"Analyzing Audiences with AI to Boost Satisfaction"... LG Uplus Partners with the Cultural Sector

LG Uplus Launches 'CulturePlus' Solution
Interview with Seong Junhyun, AI/Data Product Manager
"High Interest in Cultural DX... Will Continue Collaboration"

What kind of synergy can arise when a telecommunications company with digital technology meets the cultural and arts industry? LG Uplus, which is 'sincere about culture,' has taken the first step. They have launched 'Culture Plus,' a dedicated solution for cultural facilities that analyzes the interests and movement patterns of exhibition and performance visitors.

Seong Junhyun, Executive Director in charge of AI/Data Products, who led the development of Culture Plus, said in an interview held on the 8th at LG Uplus headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, "We can analyze which age groups visit exhibitions the most and which works attract the audience's interest using LG Uplus's data and artificial intelligence (AI) technology."

Targeting the younger generation, LG Uplus determined that culture holds the answer. Since last year, they have been engaging with the entire cultural industry, including exhibition halls, performance venues, and planning agencies, introducing ways to utilize AI and data. Executive Director Seong explained, "We explained that digital marketing could be conducted targeting LG Uplus subscribers, and that location recognition based on base stations could be used to understand movement patterns and apply them to business." Their goal is to accelerate the digital transformation of the cultural industry using location information from 15 million LG Uplus subscribers nationwide.

Executive Director Seong noted, "The interest and willingness toward digital transformation (DX) in the performance and exhibition industries were higher than expected," adding, "While efforts had been focused solely on the works themselves, now attention is turning to the 'customers.'" Last year, LG Uplus formed a total of 50 partnerships, including 20 with the performance industry and 30 with the exhibition industry, conducting pilot projects for Culture Plus. After the projects conclude, they present the analyzed visitor data results to client companies through presentations and other means.

For example, the D Memorial Hall, a large national public facility located in Cheonan, Chungnam, attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually but operates free of charge, making it difficult to gather information about visitors. Various events such as Children's Day festivals and Liberation Day ceremonies are held there, but preparing events that meet visitors' needs was challenging. By partnering with LG Uplus, they were able to collect diverse data such as 'which regions visitors mainly come from,' 'how many gather by time of day,' and 'the age groups of visitors,' which can now be used for facility management.

LG Arts Center Seoul [Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, knowing information about visitors such as residence, gender, age, and movement patterns makes it easier to plan future events or find institutions for collaboration. When preparing exhibitions, targeted groups can be selected for focused promotion, and visitor routes can be efficiently adjusted. LG Uplus also analyzed how audience preferences changed when LG Art Center, an affiliate company, relocated from Yeoksam to Magok in Seoul.

There are about 9,000 cultural facilities large and small nationwide. Executive Director Seong said, "When visiting cultural sites, I found that while the storage of exhibits and the quality of performance works were top-notch, there were shortcomings in visitor analysis and digital transformation," emphasizing, "There are endless ways to utilize data in the cultural industry going forward." He also assured, "Since the data is used solely for statistical purposes and individual users cannot be identified or specified, there is no need to worry about personal information leaks or privacy violations."

He stated, "We will continue AI and data collaboration with cultural facilities based on LG Uplus's unique experience and know-how," and added, "The profits gained from the business will be used to provide exhibition and performance discounts as benefits for LG Uplus subscribers."

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