What are we to make of a country, which according to the Gunn Report, is the ninth largest ad market but failed to make it into the top 25 league for ad awards? More often than not, South Korea -- a large if insular market -- is associated with over-mighty inhouse agencies and a tendency to wheel out a soap star to front a campaign, regardless of the product or category. Creativity is not a strength in South Korean advertising, say the critics.
But just how fair is this assessment? Opinions differ, but G2's head of creativity Kim Dae Yang believes that the influx of foreign clients and agencies has impacted the industry, so much so that Korean TVCs are catching up with neighbouring Japan. "It's been getting much better over the last two years," he says. "If my client is an international company and I come up with a local celebrity, they just don't buy it."
According to Paul Heath, Ogilvy's regional director of operations, Korea's advertising is lagging behind a flourishing film industry. Twenty-three per cent of Korean TVCs use celebrities compared with 13 per cent in the UK, he says. "The agency/client relationship has been a master/slave variety and fairly restrictive. Clients are fairly clear about what they want and they don't want agencies to elaborate."
Budgets have also been growing, he says, particularly driven by high-spending telecoms companies.
And even the most creative and award-winning ad is not much use if it doesn't sell products or build brands, adds Kang Won Lee, CEO of BBDO Korea. "Koreans like seriousness more than foreigners," he says. "Some award-winning international creatives might not work well in Korea," adds Ae Ran Moon, co-president of Welcomm Publicis.
TBWA\Korea's international division director Bob Kerwin goes even further. He thinks that creativity in Korea is easily comparable with East Asia's other Northern hub markets, though the market desperately needs its own awards competition to highlight this. Kerwin, who spent more than three years working in Japan, points to Korea's undoubted success in exporting its music, soap operas and films to markets such as China, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong as evidence of abundant creative talent. "Koreans are clearly able to express themselves particularly in films, and this often means there is a strong advertising industry as well," he says. "Not everyone agrees with this, that film is not in some way divorced from advertising, but I think Korean creativity compares well to other Northern hub markets." Tham Kai Meng, Ogilvy co-chairman and executive regional director Asia-Pacific, says that he does see good ideas in ads, but that there is a tendency to overcomplicate ideas. "They tend to try and cram too much into 15-second TVCs, rather keep things simple," he says. "Also Korean ads don't travel too well. If Korea wants to be a major player, and it will be because of companies like LG and Samsung, it will have to come out of its shell a bit."
Just back from a two-day workshop in Seoul attended by around 100 creatives from Ogilvy and Diamond Ad, Tham says local creatives have plenty of talent, they just need a bit of direction. "We plan to inject some diversified creative talent in the very near future," he says.
Others, like G2's Kim, see international investment in the ad industry by the likes of WPP and Omnicom as a force of change. Still others are less sure. Welcomm's Moon points to structural obstacles that could hinder efforts to improve South Korean creativity.
"The Korean education system does not focus on developing individual creative thinking, but stresses conforming to a group mentality," she says. Typical Korean reserve may also stifle self-expression. Things are changing, though as Korea's education system learns to embrace creativity, but G2's Kim cautions that this will take time.
A view echoed by Kang Won Lee, CEO of BBDO Korea. "Most of the Korean CEOs are older than their foreign counterparts, are more likely to be risk-averse and do not like to criticise each other," he says, though this too is changing as the younger generation takes over.
But there are other telling factors at play, not least the effect of state bodies on the ad industry. The ADC, or Advertising Deliberation Committee, set up to oversee the industry, takes a dim view of ads with sexual connotations, brand comparisons, exaggeration or depictions of any kinds of violence. "They can be hard-minded people," says BBDO's Kang. "It's a big problem as they have the power to pull ads." Kobaco (the Korean Broadcasting Advertising Corp), whose role is to sell ad space for terrestrial TV and radio broadcasters, can also make it hard for agencies to secure the right TV slots.
Creative head of Korea's largest agency, Cheil Communications, Joe McDonagh says that while the control corporate clients exercise on the creative is changing fast, it can still be hard to deliver a storyline. "The market is responding to fresh new ideas and the opportunity for creatives to shine is large," he says. "But one clear example has been the historically weak emphasis on copy. It's been all visual. That would be great if they were universal approaches, appealing to all, but they tend to be different for difference's sake. No concept."
However, McDonagh has his doubts that South Korean companies have really embraced the concept of branding. "I do not believe that outside of a handful of Korean companies marketing globally, like Samsung, there is great enough importance put on branding," he says. "Local accounts pitch every project, and we all know how difficult it becomes to truly manage and drive a brand when you cannot work each and every communication channel effectively through true integration."
Welcomm's Moon disagrees. "Traditionally, they (ad campaigns) tended to skew more towards short-term hard-selling messages than long-term brand building. However, nowadays both agencies and corporates think branding is really important. 'Branding' as a concept is well understood these days in the same way as other major ad markets," she says.
But no understanding of Korean business is possible without mention of the influence of the chaebol, the massive conglomerates that have dominated the post war industrial landscape. But even their cozy network of relationships based upon in-house agencies and an aversion to criticise competitors is unraveling in modern South Korea.
Are the days of the account manager driven model finally coming to an end? Welcomm's co-president Ae Ran Moon thinks that they are. "Traditionally, there had been a few cases of ad agencies run by non-ad professionals from conglomerates," she says. "But there has been more recognition in the industry that the management of agencies should be by ad professionals."
But just how fair is this assessment? Opinions differ, but G2's head of creativity Kim Dae Yang believes that the influx of foreign clients and agencies has impacted the industry, so much so that Korean TVCs are catching up with neighbouring Japan. "It's been getting much better over the last two years," he says. "If my client is an international company and I come up with a local celebrity, they just don't buy it."
According to Paul Heath, Ogilvy's regional director of operations, Korea's advertising is lagging behind a flourishing film industry. Twenty-three per cent of Korean TVCs use celebrities compared with 13 per cent in the UK, he says. "The agency/client relationship has been a master/slave variety and fairly restrictive. Clients are fairly clear about what they want and they don't want agencies to elaborate."
Budgets have also been growing, he says, particularly driven by high-spending telecoms companies.
And even the most creative and award-winning ad is not much use if it doesn't sell products or build brands, adds Kang Won Lee, CEO of BBDO Korea. "Koreans like seriousness more than foreigners," he says. "Some award-winning international creatives might not work well in Korea," adds Ae Ran Moon, co-president of Welcomm Publicis.
TBWA\Korea's international division director Bob Kerwin goes even further. He thinks that creativity in Korea is easily comparable with East Asia's other Northern hub markets, though the market desperately needs its own awards competition to highlight this. Kerwin, who spent more than three years working in Japan, points to Korea's undoubted success in exporting its music, soap operas and films to markets such as China, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong as evidence of abundant creative talent. "Koreans are clearly able to express themselves particularly in films, and this often means there is a strong advertising industry as well," he says. "Not everyone agrees with this, that film is not in some way divorced from advertising, but I think Korean creativity compares well to other Northern hub markets." Tham Kai Meng, Ogilvy co-chairman and executive regional director Asia-Pacific, says that he does see good ideas in ads, but that there is a tendency to overcomplicate ideas. "They tend to try and cram too much into 15-second TVCs, rather keep things simple," he says. "Also Korean ads don't travel too well. If Korea wants to be a major player, and it will be because of companies like LG and Samsung, it will have to come out of its shell a bit."
Just back from a two-day workshop in Seoul attended by around 100 creatives from Ogilvy and Diamond Ad, Tham says local creatives have plenty of talent, they just need a bit of direction. "We plan to inject some diversified creative talent in the very near future," he says.
Others, like G2's Kim, see international investment in the ad industry by the likes of WPP and Omnicom as a force of change. Still others are less sure. Welcomm's Moon points to structural obstacles that could hinder efforts to improve South Korean creativity.
"The Korean education system does not focus on developing individual creative thinking, but stresses conforming to a group mentality," she says. Typical Korean reserve may also stifle self-expression. Things are changing, though as Korea's education system learns to embrace creativity, but G2's Kim cautions that this will take time.
A view echoed by Kang Won Lee, CEO of BBDO Korea. "Most of the Korean CEOs are older than their foreign counterparts, are more likely to be risk-averse and do not like to criticise each other," he says, though this too is changing as the younger generation takes over.
But there are other telling factors at play, not least the effect of state bodies on the ad industry. The ADC, or Advertising Deliberation Committee, set up to oversee the industry, takes a dim view of ads with sexual connotations, brand comparisons, exaggeration or depictions of any kinds of violence. "They can be hard-minded people," says BBDO's Kang. "It's a big problem as they have the power to pull ads." Kobaco (the Korean Broadcasting Advertising Corp), whose role is to sell ad space for terrestrial TV and radio broadcasters, can also make it hard for agencies to secure the right TV slots.
Creative head of Korea's largest agency, Cheil Communications, Joe McDonagh says that while the control corporate clients exercise on the creative is changing fast, it can still be hard to deliver a storyline. "The market is responding to fresh new ideas and the opportunity for creatives to shine is large," he says. "But one clear example has been the historically weak emphasis on copy. It's been all visual. That would be great if they were universal approaches, appealing to all, but they tend to be different for difference's sake. No concept."
However, McDonagh has his doubts that South Korean companies have really embraced the concept of branding. "I do not believe that outside of a handful of Korean companies marketing globally, like Samsung, there is great enough importance put on branding," he says. "Local accounts pitch every project, and we all know how difficult it becomes to truly manage and drive a brand when you cannot work each and every communication channel effectively through true integration."
Welcomm's Moon disagrees. "Traditionally, they (ad campaigns) tended to skew more towards short-term hard-selling messages than long-term brand building. However, nowadays both agencies and corporates think branding is really important. 'Branding' as a concept is well understood these days in the same way as other major ad markets," she says.
But no understanding of Korean business is possible without mention of the influence of the chaebol, the massive conglomerates that have dominated the post war industrial landscape. But even their cozy network of relationships based upon in-house agencies and an aversion to criticise competitors is unraveling in modern South Korea.
Are the days of the account manager driven model finally coming to an end? Welcomm's co-president Ae Ran Moon thinks that they are. "Traditionally, there had been a few cases of ad agencies run by non-ad professionals from conglomerates," she says. "But there has been more recognition in the industry that the management of agencies should be by ad professionals."
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