BTS Tops April 2026 Boy Group Brand Reputation Rankings

In the April 2026 analysis of boy group brand reputation, BTS claimed the top spot, followed by Wanna One and SEVENTEEN. Notably, Wanna One announced their reunion through Mnet's reality program 'Wanna One Go', marking their return nine years after their official disbandment. This has reignited interest in the 'EXO-BTS-Wanna One' phenomenon that swept the music scene in 2017.

The Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute analyzed 79,966,049 pieces of big data from March 11 to April 11, 2026, to measure participation, media, communication, and community indices for boy group brands. This marks a 31.08% increase compared to the 61,006,053 pieces of data analyzed in March.

The brand reputation index is a metric derived from analyzing consumer online habits and their impact on brand consumption. It evaluates positive and negative assessments, media interest, and consumer engagement and communication levels. Consumer participation in brand reputation recommendations is also factored in.

The top 30 boy group brand reputation rankings for April 2026 are as follows: BTS, Wanna One, SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, Stray Kids, BIGBANG, THE BOYZ, EXO, SHINee, Tours, Cortis, Shinhwa, Super Junior, NCT, BOYNEXTDOOR, BTOB, INFINITE, AlphaDriveOne, ZEROBASEONE, ATEEZ, MONSTA X, 2PM, RISE, ASTRO, TREASURE, Highlight, VIXX, ONF, IDIT, TVXQ.

BTS (RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, Jungkook) topped the list with a participation index of 748,959, media index of 5,465,032, communication index of 7,191,522, and community index of 9,492,273, resulting in a brand reputation index of 22,897,786. This is a 165.57% increase from their March index of 8,622,083.

In second place, Wanna One (Kang Daniel, Park Ji-hoon, Lee Dae-hwi, Kim Jae-hwan, Ong Seong-wu, Park Woo-jin, Lai Kuan-lin, Yoon Ji-sung, Hwang Min-hyun, Bae Jin-young, Ha Sung-woon) achieved a participation index of 79,254, media index of 542,641, communication index of 1,431,973, and community index of 2,459,310, totaling a brand reputation index of 4,513,178. This is a 55.35% increase from March's index of 2,905,234.

SEVENTEEN (S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon, Dino) ranked third with a participation index of 67,336, media index of 546,252, communication index of 1,253,829, and community index of 2,046,217, resulting in a brand reputation index of 3,913,634. This is a 2.33% decrease from March's index of 4,006,878.

ENHYPEN (Jungwon, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Ni-ki) secured fourth place with a participation index of 158,098, media index of 862,265, communication index of 1,272,706, and community index of 1,264,859, totaling a brand reputation index of 3,557,928. This marks a 63.86% increase from March's index of 2,171,294.

Stray Kids (Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, I.N) came in fifth with a participation index of 53,088, media index of 487,833, communication index of 1,315,022, and community index of 1,455,201, resulting in a brand reputation index of 3,311,143. This is a 23.73% decrease from March's index of 4,341,278.

Koo Chang-hwan, director of the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, stated, "In the April 2026 big data analysis of boy group brand reputation, BTS ranked first. The boy group brand category saw a 31.08% increase in big data compared to March. Detailed analysis shows a 39.30% increase in brand consumption, 36.24% in brand issues, 24.71% in brand communication, and 32.90% in brand diffusion."

He added, "In the April 2026 big data analysis, BTS's brand was highly associated with 'perform, watch, start' in link analysis. Keywords like 'ARMY, Arirang, concert' were prominent. The positive-negative ratio analysis showed a 95.12% positive rate. Detailed analysis of BTS's brand reputation revealed a 410.21% increase in brand consumption, 239.94% in brand issues, 112.91% in brand communication, and 171.99% in brand diffusion."

The April 2026 boy group brand reputation analysis included BTS, Wanna One, SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, Stray Kids, BIGBANG, THE BOYZ, EXO, SHINee, Tours, Cortis, Shinhwa, Super Junior, NCT, BOYNEXTDOOR, BTOB, INFINITE, AlphaDriveOne, ZEROBASEONE, ATEEZ, MONSTA X, 2PM, RISE, ASTRO, TREASURE, Highlight, VIXX, ONF, IDIT, TVXQ, Kickflip, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, PENTAGON, Block B, GOT7, WINNER, SF9, 2AM, CRAVITY, FTISLAND, B1A4, ONEUS, P1Harmony, NU'ERA, SECHSKIES, Nine, Nowadays, DKB, Identity, Close Your Eyes.

Lee So-jung, Ten Asia Reporter forusojung@tenasia.co.kr