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Report on PRA Study Tour to Seoul, South Korea Prepared by: Terri Chan Date of Travel: 25 May 2016 – 29 May 2016 (Wednesday to Sunday) Travel Agent: Sunpac Tours & Travel Ltd. Sixteen final-year PRA students (10 females and 6 males) have participated in this five-day study trip to Seoul from May 25 to May 29, 2016. Dr. Terri Chan was the faculty-in-charge and accompanied the group for this trip. Offering greater flexibility in itinerary arrangement and better meal & accommodation options, the student representatives (from TYA 2015-16) chose Sunpac Tours as the designated travel agent. Ms. Pauline Hsie, the tour guide, has accompanied us throughout the trip along with Mr. Sam, the local Korean interpreter. Two campus visits and two company visits were arranged in this trip. Here, we would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Hyun Jee Oh in connecting us with the universities in Korea so that we were able to arrange visits at Seoul Women’s University as well as Sogang University. Special thanks go to Dr. Vivienne Leung in advising the tour arrangement and to Mimi for her efficient help in coordinating the trip and answering student inquiries.

At the airport where journey begins…

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Day 1 We took a red-eye flight and arrived at the Incheon International Airport at 5:30am. Some of us rented wifi routers and exchanged money at the airport before heading to our first cultural experience location — Jimjilbang (aka traditional Korean sauna). It is a large public bathhouse in Korea with gender-segregated hot tubs, saunas and shower places. In addition, there are unisex rooms of different temperatures and decorated with different materials (wood, crystal, minerals) serving some traditional Korean medicinal purposes. The complex also consists of snack bars, sleeping quarters and swimming pool. There we took a rest for roughly 2.5 hours and had the bibimbap (mixed rice in stone pot) as our lunch. After that, we headed to Samsung D’ light, a 3storey flagship store and showroom of Samsung electronics in Gangnam area. At the Samsung D’Light, we enrolled in an interactive game tour in which students had a chance to experience the latest technology of Samsung products, ranging from individual consumer products like cameras and motion-sensors to digitalized office and home appliances or applications, at different check-points. As a highlight of that day, we all tried out the virtualreality gear powered by Oculus. Pairing the VR gear with a motion chair, we experienced a fun and exciting virtual roller coaster ride. “It really feels like riding on a real roller-coaster. You can see and hear people next to you screaming and feel the gravitational force during the turns”, some students commented after the ‘ride’. While waiting for check-in at the hotel, we dropped by Ewha Womans University and surrounding shopping area. After dinner, we checked in at the Marigold Hotel in the Hongik University district (a popular hangout place for college students).

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Snapshots at Samsung d’light

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Day 2 After having breakfast at the hotel, we took a short walk at Samcheong-dong. Samcheong-dong is one of the unique places in Seoul where tradition and modern artistic sensibilities meet. The well-maintained Korean traditional houses featuring antique beauty are now homes to chic galleries, distinctive cafes and design shops. It was a nice morning walk to freshen up.

Morning walk at Samcheong-dong

After loading with kimchi, we were ready to start off our first campus visit at Seoul Women’s University. We attended a short talk on online media management prepared by Prof. Chris Kim from School of Communication and Media. Prior our visit, each of our students had to prepare a question related to online media in Korea for Prof. Kim. The talk began with a discussion on the controversial topic of information access and privacy. Prof. Kim then introduced the regulations on online privacy in South Korea, and moved on to the topic on latest online trend. With the world’s renowned technological infrastructure, online media landscape in South Korea is very dynamic and ever-changing. It is highlighted that online (music, movie and drama) streaming is popular among Korean media users and real-time broadcast of various eating ‘shows’ (e.g. broadcasting what an individual will eat each day) is one of the popular entertainment pastimes for young Koreans. Lastly, Prof. Kim wrapped up the talk by showcasing the ‘Yellow ID’ service on KaKao Talk (Korean version of what’s app/ WeChat) as a free and secured online channel for small businesses to communicate with their customers [https://yellowid.kakao.com]. The visit ended with a facility tour at the digital photography lab and TV studio of the School of Communication and Media, guided by the teaching assistants of Prof. Kim. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Kim and his team, as well as Ms.

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Dasol Kim from the International Affairs Office for their time and effort in coordinating this campus visit. Visit at Seoul Women’s University

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Afterwards, we headed back to the city centre and arrived at Myeongdong for our next visit. We were most fortunate to have the E-land Group (Fashion Division) to host us for this company visit. E-land Group is a South Korean conglomerate and is considered as the largest integrated fashion and retail company in Korea. Besides specializing at fashion and retail, E-land has expanded its business into hotel, restaurant, leisure, and construction sectors. We began our Eland journey with some store visits of its fashion brands at Myeongdong. Mr. Wilson Lau, the Marketing Manager of E-Land Fashion Group Hong Kong, was very nice enough to guide us in this company tour during his vacation stay in Seoul. He highlighted the perspective DNA and personality attached to each individual apparel brand and also explained the differences in promotion strategy across brands and regions. For instance, SPAO offers fast fashion with affordable pricing and utilizes Kpop stars as endorsers; while Who A U features Southern Cali fashion style with its own theme song, and model-like salespersons serve as an attractive appeal to increase awareness and store traffic. Shortly after this ‘field trip’, we went to the E-land headquarters to meet with the brand manager of Eland Group (CMO Division), Mr. Sky Cho who has been working in the E-land Group for more than 10 years. During the talk, Mr Cho gave us an overview of the company portfolio and its business strategy with such a wide-ranging brand extensions. A Q&A session was arranged after Mr Cho’s sharing, and students’ questions mainly evolve around promotional channels and some upcoming company developments in HK and Greater China region. Overall, we had a fruitful time in understanding Korean business culture and brand strategies. We ended the day with some free time at the Hongik shopping streets after dinner (just 5-min walk to the hotel). Visit at E-land Group

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Snapshots during E-land Visit

Day 3 We continued with our university and agency visits on the third day. In the morning, Sogang University has arranged a 1-hour campus tour guided by two student representatives from the Communication School. After greeting with the officer from International Office, we split off into two groups to tour around the Sogang Campus. With the current South Korea president as the alumni of Sogang, the university takes pride in developing its students as future leaders in the society. As being told by the student ambassadors, we also got to understand more about their emphasis on academic excellence through a lifestyle pattern of long study hours within a highly competitive environment. In general, our students found it interesting to compare and contrast their mode of learning and college life with those from South Korea. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Mr. David Cho, the International Affairs Officer and two student ambassadors to arrange this tour to us within such a short notice.

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Visit at Sogang University After lunch, we dropped by an iconic tourist attraction, Namsan Park and N-Tower Locks of Love for a nice short hike before our next agency visit.

A short hike at Namsan Park

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Located in Itaewon, Cheil Worldwide is a creative solution company under the Samsung Group that offers advertising, PR, digital marketing and business solution to its clients. It is the largest agency in South Korea and ranked the world 15th largest. We were brought into their promotional hall and were introduced with the high-tech gadgets and displays around the hall. For instance, upon scanning the QR code on the wall, company’s award-winning showcases will be projected in the device. Within the hall, we have reviewed some of their signature campaigns dated back in the 70s till the latest ones in 2015. In addition, we were also able to see the real trophies of various renowned awards such as the Cannes Lions and the CLIO as they are only displayed at the headquarters. Students were amazed with the facilities at the promotional hall and have spent an enjoyable time learning the campaigns in this digitized and interactive way. After the visit, we wrapped up the day at Insa-dong, an area famous for its traditional Korean galleries, souvenir and arts shops, and restaurants. We stayed there for dinner and returned to the hotel after.

Agency Visit at Cheil Worldwide

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Snapshots at Cheil Worldwide

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Day 4 In the morning, we visited the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) to further understand this city as the designated World Design Capital. Officially inaugurated in 2014, DDP is the landmark of South Korea’s fashion hub and popular tourist destination. Using the audio-guided devices, we toured around DDP featuring various exhibition spaces, design centers and fashion design stores. We spent roughly two hours at DDP, and then broke off to have half-a-day free time on this second last day of trip. All of them reported their return to hotel at night to the faculty-in-charge.

At DDP Day 5 In the morning, one student reported her lost phone to the local interpreter and faculty-in-charge. With the efficient help of the local interpreter, the student was able to retrieve her phone at the DDP before our departure. After checking out at the hotel, we headed to the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) for our final visit. KBS is the national public TV broadcaster and one of the largest TV networks in South Korea. During the tour, we knew the differences between public TV and cable TV systems in South Korea. For instance, while cable TV relies on commercials as the main stream of revenues, public TV stations like KBS receive mandatory television license fee from the public, and therefore has stricter regulations on ad time, frequencies, programme nature and variety.

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Before departing to Hong Kong, the students decided to have an extended experience of local culture. Costuming in the traditional Korean dress (hanbok), students were brought to the Nansangol Hanok Village for photo taking. This traditional Korean village has restored traditional houses, pavilion and pond that mimic ancient Joseon Dynasty. Like travelling to the past, students enjoyed a great time there as if they were the ancient Korean nobles!

With the Hallyu (Korean Wave) evolving into a global phenomenon, I believe that students have gained a deeper understanding of the dynamic market in Korea (from creative processes, technology adaptation to consumer culture) through their active participation in various firms, university and cultural visits. All in all, it was a fruitful trip that offers great learning exposure to our students, and we are grateful for this opportunity offered by the school.