[News Figures] Min Heejin, the Concept Master Behind 'NewJeans'

SM Art Director Behind Hits Like Girls' Generation
CEO of HYBE's Independent Label ADOR
Oversaw NewJeans Members Selection to Debut
'Min Hee-jin's Girl Group' NewJeans Wins 4 Rookie Awards

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Girl group NewJeans' songs "Attention," "Hype Boy," and "OMG" are gaining great popularity among teenagers and people in their twenties. NewJeans was entirely overseen from member selection to debut by Min Hee-jin, CEO of Ador, an independent label under HYBE, the agency of BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan).

Born in 1979 and a graduate of Seoul Women's University with a degree in Visual Design, CEO Min previously worked as an art director and creative director at SM Entertainment (hereafter SM). At SM, she produced various works such as Girls' Generation's "Gee," which sparked the color skinny jeans trend, EXO's "Growl" with its school uniform concept, and Red Velvet's "Ice Cream Cake" music video. All of these were mega-hit albums.

Min joined SM in 2002 as a regular employee through an open recruitment and was recognized early in the industry for her abilities, being appointed director in March 2017 due to her achievements. Starting as the youngest staff member and leading art directing at Korea's top agency SM, Min was listed in March last year on Variety's "Women Who Changed the Global Entertainment Industry."

Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR. Photo by ADOR

Variety cited her selection reason as: "As a K-pop branding innovator, she redefined the concept of 'concept,' opening a new era of girl groups starting with Girls' Generation and presenting innovative artist branding through SHINee, EXO, and others."

Regarding her selection, CEO Min expressed, "In the third quarter of this year, we will present a differentiated girl group that offers new tastes and topics to fans worldwide," and the girl group that debuted accordingly is NewJeans. She introduced NewJeans by saying, "The 'music' they present is the concept and color that this team pursues."

The reason for choosing the group name NewJeans is explained as: "Popular music is like clothes worn every day. Especially jeans have been a beloved item regardless of era. NewJeans contains the aspiration to become an icon of the times like jeans that people reach for daily and never get tired of wearing, and the determination to become 'New Genes'." This is why the phrase "Min Hee-jin's girl group" follows NewJeans.

NewJeans. Photo by ADOR

The market responded immediately to CEO Min's strategy. According to the latest chart (dated January 7) announced by the US music media Billboard on the 4th (local time), "Ditto" ranked 11th on the Global (excluding the US) chart and 26th on the Global 200. It rose one spot to 4th place on the World Digital Song Sales chart. Also, on Spotify's global daily top songs chart for January 3, it reached 10th place, setting a new personal best. Additionally, according to Hanteo Chart on the 8th, NewJeans sold a total of 701,241 copies of their first single album "OMG" within one week of its release (January 2?8).

NewJeans recorded more than double the first-week sales of their previous debut album "New Jeans," which set a record for the highest first-week sales for a girl group debut album with 310,000 copies. The title track of this album, "OMG," is also strong on music charts. "OMG" ranked 2nd on real-time charts such as Melon, Genie, and Bugs immediately after its release. On January 6, "OMG" entered Japan's Oricon Daily Single Ranking and simultaneously took 1st place.

Their award history is also impressive. At the 37th Golden Disc Awards with TikTok held on the 7th, NewJeans won the Rookie Award, achieving their fourth rookie award following the 2022 The Fact Music Awards, MMA 2022, and the 2022 Asia Artist Awards.