Seoul City will inject about 2.3 billion won ($2 million) to promote its new slogan “I·SEOUL·U” starting next year with a variety of events, including a large-scale K-pop concert, officials said Thursday.
The capital’s new slogan was picked in October through a series of public votes and is set to replace “Hi Seoul,” which had been used for 13 years.
The budget is currently being reviewed by the Seoul City Council.
The city has spent approximately 1.4 billion won to develop the new brand and for the announcement ceremony held on Oct. 28 at Seoul Plaza.
Next year will be dedicated to various projects including large-scale hallyu performances, an overseas tour, remodeling of the website, social media operations and the formation of a global network of friendly civilian ambassadors, the city said.
About 300 million won has been put aside for various domestic and overseas campaigns. Another 300 million won will be spent for the hallyu concert slated to be held next year on Oct. 28 in celebration of Seoul Citizens Day. Some 300 million won will also be used for overseas performances in such cities as Beijing and Paris.
Seoul City officials explained that the budget is lower than originally planned and that they are planning to make up for the shortage by working with businesses and related organizations.
The largest portion, 768 million won, will be used for online activities, such as to activate websites and social media awareness. The city currently runs the website in six different languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Japanese, Spanish and French. The city said that the largest portion of the budget and human resources are needed to remodel these websites using the new logo. It added that the new brand is aimed more at foreigners than Korean nationals.
As one of the first projects, the city will introduce a new sculpture representing “I·SEOUL·U” next spring at Seoul Plaza.
The new slogan has been embroiled in controversy since its release, with critics calling it nonsensical “Konglish” with an unclear meaning.
The city, however, championed the new catchphrase, saying that it is based on wordplay that is a new trend in city branding.
By Lee Hyun-jeong (
rene@heraldcorp.com)
