Dreamcatcher Continues Down Stylish "OOTD" Promotions Road With New Activities, Content, And Achievements

There’s always an expectation that during comebacks you can expect a flurry of activity from any K-Pop group or soloist, as they rush out into the public eye to promote their new music and get people to watch or listen to it. Promotional periods these days are a bit shorter for groups who’ve been around a while (2 weeks or so or maybe 3 on average) so acts tend to cram as much as they can into what they can promote.

Dreamcatcher has always been one of the most prolific content creators I’ve seen in K-Pop, even off-comeback cycle, but for “OOTD” promotions they seem to be going even harder than usual. In the Dreamcatcher Video Database I maintain, I’ve recorded about 125 or so videos in the 11 or so days they’ve been promoting, which is an insane even for them. But with it being close to the end of the year and many music shows going off the air til the new year, the group has been busy finding plenty of other avenues to get eyes on them. Let’s take a look at the group’s packed past week of content!

Music show stages have been abbreviated throughout this era so far, mostly because as mentioned previously many of them are taking breaks to reset and re-configure for next year. That of course didn’t stop Dreamcatcher from putting everything they could into the stages they were able to present for “OOTD” this past week on Arirang Simply K-Pop and MBC Show! Music Core. The latter may have been a silver lining, as the unfortunate postponement of the group’s trip to Hong Kong to perform at the Harley-Davidson 120 Festival meant that they were able to take an extra day off and hop onto the Music Core lineup.

The official YouTube channel, meanwhile, dropped in a bunch of new comeback-related content. Two dance videos, one for “OOTD” and another for B-side “Shatter”, were put up, and while I was expecting something neat in so far as watching Dreamcatcher kill the choreography in their leather jackets and baseball caps, the “Shatter” video was a pleasant surprise. The song still isn’t one that I really jam with given its genre, but watching the choreography that is supposed to be hooked into the music made me appreciate the song a bit more. We saw this ode to the Greek myth of Medusa during the showcase, but here, with professional angles, camera cuts, and highlights, you really see what they were going for in terms of the song. It’s just another reason why I’m a “whole package” evaluator when it comes to K-Pop - for the tracks that have it, having choreography and visual to go with the song really helps better understand it.

It was also great to see the usual MV-related content on the channel as well. As always, the MV Reaction was fun and filled with Dreamcatcher-style chaos. The apology Handong gave right in the middle to shoving Yoohyeon, the fact that Yoohyeon joked about none of her Handong fighting scenes making it in, that Dami actually consumed real alcohol for the “drunken every day” line and more made the reaction pretty memorable.

As for the MV making film, like the Jacket filming it looks like they condensed the footage down to one video instead of releasing in two parts, which I think is nice just to have that sense of continuity in watching how everything was done. I know that K-Pop fans talk a lot about how budget increases for every MV for their favorite group, but for “OOTD” I can believe it between the complex sets, the use of vehicles and actual rendering/editing processes to bump up the idea of the visuals being an illusion.

We’ve been missing some comeback-type content from the group these past few comebacks (perhaps due to time, or other factors) - the unboxing vids, or the milestone reward videos, even Weverse lives (though we did have Yoohyeon check in with fans briefly this past week) for example, so seeing something new and original from this comeback was a nice bonus treat to get. The “Shall we start this game” video had the group mess around with Naver Sue, a fun dress-up game, in order to compete for the best fashion sense - totally appropriate for “OOTD” era and also entertaining just to see interactions - like Gahyeon getting a lower score because she chose to help Yoohyeon, or JiU and Handong having a funny reaction to some of the choices. I’ll probably talk about this more in the retrospective for this comeback, but it really feels like DCC’s marketing team has been trying a bunch of different things, so we’ll have to see how it goes.

@official_dreamcatcherThis My Fashion👑  #드림캐쳐 #Dreamcatcher #오오티디 #OOTD #오오티디_챌린지 #OOTD_Challenge #kpop #fyp #foryou #dance

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@official_dreamcatcherThis My Fashion👑 @예린(YERIN)  #예린 #YERIN #드림캐쳐 #Dreamcatcher #가현 #GAHYEON #오오티디 #OOTD #오오티디_챌린지 #OOTD_Challenge

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@official_dreamcatcher#저기요_챌린지🎤 #드림캐쳐 #Dreamcatcher #한동 #HANDONG #OOTD #오오티디 #OOTD_Challenge #오오티디_챌린지 #kpop #fyp #foryou #dance

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Speaking of things that are being tried, “OOTD” era appears to be the era of TikTok for Dreamcatcher. This isn’t surprising given the recent success of flooding dance challenges or videos for a song, as ex-IZ*ONE member and soloist Lee Chaeyeon did with release “Knock”. If anything, this has showcased the reach, network, and respect Dreamcatcher has in the industry despite being from a smaller company with a smaller fanbase - we’ve seen everyone from NMIXX’s Sullyoon, EXID’s Solji, ex-Gfriend Yerin, and more participate in these challenges. Coupled with a bunch of fun trend videos and original “OOTD” content, there have been 50+ TikToks and shorts released throughout the ‘Net for this release, and they’ve increased the song’s visibility in many fans’ eyes.

Where I think this promotion period has shined so far, however is in variety appearances, where I think Dreamcatcher has upped their game with new work. I cited a bit of this last week, but I think in this second week we’ve seen a bunch of it become pretty prominent. Whether it’s from NEOGEN getting into the act with a new set of offers for skin care products through their ambassadorship with JiU and Yoohyeon, or hello82 having fun having Dreamcatcher complete 2nd/3rd gen K-pop songs, or JiU and SuA continuing their (mis?)adventures through NBA2k24 gameplay, there’s a lot of fresh variety for fans to go through this comeback. Aside from the continually expanding network of places to appear, it’s just fun to see Dreamcatcher in new settings doing new things with new channels.

Even the places that Dreamcatcher been before have seemed to put a fresh coat of paint on Dreamcatcher appearances this comeback. Aside from returning to hello82, Dreamcatcher made their first appearance in 4 years on KBS Immortal Songs 2, covering Five Finger’s classic “Balloons”, complete with a rock edge and wholesome energy, and Weekly Idol’s now-usual appearance for the group included a new “charm the MC’s” segment, as well as a twist on the old “shouting in silence” game and Dreamcatcher being the first group to beat a foodie vlogger in a mukbang (eating) contest. It’s all added up to some really cool stuff to consume this time around, which seems appropriate for a new story arc, concept, and mood for Dreamcatcher’s music.

Through all of this, we did get some unfortunate news - Main Dancer SuA caught Type A Influenza this past week, something that prompted the company to take action to keep her out of fansign activities, though she tried (and looked subsequently exhausted) performing at this past Saturday’s Show! Music Core. As someone who’s had this type of flu before, it’s not that fun especially when it’s filled with some bouts of feeling somewhat better before diving back into more flu symptoms. It seems the company and SuA have tried to keep a close eye on her state of health, and we’ll hope she gets better soon - if it takes keeping her out of activities for a bit while she recovers, so be it. For now, since they have the most direct knowledge of things, we’ll trust everyone will make the right decisions and choices.

Last, but certainly not least, Dreamcatcher passed a critical milestone this past week when tracking account DeukaeKData reported that Dreamcatcher has become the 14th girl group to surpass 1 million sales lifetime on the Circle (formerly Gaon) chart. According to DeukaeKData, this took 2,512 days. While the growth of the group’s sales may arguably be plateauing, for a group with the number of years Dreamcatcher has had on it with the non-traditional concept and company size they possess, this is nevertheless impressive. Dreamcatcher joins such heady company as TWICE, Red Velvet, aespa, MAMAMOO, NewJeans, IVE, and more, adding their name to a mix of domestically popular girl group stalwarts and new generation overachievers. Like with everything they’ve done, Dreamcatcher achieved this milestone in their own way and on their own terms. No matter where they go from here, they’ve achieved something great in an industry that is highly competitive and sometimes volatile, so they, the company, and the fans should be proud of that.

I do hope everyone chooses to check back in next week as we follow more of Dreamcatcher’s “OOTD” era. With a bunch of things on the schedule (including a brand new music show appearance) it seems the group will be as busy as ever. As always, I’ll be reporting and summarizing for folks looking to catch up, so for all that, and more, I’ll see you here next Sunday!

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