G-Dragon's 56% Brand Score Jump Is the Real Story Behind Jimin's September Win

BTS's Jimin claimed the top spot in the Korea Corporate Reputation Institute's September 2026 boy group individual brand reputation rankings, posting a score of 3,905,514 across participation, media, communication, and community metrics. The figure represents a 2.17% dip from August, yet it was still comfortably clear of second and third place, extending what has been a remarkably consistent run at the top of these monthly rankings.

The more striking number this month belongs to BIGBANG's G-Dragon, whose score of 3,517,368 marked a 56.04% surge from the prior month, placing him firmly in second. That kind of month-over-month jump is unusual in brand index terms, where scores typically move in single digits, and it suggests a concentrated spike in online engagement rather than a gradual build.

The full top 10

ATEEZ's San ranked third with 3,296,639, followed by BTS's Jungkook in fourth at 3,165,241 and BTS's Jin in fifth at 2,873,340. San and Jungkook both slid slightly (down 1.51% and 8.63% respectively), while Jin edged up 0.74%. Rounding out the top ten were BTS's V at sixth, ATEEZ's Wooyoung at seventh, TVXQ's U-Know Yunho at eighth, Wanna One's Kim Jaehwan at ninth, and CORTIS's Geonho at tenth.

Positions 11 through 20 went to BIGBANG's Daesung, NCT's Doyoung, Wanna One's Park Jihoon and Ong Seongwu, BIGBANG's Taeyang, BTS's Suga, CORTIS's Juhoon, EXO's Baekhyun, RIIZE's Wonbin, and BTS's RM.

What the data measures

The institute derived the rankings by extracting 69,626,192 data points across 755 male idol individuals from August 19 to September 19, a 1.18% increase in total big data volume compared to August. The methodology combines participation, media, communication, and community indices, with a recommendation indicator weighted into the final score.

Korea Corporate Reputation Institute director Goo Chang-hwan noted that Jimin's brand performed strongly in link analysis around the words "beautiful," "certify," and "record," while keyword analysis highlighted ARMY, Who, and Like Crazy. His positive-to-negative sentiment ratio came in at 93.82%, one of the cleaner readings in a field where even top-ranked acts often carry measurable negative noise.

Longer context

Jimin has held the individual brand index top spot across multiple consecutive months through 2026, and his July score of 3,893,749 reflected that same pattern: first place even after a 30.42% drop from the previous month, at a time when his brand keywords centered on ARMY, Munich, and his blond-hair era. G-Dragon, meanwhile, has been climbing steadily since late 2025, when he ranked third with 3,444,575, and the 56% acceleration this month suggests renewed activity is finding traction well beyond his core fanbase.

The ceiling for Jimin's score remains a useful benchmark: his November 2025 figure of 4,389,785 and his September 2025 peak of 5,390,371 show how high the index can go when a major release or promotional cycle is running. With no equivalent catalyst visible in the current cycle, a score above four million would require either a surprise drop or a surge of external media attention. For now, the gap between first and second is narrowing, and G-Dragon's trajectory is the one to watch heading into the final quarter of 2026.