An investigation into the vision and mission statements of multipurpose cultural institutions for place brand communication of Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Abstract

Joohyun Yoon is a PhD student in Visual Communication Design at Hongik University in Seoul, Korea. She graduated with an MA in Design and Branding Strategy of Brunel University in London and gained various experiences of design management and branding strategy while working for the design consultancy, Tangerine & Partners. Younjoon Lee is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication Design at Hongik University. She graduated with an MSc in Communication Design from the Pratt Institute and completed her PhD in Design at Lancaster University (UK). She has a wide experience of developing corporate and product brands, and packaging designs. Her main research interest lies in investigating how design can facilitate its role beyond conventional activities within brand development and other organisational activities. Don Ryun Chang is a Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Advertising of Hongik University in Seoul, Korea. He is the former CEO of Interbrand Korea and currently advises the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea, is currently Chair of the National Brand and Government Identity Committee. He is also a former president of the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda). He has worked on numerous corporate identities and place branding projects including Dynamic Korea, Korea Tourism Office and 2002 FIFA World Cup.ABSTRACT The Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) project was initiated as a designled cultural policy by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. However, because of a lack of cooperation, communication and consideration of place identity and local values, a place brand strategy gap has emerged. Consequently, the DDP project was plagued by negative public perceptions and apprehensions. In efforts to reduce the conflicts, equilibrate the local cultural and economic needs, as well as propose alterations to the usage of the facilities through participatory discussions, a new blueprint for the DDP operations was developed by the Seoul Design Foundation. In this context, the revised offerings of the DDP resulted in the reconsideration of its name and category positioning to remove the place brand strategy gap. This research was part of the reconsideration of place brand identity strategy of the DDP. To address and resolve the underlying communication issues regarding the name and the categorical positioning of the DDP, this article explores the brand vision and mission statements of existing multipurpose cultural institutions. Clarifying the categories for brand communication establishes accurate perceptions and expectations about the offerings of the DDP to its visitors and local stakeholders, and ultimately meets the place brand satisfaction as well. Forty-five cases of similar multipurpose cultural institutions were investigated through thematic and content analysis.Thus, by incorporating the traits of the new operational plan for the DDP, the most relevant category and the foundations of a brand platform were suggested.Place Branding and Public Diplomacy advance online publ...

Hakka culture brand image design based on the human–computer interaction model

“…The most important connotation and essence of brand cultural and creative products are their unique cultural characteristics and innovative ideas. Through a specific form carrier, it is conveyed to the public in the form of visual images ( Sappington, 2017 ; Yoon et al, 2017 ). Literally speaking, the standards of cultural and creative product design ( Figure 4 ) can be divided into three parts: cultural power, creativity, and visual performance ( Lee et al, 2017b ; Ratcliffe, 2021 ).…”