wavenovel Chapter 1280 hero
Chapter 1280 hero
Chapter 1280 hero
At 10:00 AM on September 2nd, at Exit 2 of Apgujeong Station on Seoul Subway Line 3.
Kim Soo-yeon, an advertising company employee on her commute, got off at Apgujeong Station with the flow of people. The temperature was unusually high today. As soon as she came out of the subway station, she felt a strong heat wave, which made her feel hot and scorched.
She rubbed her stiff shoulders, checked the time, and wondered if she should go get something to eat first.
"Wow!"
Just as she stepped out of the station and squinted as she walked forward, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead, and several figures rushed past her, the gusts of wind they created hitting Kim Soo-yeon's face and nearly bumping into her shoulder.
She frowned and looked up, only to find that the people who almost bumped into her were several girls in school uniforms, carrying backpacks, and who looked like high school girls. They quickly squeezed behind a group of people who had inexplicably gathered not far ahead, and looked up with the people next to them.
Her gaze swept upwards past the throng of heads—
"omo!"
Upon seeing the scene above, Kim Soo-yeon's pupils constricted instantly, and she involuntarily let out a gasp of surprise.
The massive LED screen on the five-story-high east wing of Galleria department store, which she remembered as having car advertisements just a few days ago, is now shimmering with golden light and has been completely replaced with an image of a handsome man.
He was wearing a dark green velvet suit from GUCCI's 2017 Pre-Fall collection, standing in the corridor of the Uffizi Gallery. Then the scene suddenly changed, and the man reached out and touched Botticelli's "Primavera" on the wall. The flowers in the painting instantly transformed into GUCCI's classic Monogram pattern and fell down.
The entire LED screen was bathed in a dark gold hue, making the surrounding streetscape appear as if it had been filtered through a layer of soft light. Sunlight slanted down from his shoulders, illuminating half of the embroidery on his suit lapel and the other half disappearing into the shadow on the side of his neck, even the shadow cast on the ground had a carefully designed curve.
The enormous electronic advertisement, which covers almost the entire building, combined with the stunning visuals, instantly creates a powerful sense of awe.
The man in the advertisement, Kim Soo-yeon, knows him... or rather, almost every young person on the peninsula knows him.
Moreover, when the image freezes, the gold-plated "Global Spokesperson" lettering in the lower right corner of the screen stands out prominently in the sunlight.
And seemingly worried that pedestrians might not understand, they also wrote the Korean text next to the English:
“Global Ambassador – Ji Kyung-won”
Kim Soo-yeon knows Ji Kyung-won, but she doesn't usually follow celebrities or pay much attention to entertainment news; she just checks the news occasionally.
Every day, she sees EXO or Ji Kyung-won's commercials on the subway and on TV. But seeing this giant screen that occupies the entire Apgujeong landmark made her realize for the first time that the male idol she had in mind seemed to be a little different from others.
She looked at the LED screen in front of her. The font of the logo was simple and straightforward, but when combined with the huge screen and advertisements, it had a unique impact.
"The official announcement was made last night, and the landmark ad is already up today. Wow, it truly lives up to its reputation as a global campaign!"
"They really put it up in Gangnam District? If that's the case, then all the other landmarks must have it too, right? I thought it was just an in-store update of the ads. This kind of on-the-ground promotion is too much!"
“I just saw someone post a status saying that the wave screen at COEX is also playing it, and the billboard at Cheongdam Station has also been changed to this.”
People kept passing by and stopping behind her. At this moment, two female office workers stopped behind her and looked at the huge screen above, discussing it with great interest.
"Ahhh!"
At the same time, a burst of excited screams erupted not far ahead. Kim Soo-yeon looked over and saw that it was the group of high school students who had been running so fast that they almost bumped into her.
"Dafa!"
"Xiumin, look! The whole building is full of oppas!!"
"Oppa is so handsome!!"
Several high school girls were clearly fans of Ji Jingyuan. They were shouting and yelling as if no one else was around, hugging each other and jumping around on the ground. Every move they made showed a straightforward joy and excitement. At the same time, perhaps because they were too happy, Kim Soo-yeon could even hear a slight tremor in their voices.
"Oh right, quickly take a picture and tell others!"
Just as they were having a good time, one of the girls seemed to remember something. She quickly let go of her friend's hand, hurriedly took out her phone, tapped a few times, and started taking pictures of the big screen. After a while, she seemed to think the angle wasn't good, so she stood on tiptoe and used all her strength to jump up a bit.
Kim Soo-yeon glanced over and noticed that the girl was practically supporting herself on her toes, swaying from side to side, but she held the phone she was filming very steadily. She really didn't know how she did it; she looked like a ballet dancer.
As soon as she moved, several high school girls nearby reacted immediately, quickly pulling out their phones to take pictures of the advertisement while chattering away.
"The sun is too strong, the photos I took here are not clear."
"OMG, this ad is so cool!"
"Quickly share this in the group chat. We should be among the first to see this ad, right?"
"..."
The enthusiasm of the few innocent and enthusiastic little girls seemed to have infected the passersby who stopped nearby. They glanced at the girls and couldn't help but discuss the advertisements. The noisy sounds filled the air, contrasting with the bustling traffic nearby.
Soon a large crowd gathered, but Kim Soo-yeon, who still had work to do, couldn't keep taking pictures like those high school girls. As the red light turned green, she walked forward with the crowd, and out of the corner of her eye, the advertisement was still playing on a loop.
After crossing the street, Kim Soo-yeon couldn't help but look back again. The warm light from the advertising screen shone on the faces of every passerby who stopped to look up. Some took photos, some recorded videos, while many ordinary office workers like her simply glanced at it a few more times with a subtle sigh.
After watching for a while, she, who rarely pays attention to her idols, inexplicably took out her phone, pressed the shutter button on the giant screen with its interplay of light and shadow in the distance, thought for a moment, then opened her long-unused Instagram account, added her location, and posted it:
"The shocking scene I encountered after get off work! Are idols really this amazing now? #GangnamDistrict #EncounteringAce #Yuan."
A summer breeze ruffled her loose hair, and behind her, the GUCCI advertisement was switching to its globally unified slogan:
“GUCCI× Yuan—A New Renaissance“
…………
Before the posters were updated at various landmarks on the peninsula, a giant projection suddenly lit up Piazza della Signoria in Florence, where GUCCI headquarters is located, during the unveiling last night. Ji Kyung-won, wearing an embroidered suit from the 2017 Fall/Winter collection, was projected onto the exterior wall of the 600-year-old Palazzo Vecchio, creating a cross-temporal gaze with Michelangelo's "David" statue.
At the same time, the electronic screens in Piazza del Duomo in Milan switched to the advertisement featuring him holding an antique telescope, gazing at the world from the east.
The holographic projection installation on the exterior wall of the Matsuya Department Store in Ginza, Tokyo, has just been put into commercial use. When the clock struck the scheduled time, a three-dimensional image of Ji Jingyuan suddenly burst out from the classic double G logo of GUCCI, which surprised and shocked the passers-by. Within a few hours, it became a trending topic and was praised by fans as "the last visual shock of the Heisei era".
Landmarks in famous cities such as Times Square in New York, Piccadilly Circus in London, and the giant screen at Shibuya 109 were all featured, along with the latest advertising campaign filmed by Ji Kyung-won.
GUCCI and SM have also partnered with Incheon International Airport, Dubai International Airport, and other airports to set up interactive installations in duty-free areas, where passengers can scan their boarding passes to receive a GUCCI e-brochure with audio guides provided by Ji Kyung-won.
They also collaborated with several airlines, including Korean Air, to replace the entire cabin with custom GUCCI interiors on some special flights, with each seat screen displaying an advertisement featuring Ji Kyung-won.
In addition, most GUCCI boutiques worldwide, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, including the peninsula and Japan, have launched the latest Chi Jing Yuan ground advertising on their exterior walls.
The new spokespeople who had taken over and occupied certain areas, such as Oh Sehun, Bae Joo-hyun, and even Bae Suzy, hadn't even enjoyed their moment in the spotlight for a week before they were all squeezed into a corner by Ji Kyung-won's posters.
As they joked before, the important people always make their appearance last.
About twelve hours after the official announcement, all the topics generated by the announcement climbed into the top ten of global trends, and the Instagram hashtag #GUCCIxYuan garnered over 3 million views in less than twelve hours.
Even in mainland China, where he hasn't been active for a long time, hashtags related to him occupy three of the top five spots on Weibo's trending topics. #ChiKyungWonGlobalAmbassador#ChiKyungWonGUCCIAd#EXOChiKyungWon are prominently displayed at the top, attracting a great deal of attention and discussion.
...I just don't know how many of them were bought by SM for marketing purposes.
The most striking data is that GUCCI's official website saw a 500% surge in traffic, causing the server in the peninsula region to crash for two hours.
On the second day, the long-awaited global promotional campaign of GUCCI was fully launched, with several top fashion magazines simultaneously releasing major campaigns, like dropping a nuclear bomb on the fashion world:
The September issue of *VOGUE Korea* features Ji Kyung-won on the cover, dressed in GUCCI's 2018 Resort collection, looking back in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The inside feature, an interview titled "The Chosen One: Ji Kyung-won's Renaissance Journey," occupies 12 pages. The editor's foreword states, "What amazes Italian artisans is not only his Eastern face, but also his profound understanding of European art history."
Harper's Bazaar China: A 36-page feature titled "From Seoul to Florence" documents the entire process of shooting an advertisement.
A special column in DAZED magazine, themed "Deconstruction and Reconstruction," uses a fold-out poster format for comparative analysis—the left side shows Ji Kyung-won's stage outfit at an EXO concert, the right side shows his advertising campaign shot in Milan, and the middle is connected by GUCCI's design sketches over the years, visually showcasing his dual identity as an "idol and spokesperson."
The YouTube documentary "A Day with GUCCI Global Ambassador" records behind-the-scenes moments such as Ji Kyung-won's advertising shoot and styling meetings.
From the sky to the ground, from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, from video to magazine, from the internet to reality, from digital to physical, from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere, a comprehensive bombardment... Perhaps the previous revenue growth in the Asia-Pacific region gave the parent company great confidence. Kering Group clearly regards this cooperation as a strategic project, truly giving the title of 'Global Spokesperson' sufficient treatment and prestige, completely redefining the standard of "Global Spokesperson".
Even the various spokespeople who had collaborated before had never done such a large-scale promotion.
It can be described as a global publicity campaign.
The newly awarded artists, who were previously enjoying great success and were being discussed by fans and casual observers on the Peninsula, suddenly paled in comparison.
Previously, fans were amazed by GUCCI's resources, with advertisements, interviews, and magazine appearances... but now, compared to this, it seems like they're being treated like stepchildren.
This string of flashy and elaborate promotions and marketing campaigns has sent shockwaves through the industry, especially in the Peninsula region, where the momentum has been astonishing. Countless people are discussing it with a mixture of surprise and excitement in various places.
"I remember Yuan was already the spokesperson, wasn't she? She already promoted it last year, right? Why is she bringing it up again?"
"Previously, he was the Asia-Pacific ambassador, but now he has been upgraded to the global ambassador. The weight is completely different. Yuan Chi Jingyuan is the first and only Asian artist in GUCCI's history to serve as a global ambassador. You're welcome."
"Really? A few days ago I saw news about K-pop going global and I didn't believe it. Everyone knows what the official media says, right? But today I saw it and wow, his ads are all over the world! Yuan is that amazing now?"
"Why is it that when celebrities like Sehun and Irene made their official announcements a few days ago, all they did was post an Instagram post from the official GUCCI account, release a print ad, and add a few magazine covers? As for the models, they only had social media promotions. Suzy was slightly better off, with a press conference and high-ranking executives from Peninsula GUCCI in attendance."
That's all. Before, I thought this was just standard procedure, and it was already pretty good... But after seeing Chi Jingyuan's official announcement of this collaboration these past two days, I realized what it means for the difference between people to be greater than the difference between people and dogs. Isn't this too biased?
"Look at other celebrities: one Instagram post + two photoshoots = official collaboration announcement. Then look at Ji Kyung-won... is he his favorite son?"
"Fans of the brand ambassador whose Peninsula-exclusive single product line was returned at some unknown time, please be rational and do not try to take advantage of the only Asian artist as the global ambassador. Thank you."
"Ah Qingjia, what a status! Compared to him, everyone else really seems like a servant."
"It's more than just similar, isn't it?"
"I've already said that no matter how many artists he collaborates with, it's all just secondary. GUCCI really values Yuan. In the popular forum post 'GUCCI Hierarchy Illustrated,' Ji Kyung-won's global reach is marked as 'Emperor Level,' while his collaborations with other local artists are downgraded to 'Palace Maid Level.'"
"I just passed by Fifth Avenue and saw three Japanese tourists taking selfies in front of a giant Yuan advertisement. When I heard them say in Japanese, 'This is the real star,' I suddenly felt like crying."
"Isn't this a huge investment? Yuan's ads are everywhere in the world: Tokyo, Osaka, New York, Paris, Shanghai... Today I saw countless foreign fans and passersby taking photos next to Ji Kyung-won's ads on Instagram. It's become a trend online."
"This means that our country's soft power in culture and fashion has fully gone international. Ji Jingyuan, the hero of the peninsula!"