Samsung Securities Uses AI K-Pop Group LUMINA to Promote Investing as Video Hits 3 Million Views

Samsung Securities, a South Korean stock brokerage, has turned to artificial intelligence to create a four-member K-pop girl group as it looks for new ways to present financial content online. The group, LUMINA, made its debut with the music video 'Override', which passed 3 million views on YouTube about five weeks after its release.

The brokerage plans to use the virtual performers as recurring faces across its social media output. Samsung Securities produces about 1,500 pieces of content a year, but finding suitable presenters has been difficult. Staff members with financial expertise were often inexperienced on camera, while celebrity presenters could be expensive and might not fit the company's image, said Uhm Sewon, head of the brokerage's media strategy team.

Samsung Securities' team used AI to create the song, characters and video, Uhm said. He also said improvements in the technology had made the group's dance movements look more natural. The brokerage has outlined plans to use the same four characters across music videos, interviews, short-form content and material about investing.

Samsung Securities Has Yet to Measure Campaign Returns

Despite the video's strong initial performance, Samsung Securities has not disclosed whether that audience has translated into measurable business results. The company said it was difficult to assess the campaign's return because 'Override' is LUMINA's first music video.

Uhm said earlier Samsung Securities campaigns that paired customer events with YouTube videos attracted more visitors than events held on their own. LUMINA's debut is the brokerage's first music-video campaign, however, and the company has not disclosed a comparable measure of its effect.

That distinction matters for a brokerage, where audience size is not the same as customer activity. Views do not show whether people went on to open accounts, use Samsung Securities' services or make investment decisions. The company has not published figures linking LUMINA's reach to any of those outcomes.

LUMINA's Fictional Members Feature in Financial Content

Samsung Securities identifies LUMINA's four members as fictional characters through prominent labels in its content. The labels include the Korean term '가상인물' (gasang inmul), which translates as 'virtual person'.

The brokerage also applies internal checks to finance-related videos featuring LUMINA. Such material goes through about three stages of review by in-house specialists, the company said. Samsung Securities said its financial content uses information verified by in-house experts, with the review process applying to material about investing.

Brokerage Plans More LUMINA Content

Samsung Securities plans to extend LUMINA beyond 'Override'. Its next projects include a performance video and a follow-up song, alongside interviews, short-form challenges and content showing the characters' daily lives.

The brokerage also plans to feature the group in investor education videos. That would add financial explainers to the music and entertainment formats already outlined by the company.

Samsung Securities Has Not Registered Copyright in 'Override'

Samsung Securities has not registered copyright in 'Override', Uhm said.

South Korean copyright guidance states that output generated autonomously by AI, without human creative contribution, is not eligible for copyright registration. However, works created with AI assistance may qualify if they contain sufficient human creative input, with protection applying to the portions reflecting that contribution.

Uhm said Samsung Securities had not registered copyright in 'Override' and was not registered to earn revenue from music, adding that the brokerage was using LUMINA's song in its own content and marketing.