BTS' Taehyung becomes the most followed Korean male soloist as he surpasses 65 million followers on Instagram

BTS star Kim Taehyung, widely known as V, extended his record as the fastest person and the most followed Korean male soloist to have surpassed 65 million followers on Instagram. He was also the fastest person on Instagram to surpass 10 million followers in 2021.

As of April 12, 2024, the BTS idol has extended his record as the fastest person to gain 65 million followers on Instagram and the first Korean celebrity to achieve this feat.

The Layover singer-songwriter has 65 million fans on social media. The account has acquired 626.4K new followers in the past four weeks, and its engagement rate is 15.66%. Since the BTS idol's profile, like that of other members, has comment functions disabled, the average amount of likes and comments for each Instagram post he creates is 10.2 million and 0, respectively.

According to HypeAuditor, Taehyung ranks at #10 globally as the most influential celebrity on social media and ranks at #1 in China and #2 in the music category.

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A closer look at BTS' Taehyung's popularity across the world beyond social media

Kim Taehyung's debut solo album, Layover, was included by the Italian wine brand GherarVini in their "Music In A Bottle" series. The brand named a bottle of its famous white wine after the singer's album Layover. It noted its title track, Slow Dancing, as the perfect track to listen to while sipping their wine.

On December 7, 2023, the influencer marketing platform Lefty released its "2023: A Year in Data" report, which thoroughly examined the year's fashion trends. Back then, with 62.7 million followers and an account less than three years old, the BTS idol managed to secure the top place on Instagram with an Estimated Media Value (EMV) of $274 million.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's computerized open information system, in 2023, sales for CELINE Korea in the previous year were 50.1 billion won ($36.2 million), down 513.2% from 307.2 billion won (over $222 million). Furthermore, Lefty's report stated that CELINE's operating profit was up by 591.1% or over 2.5 billion won in 2023 than the year before that.

In January 2024, by sharing 31 stories and posts on Instagram between March 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, Taehyung has already brought in $274 million in Earned Media Value (EMV) for CELINE, per Lefty's behavior analysis. The 62.7 million followers he previously had played an immense role in determining the outcome of his acquired EMV.

Earlier, Seoul City selected Taehyung on October 23, 2023, as the only representative of Seoul Tourism. He became the face of the 'Seoul Edition '23' worldwide campaign, representing South Korea's appeal worldwide. The campaign's YouTube video reached a record 500 million views in three weeks. Since 2017, all seven BTS members have served as Seoul's Honorary Tourism Ambassadors.

SimInvest, an online trading and investing platform, announced Taehyung of BTS as its new global brand ambassador. In addition to his enormous popularity and the fan interactions he generates, he was a calculated decision since he represents the brand's target market of the "Gen Z" population.

At their news conference in March 2023, SimInvest also used iPrice's 2021 report, which claimed the BTS idol as the most famous member in Southeast Asia, ranking 26% on Google searches.

The fact that the BTS member is a brand ambassador for CARTIER and CELINE is evidence of his success. Meanwhile, due to his creative synergy and captivating visuals of the Panther, CARTIER selected the K-pop phenomenon as its newest brand ambassador and the face of its Panthère de Cartier campaign.

Founder Louis-François Cartier's inventiveness has been motivated by the panther's symbolism and beauty since its introduction in 1914, as shown in V's images for CARTIER's 2023 campaign.

The Révélation d'une Panthère watch, a tête-à-tête panther bracelet, a sculptural diamond ring, and a Panthère de Cartier necklace—which cost $26,700 or INR 22 lakh—were the pieces that the South Korean celebrity added to his ensemble during the campaign shoot.

Additionally, in their latest ad campaign, Taehyung was sporting the 18k yellow gold necklace—the premium necklace sold out in minutes, a first in the brand's century-old history. Moreover, CARTIER's website crashed within an hour of the announcement of Taehyung's appointment as the brand's global ambassador.

Apart from impacting fashion brands, Taehyung's influence was widely visible on the cover and occupied the top three positions in several Aladdin best-selling categories. In the weekly bestselling magazine category on Yes24, the magazines that featured him on its cover (Harper's BAZAAR and ELLE) ranked in the top three real-time bestsellers.

Furthermore, four prestigious fashion magazines—ELLE Korea, W Korea, Arena HOMME+ Korea, and POP Magazine—featured BTS' Taehyung on their covers, demonstrating his reach outside the internet sphere. Every picture session demonstrated his adaptable modeling abilities, drawing in viewers with eye-catching imagery and an acceptance of many ideas and aesthetics.

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In other news, the Layover musician serves in the South Korean military and digitally released his solo FRI(END)S on March 15, 2024. The song climbed to #1 in over 100 countries on the iTunes Chart.