I.Seoul.U.2

By John Burton

As predicted, the campaign to select a new slogan to promote the capital city has turned into a debacle. A majority of Koreans and 70 percent of Seoulites have expressed displeasure about the selection of “I.SEOUL.U,” according to an opinion survey. At least one major Korean newspaper has called for the campaign to be suspended. I understand that even some of those involved in the process are unhappy about the outcome.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, however, is sticking to his guns, saying that the city will adopt the motto, even though he personally preferred another of the three finalists, “Seouling.” I understand that the mayor can’t be seen as backing down since it would represent a loss of face when many believe he is preparing to make a run to become Korea’s next president.

But Mayor Park is not really to blame for what happened. Primary responsibility falls on the nine experts who appeared to have hijacked the process at the last minute during the announcement ceremony on the evening of Oct. 28. Before the ceremony began, the slogan that received the biggest support in a city-sponsored online poll was the more acceptable “Seoulmate.” But the nine unanimously chose I.Seoul.U and persuaded the crowd huddled in a rather damp and chilly Seoul Plaza to cast their deciding votes for their selection.

It is interesting to hear the justification for the selection. Those who condemn it are criticized for being old fashioned and out of touch. “Don’t you know that the current global trend is for open-ended and ambiguous slogans,” say defenders of the I.Seoul.U. Mayor Park said that traditional slogans, such as “Incredible India,” quickly wear out, while “I.Seoul.U” will last because “it can mean anything.” If that is the case then Seoul should adopt a Rorschach ink blot as its logo.

Supporters also cite the adoption of such slogans as “Be Berlin,” “I amsterdam” and “&Tokyo.” But all these cities already have an established global identity, which Seoul does not and this was the rationale for trying to create a new slogan to capture the city’s essence in the first place.

The trouble with trying to appear to be trendy is the danger of quickly falling out of fashion as was the case with 1960s paisley shirts, 1970s bell bottom trousers or 1980s hairstyles. The Economist recently commented on the trend of “ever-sillier” corporate names that are meant to be “creative,” the same phenomenon that appears to have governed the Seoul slogan selection process.

“These are supposed to be the opposite of generic corporate names: concrete rather than abstract, eye-catching rather than bland. But, like hipster beards, they suffer from the law of diminishing returns,” the weekly said before concluding that it is “better to be old-fashioned than absurd: rather Smith & James than what looks like a Scrabble spillage.” The only defense I can offer for I.Seoul.U is that it is not at least in the same league as the notorious “Bucheon, Hands Up.”

But if we are forced to stick with the “cool” format of I.Seoul.U, then why not something like Heart. Mind. Seoul or Mind.Body.Seoul, which better embodies what were supposed to be the three criteria for the new slogan — passion, harmony and relaxation?

The other argument being made in defending I.Seoul.U is that it was mainly aimed at a domestic audience and the nearby tourist markets of China and Japan and so it does not have to be grammatically correct or even make much sense. But that observation overlooks the fact that the slogan is likely to grace all of Seoul’s international marketing material. Moreover, this newspaper quoted Kim Min-ki, who was in charge of the slogan project, as saying “the new slogan will be used to rebrand the city globally.”

So how do we get out of this jam? Here is my suggestion. So everyone saves face, let us accept I.Seoul.U purely for local city consumption to go along with the superfluous “Visit Seoul” posters that now grace the exteriors of city buses. At least, that would justify part of the cost the city spent on the project.

But then the city should convene a group consisting of Seoul-based international advertising and PR consultants who understand both the attraction of Seoul and what plays well with the outside world to come up recommendations for a new overseas slogan.

By all means focus on producing the type of slogan that would also do well in China and Japan. The beauty of such classic city slogans such as “I love (heart) New York” and “Hong Kong: Asia’s World City” is that they translate easily into Chinese or Japanese and a bunch of other languages for that matter.

John Burton, a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Seoul-based independent journalist and media consultant. He can be reached at johnburtonft@yahoo.com.