POSCO 'Pantassteel' Advertisement Wins Grand Prize at Korea Digital Advertising Awards

POSCO's 'Phantasteel Advertising Campaign' won the Grand Prize at the '2023 Korea Digital Advertising Awards' held on December 14. From left to right in the photo are Eunjin Park, Deputy Manager of POSCO Communication Office New Media Group; Jaewoong Ahn, Group Leader; Somin In, CEO of Grand Monster, the advertising production company for the Phantasteel campaign; and Seunghyun Kim, Director. Photo by POSCO

POSCO's 'Phantasteel Advertising Campaign' won the Grand Prix at the '2023 Korea Digital Advertising Awards' held on the 14th.

The Korea Digital Advertising Awards is a ceremony aimed at revitalizing the digital advertising industry and promoting harmony within the digital advertising sector. This year, a total of 460 entries, double the number from last year, were submitted, and after the first and second rounds of judging, POSCO won the Grand Prix, the first prize in all categories.

The POSCO Phantasteel advertising campaign is a unique collaboration between the steel company POSCO and the game company Nexon. It broke away from the typical corporate promotional format by utilizing the concept of gamification, featuring stunning visuals and immersive storytelling series video content, which helped build a new corporate brand image among the 20s and 30s generation. Gamification refers to applying game elements and mechanics to non-game contexts.

This year, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the comprehensive completion of the first phase of the Pohang Steelworks, POSCO released the Phantasteel advertising campaign in two series in August and October, highlighting the 'value and importance of steel' and 'environmental friendliness of steel.'

Through the Phantasteel advertising campaign, POSCO conveyed its vision of achieving new milestones in steelmaking technology over the past 50 years in Korea and moving toward the next 50 years, much like the meaning of 'fantasy' as 'illusion or a dream to be realized.'

In the advertisement, POSCO created a unique story by setting up a virtual world called the 'Phantasteel Kingdom,' where the kingdom’s steelmaking technology is passed down to defeat evil forces and build a sustainable future, adding an element of fun.

Group Leader Ahn Jae-woong stated, "Thanks to our employees who proposed unique and diverse ideas and the management’s bold decisions, the Phantasteel campaign was born, and we are delighted to receive the Grand Prix, a major award. We will continue to enhance our corporate image with differentiated advertising and contribute to the development of the digital advertising industry."

The Phantasteel advertising campaign has not only received external awards but also achieved an unprecedented approximately 66 million cumulative views on YouTube for episodes 1 and 2 combined, which is rare for corporate advertisements. Positive responses to POSCO’s innovative attempt continue in YouTube comments and various online communities.

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