[Story from Gyeonggi] The Strange Promotion of Seongnam-si

Seongnam City Hall

The population-based "city status" of Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province has been quite a topic lately. After ranking second (No. 2) following Suwon City, the capital of Gyeonggi Province, Seongnam City has consecutively lost its position to Yongin City and Goyang City, and recently even fell behind Hwaseong City, dropping to fifth place.

There are likely several reasons why Seongnam City's population is not increasing. However, it is hard to deny that public relations (PR) efforts to promote the city have also had a considerable impact.

In fact, until about a month ago before the arrival of a new public relations officer, Seongnam City used to distribute press releases at 10:50 a.m., just before lunch. Although reporters found the timing of the release puzzling, this practice rarely changed. This was quite different from competing cities like Suwon, Seongnam, and Goyang, where materials were released by 7 a.m., and PR efforts were more actively managed.

This practice changed somewhat when the former PR officer was promoted to director-level head of the 4th Industrial Support Division and a new PR officer, Mr. Kim, took over. The timing of press release distribution was moved earlier, and the number of releases increased slightly from one or two. However, compared to competing cities, the timing and volume of releases remain about one-third. Suwon City averages 7 to 8 releases, sometimes exceeding 10. Yongin and Goyang also release materials by 7 a.m., with a volume far exceeding that of Seongnam.

Among some reporters, there are even rumors that the PR office is neglecting requests for materials. One media outlet requested information on local tourist attractions in Seongnam but has not received it for nearly a month.

Press releases are the only channel through which citizens, who find it difficult to access all local news, can obtain valuable information. Therefore, promotion is crucial.

However, a strange thing has happened recently. After Mr. Lee, the former PR officer, was promoted to head of the 4th Industrial Promotion Division, related departments have been producing press releases almost daily. Has his perspective on promotion changed since moving from Seongnam City's PR officer to the head of the 4th Industrial Promotion Division?

If Seongnam City wants to regain its status as a key city in Gyeonggi Province, it might need to first fix its "hard-to-understand zigzag PR" approach.