A group of uniform clad firefighters were present at SK Telecom’s main office building in Jung District (Jung-gu) at 8 in the morning on September 15. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – A group of uniform clad firefighters were present at 8 a.m. at SK Telecom’s main office building in Seoul on September 15.
Decked out in their representative orange, the eight members of the Jungbu Fire Station were on site to receive special prizes and gifts as “winners” of an online survey conducted by the telecommunication’s company, which asked the internet “Who’s the Hero that Deserves the Fastest Mobile Communications Service”.
The firefighters released a public statement through SK Telecom expressing “thankful hearts for the people’s meaningful gifts”.
The appearance of firefighters plus the absence of celebrities is a new look for the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 8 launch event. The Galaxy S8 launch held in the earlier half of the year was graced by Olympic gold medalist and “People’s Queen” Kim Yuna.
A celebrity was not the only thing absent, as SK Telecom got rid of the long lines of early adopters that are characteristic of such events. Instead, through an online process of random selection, the company nominated 80 lucky netizens to appear at the launch, showering them with smartphone cases, the Samsung Smartwatch Gear 3 and a gift voucher redeemable for 5 Gigabytes of data.
Compared to the Kim Yuna-attended Galaxy S8 launch, where the first customer in line waited six days, the arrangement of this event spared everybody from a lot of time spent in sleeping bags.
LG Uplus took “taking it down a notch” a step further by deciding to forgo a launch event altogether. The company instead decided to present 8,888 winners of an online raffle with foldable keyboards and Samsung Galaxy S Pens, choosing to spread the wealth rather than concentrate it on a select few.
Only the third member of the telecommunications industry-leading triumvirate stayed true to tradition by inviting K-pop idol group Red Velvet to KT Square located in Gwanghwamun. Not to be outdone in emphasizing the “8” in the Galaxy Note 8, KT arranged for 88 reservation-only attendees to rub shoulders with the S.M. Entertainment singers.
The appearance of celebrities was no doubt a welcome sight to Lim, who had steadfastly maintained the front of the line since 4 p.m., September 12 (KT’s launch was also held on September 15). (Image: Yonhap)
The appearance of celebrities was no doubt a welcome sight to an individual referred to only as Lim, who had steadfastly maintained the front of the line since 4 p.m. on September 12 (KT’s launch was also held on September 15).
Good things come to those who wait however, as Lim was rewarded with 2.8 million won worth of benefits, including a Samsung laptop computer, a complimentary 70,000 won monthly plan for free up to one year, and one year’s worth of funding for a “Change Up” phone exchange program.
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
