Tourism is a growing business in many parts of the world—including South Korea. And as part of its campaign to attract more visitors, the capital city has adopted a new slogan. But not everyone is celebrating. HPR’s Bill Dorman has details in today’s Asia Minute.
Branding has become a multi-billion dollar international business. Companies, industries, and yes—even cities pay for these services. One branding project over the past year or so: coming up with a slogan for South Korea’s capital city of Seoul. The government ran a crowd-sourcing campaign and came up with nearly 18-thousand entries. And then the professionals took over—as a branding agency narrowed the list to a mere 200. A panel of Koreans and foreigners trimmed it to 20 - then an expert panel of brand consultants appointed by city officials narrowed it to three: Seoulmate….Seouling….and I Seoul You. That was what the professionals came up with as finalists.
This fall an online vote of Seoul residents picked the winner: I Seoul You… and no one seems very pleased with it. “Terrible” and “confusing” are two relatively gentle terms used by critics. That panel of experts has been a bit defensive, at one point releasing a statement saying new slogans can be awkward for cities - adding that “after a while, it will feel more natural.” The Korea Times puts the cost of the branding exercise at nearly half a million dollars.
