"The Year-End Photo Hotspot Mobilizing Police" How Shinsegae Department Store Created Its Media Facade

원본보기 아이콘

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] "It reminds me of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy."

Recently, crowds gather in front of the Shinsegae Department Store main branch in Jung-gu, Seoul, after sunset. It is a crowd taking photos with the Shinsegae Department Store main building decorated with a media facade for the Christmas season. They come with friends and naturally pose while looking at the building, or stretch out their hands to capture themselves as they pass by. Smiles fill their faces as they check their photos. Instagram posts tagged #ShinsegaeDepartmentStore, filled with photos taken with the main building as the background, have reached 820,000. Police have even been deployed near the sidewalk opposite the department store, designated as a 'photo hotspot,' to ensure smooth passage.

The Shinsegae Department Store media facade, which draws crowds reminiscent of famous overseas tourist spots, has actually been an annual year-end decoration presented for eight years since 2014. This year, it has received an exceptionally explosive response, surprising even the department store internally.

This year's Shinsegae Department Store main branch media facade, about three minutes long with a storyline, is spectacularly produced to feel like watching a circus show. The exterior screen, using 1.4 million LED chips, features a tightrope walking show on a moving ribbon, followed by various Christmas items. At the end of the video, a message appears saying 'Magical moments for you,' wishing viewers a happy year-end. The display runs from sunset to midnight until January 21 of next year.

The planning began last February. Three people, including Nayoung Yoo, head of the Visual Merchandising (VMD) team at Shinsegae Department Store, worked on this project. Yoo said, "It took about six months from planning to music production. We planned the video concept for a month starting last February, created the storyline in March, then spent two months on illustration and video production, followed by about a month on music production for the video."

They drew inspiration from the movie 'The Greatest Showman.' Yoo said, "I wanted to convey the overwhelming feelings and emotions I felt watching The Greatest Showman directly to our customers. Using the movie as a reference, we recreated a concept unique to Shinsegae and designed the storyline and visuals to fit the screen divided into 12 sections."

They intensely debated whether producing a somewhat familiar circus show would be appropriate for the times, but the meeting of classic and new technology returned with an explosive response. Yoo said, "I sincerely thank everyone who took the time to visit in the cold winter. I hope you felt the expected emotions and joy from the media facade."

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.