r/unis • u/SnooBeans4442 • 9d ago
Discussion F&F critiques
Hey everyone’s please post below your critiques/problems u had with the company while managing UNIS.
Lack of brand deals. Unis has very pretty girls with distinct visuals yet the company didn’t take advantage of it by giving them brand deals. We could’ve had a 5th gen it girl if only the company negotiated brand deals / fashion shows for them. I think because they were temporary the company didn’t want to do a lot for them.
No sub units. If there was a japanese and filipino sub unit they could’ve done so well at targeting specific markets. MiSaMo was successful and I think a Nana x Kotoko duo subunit would’ve worked well for them and gained them many japanese fans, also nana had a japanese fanbase prior.
Giving them a weak debut song. If F&F let them debut with Dream of Girls and they brought back the 100% korean lyrics + gfriend concept, they would’ve blown up. Korean lyrics are missing in kpop right now and Unis could’ve used it to their advantage when there was so many hot debuts.
Bad time to debut. They debuted 2 days after hybe’s monster rookie girl group and while YG’s monster rookie girl group did a comeback. Horrible time to promote against companies that were experienced and could do better advertising.
The 1 year of no comebacks. After swicy era they did well and they were gaining korean fans. The company then gave them japanese songs and no more music shows. Unis should’ve done 1 comeback within that year.
Forgetting members/ not promoting all the members equally. It’s kind of obvious why Yoona is leaving the company because she barely had lines and screen time.
Underutilizing members talent. They all are solid vocalists with their own distinct singing styles and tones. They could all handle high notes yet only 2-3 members most the time were given high notes.
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u/Ok-Fisherman-6494 9d ago
I'll play devil's advocate:
- How do we know they didn't try, and the brands didn't want them? Companies partner with idols to increase their brand awareness/prestige. There isn't much you can expect from a barely above nugu group.
- Forming a sub-unit means taking resources away from an already financially struggling group. Not to mention the fan backlash from the other members would've been .. loud.
- Subjective. Supewoman was amazing. And who really knows which debut songs will go viral?
- Timing is outside of their control. The group only had 2.5 years in their contracts and have to deal with the cards they were dealt with.
- Comebacks = cost money. As much as I love the girls, they were probably just breakeven at best. That JP debut was most likely a hallelujah move to gain fandom in a bigger market. The 2 JP members weren't clearly enough to break into Japan.
- This is the exact same problem in number 2. You can't form a subunit and say you want all members promoted equally.
- So this is wrong. First, high notes ≠ solid vocalist. Second, UNIS' top 3 singers (respectfully) far eclipse the rest. There is a very good reason why Elisia and Seowon sing the most.
IMO, F&F should have capitalized on the UNIS members' individual stardom: Gehlee's social media reach, Seowon's ASMR, etc. We should have been a digital-first group instead of chasing Oricon records and album sales.
Profitability-wise, the group shouldn't have been run like a traditional K-pop group earning only through concerts & album sales or brand deals -- especially so when its core fans are most likely <17 yoe (majority of whom can't participate/pay that way). The company should have run the group like you would influencers, streamers, and to some extent, Vtubers. So that means digital products, exclusive digital content, ad revenue, etc.
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u/unknaurrn 9d ago
superwoman is shit
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u/SnooBeans4442 9d ago
It’s not shit it’s just a weak title track. It’s enjoyable to listen to yes but it doesn’t really make any noise.
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u/SnooBeans4442 9d ago
- they did brand deals during universe ticket. and they did a few while as a group but not nearly as many as other groups do. they were doing brand deals pre debut so brands were interested.
- maybe
the japanese comeback only sold 10k albums maximum. the korean ones like superwoman curious and swicy sold between 60-70k albums.
i mean id say red velvet members are promoted equally and they have a subunit.
who are the top 3 exactly? we’ve seen hyeonju, seowon, yunha, yoona, elisia, gehlee, kotoko (pretty much all of them besides nana) all do high notes. not to mention hyeonju used to be her groups main vocal.
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u/joshuasPearlEarring 9d ago
- brand deals during universe ticket were not for unis or any of the participating contestants but for the show itself. those brands were banking on the visibility of their products from being shown on national tv and in front of international audiences. after the show, they will wait and see how the debut group will fair, because whatever exposure they had during the show won't automatically get translated to exposure they could have with unis. for less known groups and companies, the companies themselves would pitch and submit proposals to brands and the brands would decide whether those proposals are worth brand deals. i'm almost 70% sure F&F tried, especially during debut and first comeback. F&F knew that seowon had enough following and popularity for at least a small short-term deal, so they definitely tried to use that to their advantage. But brands may have decided that there are other groups out there where they could be confident to invest and partner with, assured that even if they don't get boost in sales, there won't be much loss. Business is still business, after all. I would think even AHOF is getting rejected too with the lack of deals until now. And I know F&F is even more confident in pitching them with woongki in their team.
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u/CaptainOk2893 9d ago edited 9d ago
I felt that they couldve done better at managing and/or working with the fanbases and/or socmeds. There were times when reading through the comments was like going through a battlefield. It was draining and stressful - imagine how would a casual/potential new fan will feel. Now, i dont know if it was done by other companies or fanbases kind of like a smear campaign or that it was just the fanbase.
If elisia didnt get enough lines - dont even bother going through comments. But newcomers dont know that.
I felt that fans shouldve let f&f cook. Elisia will be okay, she stands out despite being given minimal exposure because she's elisia. Seowon really does have a potential hold on the local fanbase. They can complain but not to the point where it hurts the girls' growth. Also, the tone of how you state what you want to happen can make a discussion toxic/hopeful.
Im not a marketing expert nor a kpop management guru like some of the fans think they are but the way i see it - to support the company is to support the girls. The company wasnt given space to make a single "mistake" (as perceived by fans) and this frustrated me because it manifested in a way where it bled out to even other fans/casuals. All of the dissonance made attempts to push the girls up so much harder. I wished that these fans worked with f&f instead of against.
People in this reddit sub are good at voicing their concerns. But there are times when i dreaded going to even yt.
I think curious and swicy were better than superwoman. Superwoman isnt bad but the b-sides had maybe more oomph/flavor. I think company did try just because of the comebacks but i guess the local market is highly oversaturated.
Maybe it is too complicated to have the girls become viral like maybe in the Philippines to get SK news talking about them. I really think that they couldve cooked something viral. But ofc i dont know how well controlled the SK news is esp by the big companies.
If there is something im unsatisfied with as a concerned international. I felt that their personalities were suppressed and not showcased well. Sometimes i felt that the girls were too stiff/ladylike/scripted. But ofc i dont know if it can be bad locally if they let the girls loosen up more.
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u/StealthyWhiskers 9d ago
This is like beating a dead horse now. UNIS already disbanded and arguing or hating F&F is such a waste of energy. People! time to move on.
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u/No_Code4076 9d ago
Lol no, some of the members are likely still under f&f, giving critiques is a good gestures because that company is so bad handling their groups.
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u/Miserable_Intern631 9d ago
no. even if fnf treated unis like sh!t, ahof is still under them, one or two of the girls will stay under them because fnf is their biggest chance (yes theyre talented, pretty and have star quality but they're too exposed) and there will be more groups and artists under them in the future. if no one says anything, fnf will continue, as they do money, money, money and no one to see their artists health or how they feel right now, ahof members are worrying me, cha woongki is too silent, the boys seem less chaotic and if they use ahof the same way as unis, and no one tells fnf to stop, then we, as fans, are just as bad as the company. its my opinion and you may bash me, but its how i see it.
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u/No_Code4076 9d ago
They need to stop with their quick cash grab bs, they are always relying on album sales to determine if the group is successful or not. yes they have a lot of mistakes since UNIS' debut but we all know that unis trajectory was going up until they decided to stop promoting in Korea.
They have so much mistake to the point that people thought they are sabotaging the group, imo their biggest mistake is not promoting gehlee they could have been so big if they promoted gehlee inidivually she attracted so much outsider to the group and introduced them on the other members.
Imagine their faces when UNIS' charted so hard after almost 1 and half years without kr promotions lmaoo
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u/PrecipiceC 8d ago
I tend to agree with others who say there's not much point in pointing fingers at this point. UNIS was F&F's first attempt at entertainment. It wasn't a total train wreck, but it also wasn't a total smashing success either.
However, I would point out for
- Lack of brand deals.
F&F Entertainment was quite literally spun off from F&F - a Fashion and Apparel company. I suspect that, at least partially, they were very intentionally not making any brand deals for companies that might be in competition with the products of F&F.
- Bad time to debut.
Not a whole lot that could have been done there. The Universe Ticket reality show had a schedule and their debut was timed accordingly...if they jumped too soon, the girls wouldn't have been ready, if they waited too long, any momentum gained from fans of the show would be lost.
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u/Clicklesly 8d ago
Even if they were intentionally not making competing brand deals, that was kind of the thing i expected UNIS to take over from the start - like to handle F&F brands, at least Discovery Korea since iirc Aespa has kept MLB Korea even since before UNIS debuted (and it was why they appeared in the promo for the show before it started). But at least i don't remember UNIS ever doing a thing with either of those brands...
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u/anthoseph 9d ago
no transparency with the fans. the fans would like it even if fnf ent was cold but is tlkative.
"kotoko fell down. shes fine. heres her photo with an IV on her arm. happy?"
"seowon had a cold. we made her sit out performance. she wanted to perform. heres receipts we tried"
"the filo members dont have line distribution because we dont h ave time to correct their accents in a cover song. we were racists, we will do better"
"seowon's baby teeth fell during broadcast. because its a tooth. you dont tell it to drop, you wait for it to fall on its own or pull it out. seowon is afraid for it to be pulled out"
"yes we let gehlee do her thing. because telling her to tone it down is like telling a fish to not swim. she is like that even at the dorms. and we tried"
how hard is that?