Seoul City to Develop New Brand to Replace 'I·Seoul·U'... Final Selection Within the Year

Dynamic Appeal and Global Leading City Ambition Condensed to Create Economic Value and Enhance Urban Competitiveness
Domestic and Foreign Participants Collaborate in Development Process to Achieve Brand Globalization Goal

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is embarking on the development of a new brand.

On the 16th, Seoul announced that it will create a brand that encapsulates the dynamism, charm, and aspirations of Seoul as a global leading city?one that comes to mind when people think of ‘Seoul’ and is loved worldwide. The plan is to actively utilize this successful city brand to generate economic value and to boost Seoul’s urban competitiveness, which has declined over the past decade.

Seoul will develop and promote the brand through four major stages based on the principle that a city brand must specifically reflect the city’s unique characteristics and identity. The goal is to finalize the selection within this year. The stages are: ▲Finding Seoul’s value (gathering opinions from domestic and foreign individuals on Seoul’s characteristics, functions, emotional value, and aspirations) ▲Creating Seoul’s value (branding work by experts) ▲Deciding Seoul’s value (final selection of the brand proposal) ▲Promoting Seoul’s value (refining and spreading the brand).

In particular, noting the low favorability of previous brands such as I·Seoul·U among foreigners, a procedure to increase overseas applicability has been established. By involving both domestic and foreign participants in the development process, the project aims for global brand recognition. From the initial development stage, Seoul will collect opinions from foreigners living abroad through online and offline channels, and at the final selection stage, conduct a preference survey on Seoul’s value with 1,000 foreigners residing in major cities overseas such as Seoul, New York, and Paris, incorporating the results.

To develop a brand image that is both popular and professional, Seoul will appoint the country’s top branding expert as the overall PM in September and form an expert advisory group. The advisory group will participate in identifying the fundamental meaning of the new brand, including Seoul’s identity and aspirational values, and in selecting the brand design proposal. It will be composed of experts from fields such as media, communication, tourism, and urban marketing.

Starting next year, Seoul will conduct a refinement process so that the word ‘Seoul’ alone can convey the city’s charm. Once the refinement is complete, the brand will be promoted domestically and internationally as a global city marketing brand. Upon final brand selection, Seoul will prepare usage manuals and application plans, and actively utilize the new brand spatially in city-affiliated institutions, public transportation, and urban facilities, as well as in online promotional materials and souvenirs.

As the first step in brand development, Seoul will launch the ‘“Seoul is 00.” Finding Seoul’s Value Citizen Contest’ starting on the 17th. Through collecting key words (words) in response to questions such as ‘What is Seoul-ness? If you were to express Seoul in a word or short sentence,’ Seoul will gather opinions from domestic and international citizens on the city’s characteristics, functions, emotional value, and aspirations.

Choi Won-seok, Director of Citizen Communication Planning at Seoul City, said, “We are embarking on the development of a new brand that can truly express the value of Seoul, a city of companionship and special charm. We will actively utilize a successful city brand to create economic value and to raise Seoul’s urban competitiveness, which has declined over the past decade.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.