Starship’s “Kiiiki” vs SM’s “Hearts2Hearts”: Intensifying Competition Among New Idol Groups

Starship Entertainment’s “Kiiiki” and SM Entertainment’s “Hearts2Hearts” are engaged in fierce competition as new idol groups. Both groups are the first new girl groups launched by their respective parent companies and are regarded as key players poised to lead K-POP’s next generation. “Kiiiki” holds an advantage in terms of entering music charts. The pre-release track “Idumi” by “Kiiiki” was released on February 24, debuting at position 13 on Melon Top 100 the day after its release, achieving strong results. This placement on Melon’s Top 100, Korea’s largest music streaming service, is a highly reliable metric that reflects usage data based on streaming and downloads. In contrast, “The Chase,” the debut track by “Hearts2Hearts” released on the same day, failed to enter Melon Top 100 but reached position 27 on the Hot100 chart, which considers cumulative data from the past 30 days. On YouTube’s Trending Videos ranking, “Idumi” came in at third place on the 25th, while “The Chase” finished fourth, showing close performance. However, in terms of total music video views, “The Chase” surpassed “Idumi,” with over 10.3 million views compared to 6.7 million for “Idumi.” Industry insiders attribute “Hearts2Hearts’” strong YouTube performance to SM Entertainment’s global influence and the group’s diverse lineup, including Indonesian member Carmen and Canadian-Korean member Stella, which has drawn significant interest from overseas fans. In terms of brand reputation rankings, “Kiiiki” took the lead. According to a big data analysis of new idol group brand reputations conducted by the Korea Enterprise Reputation Research Institute in March 2025, “Kiiiki” (composed of Jiuyu, Isol, Sui, Haeyoum, and Kiyaa) ranked first with a brand reputation index of 1,592,255. Following behind was “Hearts2Hearts” (Carmen, Jiwoo, Yuha, Stella, Jueun, Aina, Ian, and Ye-on) with 1,407,391, securing second place, while BABYMONSTER ranked third with 1,321,329. The brand reputation index is calculated by analyzing consumers’ engagement, media attention, communication volume, and community interaction. “Kiiiki” recorded a participation index of 275,714, a media index of 464,591, a communication index of 517,359, and a community index of 334,590. “Hearts2Hearts” showed a participation index of 274,400, a media index of 403,153, a communication index of 474,692, and a community index of 255,146. Looking at the shift from February to March, the amount of big data related to new idol group brands increased by 28.11%, rising from 12,197,575 to 15,625,750 entries. Ku Chang-hwan, director of the Korea Enterprise Reputation Research Institute, commented, “In the brand link analysis of ‘Kiiiki,’ terms like ‘to debut,’ ‘free,’ and ‘cool’ appeared frequently. In keyword analysis, ‘Idumi,’ ‘debut song,’ and ‘Genjimi’ ranked high. The positive-to-negative ratio analyzed showed 84.91% positivity.” Both groups are considered successors to established groups that top K-POP charts. “Kiiiki” is Starship’s first girl group in about four years since IVE debuted in 2020, while “Hearts2Hearts” is SM’s first new girl group in about five years since aespa debuted in 2020. As IVE and aespa form the two main pillars of the fourth-generation girl groups, the competition between these two new groups is expected to shape the direction of K-POP’s next generation.