BTS takes No. 1 in September advertising model brand reputation rankings as RESCENE makes huge jump to second place

BTS has claimed the top spot in the September 2026 advertising model brand reputation rankings, while girl group RESCENE made a major rise to second place.

According to the Korean Business Research Institute, BTS ranked No. 1 with a brand reputation index of 3,932,230 for September.

The figure represents a 10.70 percent increase compared to BTS’s August score of 3,552,236.

RESCENE followed closely in second place with an index of 3,427,885. The group recorded the biggest increase among the top five, rising 118.01 percent from its previous score of 1,572,383.

Lim Young Woong ranked third with 1,648,327, followed by Yoo Jae Suk in fourth place with 1,473,244 and IVE in fifth with 1,367,588.

Unlike BTS and RESCENE, the other three names in the top five saw decreases compared to the previous month. Lim Young Woong’s score fell by 23.04 percent, Yoo Jae Suk’s by 9.61 percent, and IVE’s by 7.55 percent.

The September top 10 was completed by BLACKPINK at No. 6, Park Ji Hoon at No. 7, Kim Do Young at No. 8, Byeon Woo Seok at No. 9, and Go Youn Jung at No. 10.

The institute analyzed 34,915,880 pieces of advertising model-related big data collected from August 3 to September 3. The total amount of data was down 0.27 percent compared to the previous month.

The rankings are calculated using several indicators, including consumer participation, media activity, communication, community activity, and advertising channel-related data.

For BTS, the institute said high-ranking terms in its link analysis included “hot,” “certify,” and “confident.” Keywords strongly associated with the group included “ARMY,” “Arirang,” and “Billboard.”

BTS also recorded a positive sentiment score of 93.09 percent in the institute’s analysis.

Other celebrities and artists placing within the top 20 included PSY, Son Heung Min, Lee Jung Hoo, Jung Hae In, Park Jin Young, Gong Yoo, Lee Chan Won, So Ji Sub, BIBI, and Kim Go Eun.

The monthly brand reputation rankings are based on the Korean Business Research Institute’s analysis of online consumer data and should be understood as one data-based measurement of public and advertising-related activity rather than a definitive measure of overall popularity.