POSCO Wins Social Media Category at International PR Association's 'Golden World Awards 2022'

POSCO won the 'Golden World Awards (GWA)' in the social media category, hosted by the International Public Relations Association, for the first time in Korea. Photo by POSCO

POSCO won an award in the social media category at the 'Golden World Awards 2022' organized by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).

The 'Golden World Awards' is a global award presented annually by IPRA, which has over 1,000 PR professionals worldwide as members. It recognizes outstanding brands across more than 30 categories, including environment, sports, entertainment, and new product launches. Notably, it is the only PR-related award that imposes no regional restrictions, allowing brands from around the world to compete, earning it the nickname "the Nobel Prize of the PR industry."

This year, POSCO was the only domestic company to be named among the winners, achieving the first-ever win in the social media category by a Korean company since the Golden World Awards were established in 1990.

POSCO was recognized for its efforts to shed the image of a traditional heavy steel company and enhance its reputation as an environmentally friendly and sustainable company for future generations by actively utilizing social media characters and YouTube.

POSCO launched and nurtured the social media character 'Poseokho,' created directly by university students, as the narrator to convey the brand story and engage directly with the MZ generation. Additionally, POSCO collaborated with various social media influencers to actively introduce eco-friendly steel representative spaces such as 'Park1538,' a high-end complex cultural space at POSCO’s Pohang headquarters, and 'Space Walk,' the largest experiential sculpture donated by POSCO to Pohang City. Through digital trend-optimized content like music videos and virtual tours, POSCO developed brand storytelling in ways that the MZ generation could enjoy.

Alongside this, POSCO’s first-ever YouTube digital campaign in the form of a mystery web drama, 'Green Tomorrow,' introduced hydrogen reduction steelmaking and eco-friendly steel products, creatively showcasing POSCO’s efforts toward carbon neutrality and garnering widespread empathy and support.

POSCO’s Instagram channel saw a 47% increase in subscribers and an eightfold increase in content engagement compared to before the character’s introduction. The Green Tomorrow YouTube campaign, launched in January this year, has recorded over 14 million views and more than 2,400 comments to date.

Ha Jung-yoon, Assistant Manager of POSCO’s Communications Office, who was in charge of launching the SNS character 'Poseokho' and managing the Instagram channel, said, "This award is entirely thanks to the great love and support from Podong-i (the affectionate nickname for followers of POSCO’s Instagram channel). We will continue to repay Podong-i with various content that resonates with them, making them laugh and enjoy."

POSCO plans to further expand its communication base with the MZ generation through eco-friendly goods development, offline pop-up store operations, and digital campaigns using 'Poseokho.' It also intends to continue efforts to enhance its recognition as a leading eco-friendly future materials company by leveraging the latest video trends such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.

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