1. Campaign Overview: What is the ‘Traveler Special Act’?
‘Traveler Special Act’ is an advertising campaign produced by Hyundai Duty Free in collaboration with the popular Generation Z creator group ‘QWER’. With the concept that “travelers are granted special rights,” it cheerfully expressed the excitement and free emotions of those about to travel.
The campaign adopted a music video format and focused on the emotions of the MZ generation as hybrid content that combines music, dance, acting, fashion, and humor codes.
In particular, while existing duty free shop advertisements focused on luxury and luxurious images, ‘Traveler Special Act’ broke the mold and shifted to emphasize ‘hip and unique freedom’. This is also Hyundai Duty Free’s attempt to rebrand its brand image to be young and trendy.
2. Cast and Collaboration Method: QWER’s Influence
‘QWER’ is a group of Generation Z artists with diverse backgrounds, including dancers, creators, and musicians, and is the main character of this campaign. They already have a thick fan base on TikTok and Instagram, and have been drawing attention for their fun parody content.
Hyundai Duty Free actively utilized their fun and unique characters to present the advertisement as an entertainment format that can lead to content consumption rather than a simple promotion.
In particular,
- The addictive choreography of dancer Dancer Dawn
- The situational drama of members Choi Joy, Hoyeon, and Sungmin
- The directing and costumes reflect QWER's unique B-class sensibility and fashion trends
These aspects received a great response from the MZ generation, and even resulted in a spontaneous viral effect where users who saw the advertisement directly expanded it into cover dances or meme content.
3. Content format and message: The right to travel as stipulated by law
The advertisement proceeds as if the non-existent 'Traveler Special Act' had been enacted. The characters in the video act according to the provisions of this law, which are as follows:
Article 1: Travelers have the freedom to purchase.
Article 2: Travelers have the right to style.
Article 3: Travelers can shop as much as they want within the duty-free limit.
Article 4: Travelers have a duty to make memories.
These contents simultaneously emphasize the practicality and enjoyment of using duty-free shops, and contain an interesting interpretation that justifies rational consumption by consumers. In particular, the legal text in the form of a parody has the potential to become a ‘meme’ for the younger generation.
This storytelling method served as an effective strategy to naturally convey the brand message without explicitly revealing the purpose of the advertisement.
4. Visual and Sound Design: Sensual Production
The ‘Traveler Special Act’ advertisement showcases a highly branded style with intense colors, set design, and even music production.
- Visual identity utilizing pink tones and neon colors
- Set and graphic effects that capture the feeling of a future city
- Addictive theme song and rhythmic rap
These elements come together to make the advertisement feel like a music video, providing viewers with visual pleasure and a memorable sound experience. As a result, it is evaluated as an “unforgettable advertisement once seen” and has a high SNS sharing rate.
5. Marketing Strategy and Results
The ‘Traveler Special Law’ campaign was distributed mainly through digital platforms rather than TV or offline, and targeted YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok in particular.
Immediately after the video was released, it recorded hundreds of thousands of views, and the majority of comments were positive feedback such as “This advertisement is at the level of content” and “It’s too funny to be called a law.”
In addition, this campaign led to marketing effects such as increased traffic to the Hyundai Duty Free app/website, strengthened branding among young consumers, and directly converted to duty-free purchases.
The brand succeeded in establishing itself as a brand that provides an experience, going beyond simply promoting products.
6. Conclusion: A cheerful break from tradition
Hyundai Duty Free’s QWER ‘Traveler Special Law’ advertisement is a representative example of refreshing the brand identity with a cheerful and sensuous production that Generation Z responds to by boldly breaking away from the framework of traditional duty-free advertisements.
It is evaluated as an example of marketing that was sublimated into cultural content rather than a simple travel shopping advertisement, as both planning and execution were impressive, and it provided a great hint for the direction of future brand campaigns.
