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| Seoul's new slogan, "Seoul, My Soul," appears on an entrance to city hall, Wednesday. Yonhap |
City advised not to change slogan too often and learn from New York
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Seoul city government unveiled a new slogan amid much hoopla last week in hopes of bolstering the image of the metropolis. The new slogan, "Seoul, My Soul," replaces "I.SEOUL.U" that was created eight years ago with the same goal in mind.
But even before all of the confetti settled, the Seoul Metropolitan Government's much-heralded slogan has drawn mixed reviews with many people scratching their heads.
A resident in eastern Seoul told The Korea Times that she likes the city's latest slogan because it is catchy and easy to remember.
"I also liked the previous I.SEOUL.U because I thought it was pretty smart to put the city name that way," the woman said, refusing to give her name. The 30-something woman lived in Seoul since she moved from Anyang, Gyeonggi Province in the early 1990s.
"I like the latest one even better," she added.
Another positive review came from a Korean-Canadian from Toronto.
"It always bothered me whenever people pronounced Seoul as 'Soul,' but I like this slogan," the local elementary school teacher told the Korea Times. "It rhymes, which makes it catchy and also captures how the city has a spirit. If it was like 'Toronto, My Soul,' people will be like 'what?'" the teacher added.
Some said the latest slogan is an improvement from the previous one that was criticized for making little sense grammatically and failed to deliver an effective message. The latest slogan's use of symbols also earned some positive reviews.
They said the outcome was more colorful and cuter than what they had expected from the government.
"To me, the new design expresses the city's value of diversity and seems to say the city is still young," Kim Su-jeung, a visual communication design professor at Ewha Womans University's College of Art and Design, told The Korea Times.
"A 'humor code' in the rhyming words and pictogram design adds a visual balance between the text and image. The outcome can appeal to a universal audience in a more friendly way."
On the other hand, critics said the new slogan is hardly original and is very similar to the city government's existing tourism catchphrase: "My Soul Seoul."
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| Participants at the Seoul Metropolitan Government's presentation ceremony for a new slogan wave at city hall, Wednesday. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is standing sixth from the right in the front row. Newsis |
Some questioned if the decision to ditch I.SEOUL.U was necessary, even though Seoulites had already grown accustomed to it over the past eight years.
Others questioned if the rebranding project was even worth spending taxpayers' money.
"They shouldn't change the slogan so often, because it's confusing. It's better to stick to one. The change will also require an additional budget for public relations purposes," Kakim Danabayev, who works at Seoul Global Center in downtown Seoul, told The Korea Times. "Design-wise, I am curious why they added yellow, pink, green and blue," he added.
A professional designer in his 30s pointed out that changing a city's slogan or logo frequently is problematic, because it might paradoxically suggest that the catchphrase does not have much value.
Other critics also cited the fact that major business conglomerates are extremely cautious about changing their logos or brands.
Former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon faced a barrage of criticism when he dumped "Hi Seoul, Soul of Asia" and came up with I.SEOUL.U in 2015.
Some people at the time were concerned that changing the existing brand could make it more difficult for people to remember it. And the latest slogan is not immune from the same criticism.
Many are advising the Seoul city government to take the cue from New York City, whose "I Love New York" logo has represented the megacity since 1977.
"Seoul, My Soul" is the city's fourth slogan change since 2002 when former Mayor Lee Myung-bak launched "Hi, Seoul."
The Seoul city government started working on the latest slogan in August 2022. Four finalists were chosen and after two rounds of public surveys, the winner was chosen in a final selection by beating "Seoul for you."
Design experts then started working on the new brand, adding pictograms to the text hoping the brand could be understood by the global community.
Some 850,000 people took part in creating the city's new slogan, including local residents as well as experts in branding, marketing and design.
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