Who sells best? Not by sales, but by buzz. The Korean Business Research Institute has released its October brand reputation rankings for advertisement models, and BTS once again lead a list packed with idols, actors and athletes.

Top 5 October 2026

Rank	Star	Brand Reputation Index
1	BTS	4,009,253
2	RESCENE	3,716,679
3	Lim Young Woong	1,519,748
4	IVE	1,246,560
5	Kim Do Yeong	1,082,144

How the Rankings Work?

The institute analyzed consumer behavior using big data collected from September 5 to October 5. It evaluated each model’s participation, communication, media and social values to calculate a total monthly brand reputation index.

BTS Hold the Throne

BTS kept first place, and their index rose 1.96% from September. Top keywords in their analysis included “ARMY,” “ARIRANG” and “ambassador,” while the highest-ranking related terms were “power of influence,” “fan loyalty” and “highly influential.” Their positivity-negativity analysis showed 93.85% positive reactions.

Biggest Movers

RESCENE held second place with an 8.42% rise from last month, the strongest growth among the top two. Lim Young Woong stayed at No. 3, while IVE rose to fourth.

Ranks 6-15

Rank	Star
6	Go Youn Jung
7	BLACKPINK
8	Shin Min Ah
9	Son Heung Min
10	Heo Nam Jun
11	Yu Jae Seok
12	Gong Yoo
13	Lee Jung Jae
14	Park Ji Hoon
15	Seo Kang Jun

The top 30 continues with names including Lee Byung Hun, Faker, Kim Hye Yoon, Seongri, Kim Hye Soo, Jun Ji Hyun, Girls’ Generation’s Lim Yoona, Park Bo Gum, Byeon Woo Seok and Kim You Jung at No. 30.

For background on the No. 1 group, see the BTS Wikipedia page.

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