TWO MONTHS after telecommunication company Smart Communications named Korean actor Hyun Bin as its endorser, the company has added another Korean to the mix: Mr. Hyun’s leading lady in the hit series Crash Landing on You, Son Ye Jin, as the face of its postpaid line.

“Well it was really an easy choice for us. We really hoped we could bring her in with her popularity with Hyun Bin and CLOY (Crash Landing on You),” Alfredo S. Panlilio, CEO and President of Smart Communications and PLDT’s chief revenue officer, said during the launch on Aug. 4.

Mr. Panlilio, in June, said that they wouldn’t want Hyun Bin to be “lonely” when asked about the prospect of having another Korean endorser. This, according to Jane J. Basas, Smart’s SVP and head of consumer wireless business, was the catalyst for bringing Ms. Son to the Smart fold.

“We knew that we had to get her because of the positive reaction to that statement,” Ms. Basas said in the same event.

It also helped that the Hyun Bin campaign was so successful that Ms. Basas said it was “one of the best in the history of the brand.”

“The appeal just cut across demographics and economic classes. And I think in terms of how he translated into the business… June happened to be the best month this year for Smart, even better than the three months pre-COVID. We hope that performance is sustained with Son Ye Jin now joining the family,” Ms. Basa explained.

Ms. Son is now the face of the company’s postpaid line, Smart Signature, and her TV commercial features her in South Korea riding a motorcycle.

Son Ye Jin rose to fame in romance films and series including The Classic (2003), Summer Scent (2003), and April Snow (2005). She also gained recognition for her versatility as shown in the films The Last Princess (2016) and The Truth Beneath (2016).

She rose to international fame when she played the spunky Yoon Seri, an heiress who survives a paragliding crash and meets and falls in love with a North Korean soldier, captain Ri Jeong Hyeok in Crash Landing on You. The show aired on Netflix and ran on Korean television from 2019 to 2020. The show, during its height of popularity, was consistently in the top 10 (or at the top) list of Netflix’s trending shows in the Philippines.

“As an actress, I am always grateful for having a platform to entertain and touch the lives of others through my craft. I thank Smart for giving me a way to specifically reach out to my Filipino fans and inspire them to make a mark in whatever path that they have chosen. I wish to see you all soon,” Ms. Son said in a statement. — ZBC

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR