Its a tight race between BLACKPINK and TWICE in the August brand reputation rankings for girl groups as TWICE took the top spot in the list and BLACKPINK stayed strong at second place.
According to a report by Soompi, BLACKPINK which held the top spot for the first six months of the year maintained it's number two spot after losing some momentum to last month's top girl group Red Velvet. For August, Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose generated a brand reputation index of 7,122,359, which is only slightly lower to TWICE.
TWICE rose to the ranks of the Korean Business Research Institute ranking this month, pulling brand reputation index of 7,214,998. They ranked highest for keywords the "love," "prepare," and "launch." The group's highest-ranking related terms included "Jihyo," "Momo," and "dating, due to dating reports involving the two members. Early this month, it was confirmed that TWICE leader Jihyo has been dating former Wanna One member, Kang Daniel, while Japanese member Momo was also rumored to be dating Super Junior member Kim Heechul.
Last month's first-place girl group Red Velvet slides to the fourth place for August while rising stars ITZY rose to third place after the success of their song ICY.
Meanwhile, BLACKPINK is reported to be working on their comeback, which is making fans grow more excited by the day. Adding to the excitement is the possibility of collaborating with Ariana Grande.
According to a report by All Kpop, Tommy Brown, the producer behind Ariana's smash hits Thank You, Next and 7 Rings was spotted out and about in Seoul, and it was rumored that he was in town to work with BLACKPINK for their comeback.
It can be recalled that the producer recently posted a snap of himself with BLACKPINK members Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose in a studio to congratulate them on their third debut anniversary. It is now being speculated that the shot was taken recently in Korea.
BLINKs, BLACKPINK's official fandom, are waiting eagerly for news about the girls' comeback after their Kill This Love cemented their position on the international stage. Apart from staging some of the most successful stops in their Your Area World Tour in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, the members are also being recognized by international music bodies like Billboard and MTV.
BLACKPINK recently took home the prize for Choice Song for DDU DU DDU DU at the recently concluded Teen Choice Awards while they are also nominated for Best Kpop in the much anticipated MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).
