Last month, former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin caused a stir when she provided evidence in court, accusing girl group ILLIT of stealing ideas from group NewJeans right from the planning stage.
According to Min Hee Jin, an internal HYBE employee, ILLIT's creative director requested NewJeans' plan to be sent right from the planning stage of ILLIT. When comparing the plans of the two groups, they were very similar.
At the time, ILLIT's management company, Belift Lab, denied allegations that ILLIT copied NewJeans' blueprint.
“ILLIT’s branding strategy and core concept were finalized and shared internally on July 21, 2023. The informant submitted the so-called “plan” on August 28, 2023, and it cannot affect ILLIT’s core concept,” the company stated.
But recently, on November 11, the Hankyoreh newspaper provided a comparison document between Belift Lab's "Rookie Girl Group Project Plan" (ILLIT Plan) and Min Hee Jin's "Group 21 Debut Strategy" (NewJeans Plan), discovering many similarities in the design and strategy of the two proposals.
According to Hankyoreh, the design similarities are the first thing that is noticeable.
Both documents use similar fonts and layouts, as if the same template was applied, with frequent use of circular design elements.
The NewJeans plan was designed and written by Min Hee Jin in May 2020, using Keynote (a presentation program) during her time as HYBE's Brand Director.
Hankyoreh checked the documents of HYBE's other subsidiaries and confirmed that each company will have different designs.
In terms of strategy, both groups aim for “empathy” and “desire.” While NewJeans’ strategy emphasizes “teen influencers,” ILLIT’s strategy focuses on “creators,” which is essentially a rephrased concept.
Both documents use popular American YouTuber Emma Chamberlain as an example, and suggest similar strategies involving short videos and releasing practical merchandise products that connect with consumers’ lifestyles.
“It seems like they just changed the term ‘influencer’ to ‘creator’ to avoid plagiarism controversy, but the actual strategy is still the same,” said a music industry official.
The important point is the timeline: NewJeans' plan dates from 2020, while ILLIT's plan was created in 2023. Some people think that, with the rapid changes in the Kpop market, it is difficult to understand why the two plans have so many similarities despite being written 3 years apart.
A music industry insider responsible for planning the girl group commented, “The two documents are very similar in terms of market analysis and strategic direction. It is rare to see girl groups debuting consecutively based on similar planning documents in terms of design, logic, and strategic direction.”
