Digital Circles

When news or talks starts to circulate on discussing about particular brand or products, more and more people will join the discussion, which leads to a noise. Most of the time, this noise will bring positive impact for the company.

However, if the discussion is actually just a rumour, then what will happened?

This is what happened to Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), which there was rumour that the female lead actress (Jun Ji-hyun, in the drama: Cheon Song Yi) from drama "My Love from the Star" wear YSL lipstick on the show.

For people who like to watch Asian drama or movies, they would absolutely know about this drama. The series was a hit in all Asian countries, such as Korea, China, Indonesia, etc, which was airing from 18 December 2013 to 27 February 2014.

Since it was very popular, people started discussing on what the actress wore on the drama. One of the hottest topic is about the lipstick that Cheon Song Yi use. Once the news broke that the color was Rouge Pur Couture in No. 52 Rosy Coral, Korean fans rushed to buy the product. By late January, the color completely sold out in Seoul. Further, the demand spread overseas, catching media's attention worldwide. From ordinary people to fashion editors, they were scouring stores to find the color. There was also a report, that people are selling this shade on ebay for $100 (while the original price was $35). Finally, a public relations from YSL confirmed that the color had sold out because of "Man from the Stars".

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Not only YSL affected because of the drama, Korean clothing company ShesMiss sold out of all 2,500 coats within days of the drama airing, prompting the brand to offer Jun Ji Hyun a two-year exclusive contract. From the example, you might see on how huge the impact when a top celebrities wearing a product.

Since the news goes viral, finally Korea Herald reported that the actress never wore the lipstick on the show. According to an industry source, "The color of her lips cannot be produced by a single product. The makeup artist mixed a number of different products, and YSL was not one of them."

Further, one of the official sponsors Amore pacific (a giant Korean cosmetic company), considered to take legal actions against YSL.

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YSL definitely get a huge impact on its sales because of the drama. Further, the news from blogs and noise from its fan can be said as free marketing. Even though YSL has never stated that their lipstick is not the one that Cheon Song Yi use, but all stores marketed the lipstick to the consumer. In other words, they didn't lie, but they use it for their benefit. As an impact, this issue made Amore pacific considered to take legal actions.

Finally, from a company's perpective, the news can be considered as a good marketing, but the response might differ from every perspective. In other words, brand/firm might give a different response to it and a good way to solve it (before it become an issue) should be considered carefully.

What do you think of the news? What will you do if you are in YSL's position? Please share your opinion below :)