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K-pop brings the crowds: Shinsegae sees the radiant future of Myeong-dong

Published: 09 Jan. 2025, 20:00 Updated: 09 Jan. 2025, 20:25

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

Shinsegae Department Store's media facade in Myeong-dong, Jung District, central Seoul, lights up Shinsegae Square with boy band BoyNextDoor's ″If I say, I love you″ music video on Jan. 6. Highlights of the video will air on the screen through Jan. 12. [KIM JU-YEON]

It’s one minute to 6 p.m. in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Monday, and the space around the intersection in front of Shinsegae Department Store’s media facade is unusually crowded.

The spectators are there on a freezing winter night, counting down the seconds to the hour for one purpose — to see the display light up with the faces of boy band BoyNextDoor. The up-and-coming group’s music video for their first digital single, “If I say, I love you,” was released online and on Shinsegae’s screen at the same time.

“Good things should be seen in big sizes,” said Park Yoo-na, an office worker who came to Myeong-dong from southeastern Seoul. She screams in delight as the display changes to BoyNextDoor members playing in the snow, and once more when music starts blaring from the overhead speakers, loud enough to drown out the noises of heavy traffic.

A Japanese tourist visits Shinsegae Square in Myeong-dong, Jung District, central Seoul, on Jan. 6 for the 8 p.m. screening of BoyNextDoor's "If I say, I love you" music video on the department store's media facade. "It feels more real" to see the members on a large screen than through her device, she told the Korea JoongAng Daily. [KIM JU-YEON]

So far, the Shinsegae flagship's displays were focused on seasonal events, such as with its Christmas lights turned on each year. But the gigantic media facade symbolizes the department store's efforts to bolster the experiential appeal and forge a stronger link with culture — especially K-pop.

Many other visitors who talked to the Korea JoongAng Daily at the scene echoed Park’s wish to see the enlarged version of BoyNextDoor. After all, Shinsegae’s media facade, which spans the entirety of the department store’s north and east exterior walls, is huge: The 1,134 square-meter (12,206 square-foot) light-emitting diode (LED) screen is the size of three basketball courts.

It’s also eye-catching — not just because of how bright it is, which it is, very. It maintains a wide berth from neighboring buildings, and the broad plaza across the road where the building is located gives a clear view of the screen, the largest in the area by far.

Apart from bringing in ad revenue, the now-named Shinsegae Square is also vital to the Jung District Office’s vision to make Myeong-dong the “next New York Times Square.”

The district office hopes to establish the encompassing Myeong-dong Square as a landmark tourist attraction where the dynamic media displays add to the appeal of the area’s famed shopping streets. In 2023, the government designated Myeong-dong a special zone without restrictions on outdoor displays, allowing buildings to set up digital signs regardless of size, shape or color.

Lee Hyeong-ki, senior manager of content strategy at Shinsegae, talks with the JoongAng Daily in an interview at Shinsegae's offices in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 2. Lee coordinates projects with advertisers who are interested in airing videos at Shinsegae Square. [KIM JU-YEON]

Lee Hyeong-ki, senior manager of content strategy at Shinsegae, thinks it can help Myeong-dong reach that goal — with the power of K-pop. He’s the one who coordinates projects with advertisers, or, in the case of K-pop groups, with entertainment companies who are interested in airing videos on Shinsegae Square, and introduced the “Whispering Sound” system that lets viewers hear the sounds from the screened videos through their personal earbuds.

In the case of BoyNextDoor, the band’s label KOZ Entertainment -- headed by CEO Zico, a famed rapper in his own right -- was the one who reached out for the collaboration, Lee told the Korea JoongAng Daily in an interview on Jan. 2.

The HYBE subsidiary label's founder, he assumes, saw how well-received the music video for the new duet by BTS’s V and singer Park Hyo-shin was when it lit up Shinsegae Square in November last year. On the day that it was first screened, the square saw 15.5 percent more visitors on year, according to Shinsegae.

“My thought process behind the V collaboration was, ‘Wouldn’t the fans like to watch the full version of a music video from a globally esteemed K-pop artist? Wouldn’t it be better if they could hear the song, too?” Lee said.

Unlike the first K-pop event, the BoyNextDoor collaboration included a raffle for signed photocards for fans who verified attendance at the event. This comes closer to Lee’s envisioned goals for Shinsegae Square, which involves interactions with visitors in both physical and digital spaces.

Shinsegae held an exclusive pop-up event for the second season of Netflix's hit show ″Arcane″ (2021-24) at the department store's Gangnam branch in southern Seoul in November 2024. [SHINSEGAE]

The benchmark for success so far, he says, was the collaborative project with Netflix that brought the second season of the online streaming service’s hit show "Arcane" (2021-2024) to life in the department store’s app, the media facade’s screens and a pop-up event at Shinsegae’s Gangnam branch.

“Large retailers like Shinsegae can help Myeong-dong become a more interactive area for visitors since they have the space to hold events,” Lee said.

There are other exciting new projects lined up for Shinsegae. Multiple labels have been knocking on the retail firm's doors for a potential collaboration, according to Lee.

Shinsegae's content strategy team is currently in talks with an entertainment company on the debut of a new girl group. While the team head couldn’t share more specific details, he said he hopes for a simultaneous digital unveiling of the individual members at Shinsegae Square ahead of their debut.

Lee’s future personal ambitions for Shinsegae is for the team to be included in the world-building and production of the videos that air. Some ads, like a Chanel spot featuring Blackpink’s Jennie, work as if they were tailored to Shinsegae’s screens. In the Coco Crush fashion campaign, the girl group member throws a ring that, through the help of the screen’s 3-D anamorphic technology, makes it seem as if she is scattering the accessory toward the viewer.

Being involved in that production process would help enable videos to take full advantage of what Shinsegae can offer, Lee said.

A spectator takes a photo of Shinsegae Department Store's media facade in Jung District, central Seoul, on Jan. 6. [KIM JU-YEON]

For now, collaborations with entertainment companies have to suffice. Fans of K-pop are still happy with the current arrangement.

“BoyNextDoor isn’t from a huge label, and they’re relatively new. To collaborate with Shinsegae, that’s a huge deal,” said Pak Bo-ra, a Chinese university student, who came for the 6 p.m. debut. Another visitor who came for the 8 p.m. screening also shared that sense of pride, saying the collaboration also made for “good exposure” for the band.

“It might have started as a job for me, but it was touching to have seen the fans gather. It feels like we’re providing a special experience, like a mini concert, just for them,” Lee said in front of the media facade after the crowd faded away.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]