and increase consumer awareness which in turn could
increase buying interest in the wider community,
especially Indonesia to buy Fila products. To promote
its brand, Fila actively invites several well-known
celebrities, one of which is by collaborating with
BTS, a South Korean boyband to become the global
face and model of Fila products worldwide since
October 1, 2019 (Suryandari, 2019).
BTS or Bangtan Sonyeondan or ”Beyond The
Scene” is a South Korean boy band that debuted in
2013 and has 7 members. This boy band has become
a superstar who broke countless global awards and
recognition from fans through original self-produced
music, best performances and the way to
communicate with fans, also known as ARMY. BTS
itself also made a positive impact through the LOVE
MYSELF campaign and the UN speech ”Speak
Yourself” and was named one of TIME 100: The
Most Influential People Of 2019 (Ibighit, 2021). Due
to its popularity and many achievements, BTS has
been partnered with several times to become brand
ambassadors for several brands, some of which are
Puma in 2015, Line, collaborating with the Dior
brand in 2019 and many more (Andrea, 2019).
BTS itself has an official Instagram account called
@bts.bighitofficial which has 31.2 million followers,
which has become the boy band group with the
highest number of followers in 2018. In Indonesia,
BTS fans, also known as ARMY, are very numerous.
This can be seen from BTS’ new song ”Dynamite”
quoted from Koreaboo, Indonesia is located at
number one as the country that contributes the most
views, with a total viewer of 48.5 million. Seeing the
large number of BTS fans from Indonesia, we can
find many fanbase accounts on Instagram, some of
which have tens to hundreds of thousands of
followers. In this fanbase account, they will later
provide the latest information regarding BTS, such as
the latest songs, the fashion used by BTS members,
performances and concerts, and much more. In 2017,
Indonesia is said to occupy the first position as the
largest number of loyal BTS fans (Permita). Seeing
from a series of achievements, the positive image that
BTS always brings at all times, making BTS have
many fans and great enthusiasm from ARMY (as
BTS fans are called), makes fashion company Fila
invite BTS to become brand ambassadors and present
BTS X product collaborations. Fila which can be the
attraction of a company to its consumers, so that it is
expected to have an effect on someone’s buying
interest in Fila products promoted by the boyband
BTS.
Seeing the magnitude of competition between
sports clothing brands today, companies certainly
need to develop new strategies continuously to attract
consumers’ attention and make consumers remember
related brands and products, thus influencing their
buying interest in the end. Like other sportswear
brands, Fila also wants to increase awareness of its
products to consumers, so Fila invites BTS to become
brand ambassadors. With a positive image and a large
number of fans, it is hoped that Fila products can be
remembered by consumers who are in accordance
with the target market which will later affect an
increase in buying interest or not.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Marketing
The definition of marketing or marketing is the
process by which companies create value for
customers and build strong customer relationships,
with the aim of capturing value from customers in
return. Today, marketing is not just about selling, but
also satisfying customer needs, by becoming a part of
consumers’ lives and adding to the experience
through the brand. If marketers engage consumers
effectively, understand their needs and develop
products that provide more customer value, price,
distribution and promote them well, then the product
will sell easily. Marketing is around in several forms,
such as old traditional forms and in new forms such
as websites, mobile applications, videos and social
media. The marketing concept is the achievement of
organizational goals depends on knowing the needs
and wants of the target market and providing the
desired satisfaction better than competitors. The
marketing concept itself has a customer-centered
“feel and respond” philosophy. The marketing
concept is not about finding the right customer for the
product, but finding the right product for the customer
(Kotler and Ketler, 2016).
2.2 Brand Ambassador
A brand ambassador is a well-connected person or
celebrity who is used to promote and advertise a
product or service. He is a diplomat, representative of
an organization, institution or company that best
describes a product or service. Brand ambassador is
brand face and finger; everything they touch, the
brand touches. Brand Ambassadors form the public
image of the brand and are used by human companies
to convey their message to the public. Nontraditional
marketing companies leverage Brand Ambassadors
in campaigns to answer questions, engage audiences,