How personal taste becomes a business advantage

Companies usually look at what people want and create products and content to match. But what if a company began with one person’s taste? In 2023, Jennie established the label OA for her solo activities, personally guiding her choices in music, fashion and content. What OA demonstrates is less that a famous artist has founded a company than how one person’s choices can shape a company’s direction.

When people hear that Jennie created OA (ODD ATELIER), the first word that comes to mind is independence. In 2023, Jennie established the label OA for her solo activities. She continued group activities with BLACKPINK’s existing agency while pursuing her individual work through a company she had created herself. What changed after Jennie founded the company was not only her agency, but also the scope of what she could decide for herself. In a 2025 interview, Jennie named the absence of limits as the biggest change she had felt while working at OA. She said that being able to decide for herself what she wanted to do also meant taking responsibility for the results. By starting a company, Jennie became the person making the decisions.

It isn’t defined by just one thing.

The name OA also reflects this direction. Jennie said that when creating a new company, she wanted to avoid a name that called to mind only a particular music genre or line of business. She saw OA as a space where different kinds of work could take shape, and did not want to decide in advance what she might do in the future. So from the outset, OA did not narrow its scope by saying, “This is what we do.” Instead, it left room for possibilities and for the things she might want to do in the future, rather than limiting itself to what was already defined.

When taste becomes a company’s direction

Having many things you like does not, by itself, give a company its distinctive character. What matters is making similar choices across different situations. While making her solo album, Jennie worked with various producers to find a sound that suited her, and broadened her working methods to create the music she wanted. She continued to carry her ideas beyond music into other fields in the same way. For the Jennie Special Edition made with Beats, Jennie took part in the design, bringing black ribbons, a dedicated case and elements inspired by her music and aesthetic into the product. Music and products may seem like entirely different fields. But in both cases, the result reflects what Jennie chooses. A single choice may be personal taste, but as similar choices accumulate, people will begin to see a common thread.

The name itself sets the standard

Rather than creating a new music genre, Jennie works within the frameworks of existing music. Even so, when new work comes out, people wonder first, before asking about genre: What will Jennie show us this time? The name Jennie itself creates anticipation. OA is similar. Instead of having the company define the scope of activity first, Jennie decides what she wants to do, and the company moves to make it possible. OA’s global business lead has also said that Jennie is now able to decide more freely on her musical direction and plans. The “Jennie genre” referred to here is not a new music genre. It is the belief that whatever field she works in, if Jennie has chosen it, that choice itself becomes a standard.

When deciding a company’s direction, the answer does not always have to come from the market. What choices you will keep making may last longer than what you like. As similar choices accumulate and the reasons behind them become clear, people begin to anticipate what decisions a brand will make before they even see its products or content. In the end, what becomes a competitive advantage is not one distinctive taste, but a standard the company creates for itself. And when that standard endures, one person’s name can become a brand in its own right. Perhaps that is where a business can begin.