[Report] Shall We Take Photos with Galaxy S23 at Gangnam Station's First Stop 'Teum'?

LG Uplus Opens Galaxy S23 Popup Store
Targeting MZ Generation Preferences... 4,700 Visitors in Two Days

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Recently, there is a hotspot emerging as the '0th place' near Gangnam Station. Before going to the 1st and 2nd places, people visit this spot as the 0th place, where they can experience Samsung Electronics' latest flagship smartphone Galaxy S23 and take photos perfect for Instagram.

LG Uplus is operating a Galaxy S23 pop-up store at the experience space 'Ilsangbi Ilsang-ui Teum (hereafter Teum)' located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, from the 3rd to the 26th of this month.

Upon entering the first floor, a space decorated in a pop art concept with vivid colors such as red and yellow caught the eye. On the right side, the popular artist Kian84's work 'Self-Portrait of Desire' was displayed. Although the 3rd was the first day of operation and a weekday, it was bustling.

LG Uplus 'Everyday and Unusual Space' Galaxy S23 Popup Store
Photo by LG Uplus

LG Uplus prepared three corners in this pop-up store: ▲Swimming Pool (Galaxy S23 photo shooting and Quick Share transfer) ▲Rooftop (Galaxy Buds2 Pro experience) ▲Living Shop (Samsung SmartThings Station experience). Visitors who experience all three and get stamps receive prizes through a lucky draw.

In the center of the pop-up store, the Galaxy S23 basic model, Plus, and Ultra models were displayed by color for visitors to try out.

The first stop was the Swimming Pool. Visitors enter a pool filled with yellow ball pool balls, take photos with the Galaxy S23, and use the Quick Share feature to send the photos to their own smartphones. The pretty pool combined with colorful hues makes it great for posting on social media.

LG Uplus 'Everyday and Unusual Gap' Galaxy S23 Popup Store 'Swimming Pool' Corner
[Photo by LG Uplus]

Next, I moved to the Rooftop. This corner allows you to wear the Buds2 Pro and experience the 360-degree recording feature. For example, if you clap your hands on the left side, the sound is recorded as heard from the left, capturing surrounding sounds as they are. Compared to recordings without the 360-degree feature, the sound was much richer and more three-dimensional.

Finally, I experienced the SmartThings Station at the Living Shop. The SmartThings Station, unveiled at 'CES 2023' last month, looks like a typical wireless charger at first glance. However, by pressing just one button, it can turn on and off IoT appliances linked to it all at once. When switched to sleep mode, it can also control bedroom lighting.

It is also useful for people who often lose their phones at home. Pressing the button on the top of the device twice in succession makes the smartphone alarm sound. Using this feature, I completed a mission to find a hidden Galaxy S23 smartphone.

LG Uplus 'Everyday and Unusual Space' Galaxy S23 popup store 'Living Shop' is using SmartThings Station to find the hidden Galaxy S23.
[Photo by LG Uplus]

The experience space where you can enjoy the mobile game 'Battlegrounds Mobile' is scheduled to open around the 8th. Since famous pro gamer Faker was selected as the Galaxy S23 promotional model, I was curious about the enhanced gaming experience but could not try it on this day.

What was impressive is that although this is a telecommunications company store located on prime land in the middle of Gangnam Station, no services or products are sold anywhere. The LG Uplus logo can only be found on pamphlets placed next to the smartphones. Galaxy S23 cases were displayed but for experience purposes, not for sale.

Instead, it was filled with things that the MZ generation (Millennials and Generation Z) would like. Before the Galaxy S23, collaborations were made with Ottogi, New Balance, Haeundae, independent bookstores, and others. Through this, indirect experiences of LG Uplus are provided. The tvN 'Ppyong Ppyong Earth Arcade' pop-up store attracted about 3,000 visitors in one day. For this Galaxy S23 pop-up store, 4,700 people visited over two days, the 3rd and 4th.

An LG Uplus official said, "Teum is an experience space created targeting the MZ generation who are not interested in telecommunication services," adding, "While other companies' experience spaces focused on showing 'technology they want to showcase,' Teum shows 'what customers like' and naturally leads them to experience LG Uplus services through play."