BTS closer to Peru? Hyunwoo Nam, director of his greatest hits, filmed the PromPerú campaign

A great opportunity to put the country under the gaze of the world as a great tourist destination. The Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Exports and Tourism, PromPeru, has just released a video to encourage South Korean citizens to visit our country. The project was in charge of the Korean filmmaker Hyunwoo Nam, known in the media for directing several video clips of the successful boyband bts.

Lima, Paracas, Ica, Puno and Cusco were the cities chosen to stand out in this spot. Meanwhile, Seulgu (@trip_n_9u), Ikkually (@ikkually), Seung-ah (@seung_asarabia) and Veiled (@seungjuuuuuuu) were the Korean influencers in charge of showing the landscape in each frame of the promotional video.

In the video you can see young people enjoying the different tourist attractions that each city has to offer; In addition, they highlight the food and customs of each region. The great closure, how could it be otherwise, was with images of our wonder of the world: Machu Picchu.

“Awesome! This is what Peru looks like in the new digital campaign for South Korea called ‘My Peru Story’, directed by none other than the renowned Hyunwoo Nam, recognized for his experience directing world-famous bands like BTS ”the organization wrote in the Instagram post.

the creative process

The deputy director of PromPerú’s Receptive Tourism office, Jennifer Pizarro, spoke with Trade about this project that, as he indicated, was originally born in 2019 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first step that PromPerú took to carry out this campaign was to find a company that would be its connection with the Korean market, where the country was aiming to encourage tourism in Peru. It is through this company that they reach the director Hyunwoo Nam. A few days before the start of filming, his name was revealed as part of this team.

“When creating these types of localized campaigns, as we call them, they always have to be created in the country you want to reach, the target audience (that you want to reach). In this case, the concept “made by Koreans for Koreans” was created, but showing the destination Peru “said Pizarro.

Hyunwoo Nam, known in the media for directing BTS’s “MIC Drop”, “Persona”, “Dynamite” and “Yet to Come” video clips, was very rigorous in the work he did for our country. The PromPerú team that was present during the filming of the “My Peru Story” project, carried out last August for 10 days, assures that the director had a clear vision of what he wanted to convey in the promotional video: capture Peruvian destinations like moods. It is for this reason that photography and lighting are different in each landscape.

“We have accompanied the entire film crew and the influencers. They have gone to various regions to make the claim. They started in Lima, from there they traveled to Ica, from there to Cusco and ended up in Puno”he added.

Meanwhile, regarding the decision to choose South Korea as a potential target audience, the deputy director of PromPerú’s Receptive Tourism office pointed out that “Asians may not be able to give you a lot of tourist flow, but they do spend more than the standard tourist. (…) Finally, spending is what will help the economic reactivation of the tourism sector”.

Likewise, Jennifer Pizarro assured that -during the market study- they identified that South Korea has some similarities with Peru in terms of gastronomy. “Street food is called ‘street food’ in Seoul, and it is very common. It is also very common for people who sell food on the street to prepare it for you in front of you. They really liked being able to also see that kind of experience that we do and that, despite being countries so far away, we share those similarities”said.

BTS as the next image of Peru?

The four influencers featured on “My Peru Story” are Koreans Seulgu, Ikkually, Seung-ah, and Veiled. They were chosen, among other things, because of the bond they have established with their followers who belong to the millennial generation and who also have the opportunity to travel.

“They must have a fan base that is looking for this theme of travel, of lifestyle. With all those requirements, so to speak, (the company) does not send different proposals (from influencers). In Peru we have this digital department, where they evaluate -with their metrics- that indeed these influencers who propose to us from Korea meet the requirements for them to have a proper reach”specified Jennifer Pizarro.

But is there any chance of having BTS as the image for an upcoming campaign? The PromPerú representative was clear when mentioning that they are just starting this campaign to encourage tourism in our country from South Korea and they will be able to see the results in the middle of next year. Although, the idea of ​​having Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook seems attractive to apply in the future.

“The idea is very good, we do not rule it out; but right now we want to see the results with these influencers (…) Perhaps in a few more years it can be considered because, of course, that will also depend a lot on budgets. I imagine that is a much larger budget. But we do know that the influencers, the ‘celebrities’ -in this case, the singers- have such a wide reach that it would be super successful. It would be great to be able to bring them (the BTS members); But, for now, we don’t have anything planned.”finished Jennifer Pizarro.