacturing? The survival show culture has a baked in paradox. The built in cutthroat nature where nobody is your friend, we're not forming a friend group,
we're forming a girl group.
“In the fact that all of a sudden, you need to be best friends for life with these people.”
But the genius part about Katta is, they don't have to.
Even the lyrics play on being unhinged about taking a hate and being envied. So on the flip side, the stand culture for each single member due to the previous rivalry is also much, much stronger than normal in other groups. What was the point of putting them in the group, if y'all are just going to constantly mistreat her disrespect her and leave her out of things?
Beyond just group chemistry, what is the ultimate factor that make Katta black ping BTS? But guilt.
The many talented but overlooked global groups, the question, do they go well together?
Let me explain.
“Even in a couple of groups or a US group, oftentimes they're just members who don't fit.”
Sometimes things just feel like stitched a body part in a Frankenstein. Which is why picking not just the right girls, but the right girls for each other to create Katta was the most strategic marketing of all. And out of all, all the final contestants have the talent, but Emily and Izraela are a little too soft and too sweet.
Which would mean the group branding direction cannot go the full, gnarly and gnarlier. Had Katta gone, the cutesy, egg yolk, k-pop route, it would have been an utter failure. Because A, it would be extremely unnatural to most of the girls and end up feeling like a reabuse. B, it does not have the current global appeal. Mind you, everyone in Katta is so young for 15 to 21, but there is a lot of mature appeal
in their brand new from the choreography to outfits that bridge the unhinged teenage hood and womanhood. And surprisingly, the world of K-pop and western pop, that instead of ending up in the graveyard of both, is becoming something to be feared.
“In both, with all the branding wins, what is one main caveat they show watch out for?”
We all that TV fans are not music fans, a lot of audience still come for the drama, not the songs. But when that drama gets repeated too often, it gets tiring, whether intentional or unintentional, leaving members out of music videos, shoots, definitely get the conversations going. Wow, it's beautiful.
But at the end of the day, you don't just want an audience who only care about the tea of a divorce family, but a community that can support the girls as they grow. The key is to find the balance between sensationalist media attention and true artists industry. But let me know in the comments if you think Cat's Eye is on its way to become the biggest
curl group ever, or it's just hype if you learn something you're offended to someone you love, give it a 5 star rating. For email us, our resources are linked below. This is your marketing bestie Zoey on limited episodes are available on all pop cat networks Apple Spotify YouTube.
If you like this episode, make sure to check out these other two, I'm made just for you. (upbeat music)
