Korean Advertising: The Behind-the-scenes story of Hyun Bin's JAKOMO

 

1) Campaign Planning Intent: "Visible Solidity, Detailed Usage"

The core of this Giacomo campaign is to convey the phrase "solidity that protects everyday life" through real-world context. In other words, rather than flashy showroom shots, the focus is on the living space of the home, emotionally translating the sofa's structural stability, durability, and material quality into compelling visuals. To align Hyun Bin's calm and trustworthy image with the brand's "solid fundamentals," the tone is muted, and dialogue and subtitles are kept to a minimum, allowing the "details speak for themselves."

2) Production Tone and Manner: "Low Saturation, High Texture"

The color palette features neutral tones (warm gray, taupe, mocha) with a dark charcoal accent. The reduced saturation allows the material textures—the pores of the leather, the stitching, and the modular joints—to come to life. Instead of hard lights, the lighting is softly diffused with large softboxes and ceiling reflectors, emulating natural light during the morning and golden hour to suggest the passage of time. This allows the message of "furniture that melts into the day" to be truly conveyed.

3) Set Design: "Life Scenario, Act 3"

Morning: Diffuse light streaming through sheer curtains. Hyun Bin brews coffee and sits down on the sofa. Slow motion and close-up shots highlight the compression and resilience of the cushions and the curve of the armrests.

Afternoon: Light work with a laptop open. The support of the seat cushion, the design of the back cushion to support the lumbar angle, and the swaying of the leg frame are all depicted alongside everyday life movements.

Night: Reading or watching a video under a standing light. The comfort of the reclining (if applicable) or the seated center design, and the meticulous detailing of the finishing stitching are scanned with light.

4) Props and Costumes: "Material Resonance"

Hyun Bin's outfits are crafted from materials with smooth surfaces, such as wool-cashmere blend knits and tone-on-tone slacks, to create a textural resonance with the leather and fabric sofa. Props are presented in matte finishes (ceramic trays, matte mugs, fabric blankets) with a subtle metallic sheen, ensuring the sofa is the focal point. The colors of the props are a half-tone darker than the background and a half-tone lighter than the sofa, creating visual layers.

5) Sound and Music: "Trust in the Low Range"

The brand sound logo emphasizes the warm tones of wood resonance rather than metallic. The bass and contrabass low ranges are designed to create a sense of stability, and the on-site simultaneous recording (the delicate rustle of leather brushing against the floor, the supportive "dul" sound when sitting down) is brought to the forefront. The narration is low and slow, without exaggeration, and the breath at the end of sentences is lengthened to create a lingering effect. Unnecessary embellishments are minimized, and a precise, word-by-word approach is employed to build trust.

6) Camera Work & Lens: "Close, but without exaggeration."

Close-up: Stitching, corner reinforcement, and leg hardware are captured at 60-100mm close-ups, evoking the tactile sensation of the user's fingertips.

Medium: 35-50mm eye-level cuts showcasing ergonomic angles, conveying the experience of "sitting down."

Moving: Slow panning with the slider and subtle advances with the dolly create a sense of weighty presence. Gimbal sweeps are minimized to maintain a calm tone.

Transition: Matching cuts from morning to afternoon to night, with the same composition but varying the lighting. A single black frame is inserted between detail shots, creating a rhythm.

7) Hyun Bin's Performance Directing: "Speaking with Action"

Hyun Bin demands "use," not "explanation." He slowly shifts his weight when sitting, lingering in the moment of support provided by the seat cushion. The key shots are the natural curve of fingers when resting an arm on the armrest, and the subtle facial expressions as the breath relaxes as the subject leans back. Dialogue is kept to a minimum, and the visual direction (sofa → table → window → sofa again) establishes the narrative of "the center to return to when you return home." Even smiles are kept understated, controlled by a "subtle angle of satisfaction."

8) Product Detail Interpretation: "Showing Solidity"

Frame: A load test cut (instead of a direct demonstration, a close-up of a solid leg and a level, unwavering floor) is implicitly expressed.

Cushion: A resilience shot that evokes layers of high-density foam or latex. Slow motion captures the return time of the seated person.

Finishing: The "sense of order" created by the stitch spacing, rounded corners, and staple alignment is revealed through light scratches.

Material: For leather, the subtle shadows of the grain are used, and for fabric, the minimal pilling is used. The uniformity of the weave is transformed into a tactile visual language.

9) Copy and Subtitle Strategy: "Short and Solid"

Key Copy: Solidity that protects everyday life.

Sub Copy: Details conquer time / Comfort comes from design / The center of the day, Giacomo.

Onscreen text is displayed one line per scene, for approximately 1.5 seconds. The font is a stable sans-serif font with slightly wider letter spacing to allow for more breathing room.

10) Format Expansion: "30, 15, 6 seconds, and a still."

30 seconds: Narrative. Build a brand story by capturing all three acts: morning, afternoon, and night.

15 seconds: Detail-focused. Condensed into three shots: stitching, resilience, and seating angle.

6 seconds: Short-form bumper. Instantly recognizable with Hyun Bin's angle, key copy, and logo.

Stills: We used three sets of close-up (finished shot), medium (usage scene), and wide (spatial effect) to create a unified PR, retail, and commerce thumbnails.

11) Behind-the-scenes story points

The lighting team created the "bars": Without an actual window frame, we used gobos and flags to create bar shadows, creating a morning/afternoon angle difference. Fine-tuning the angle by 5-10 degrees for each standby shot ensured the "mood of the moment."

Minimized sofa correction: To ensure authenticity, we reduced post-production grain and sharpening, and completed the texture on-site with lighting. This allowed the DIT to focus on exposure rolloff rather than noise management.

Performance take: 12 takes were required for the single "sit-down" motion alone. The most crucial part was the 0.5 second of weight transfer, and we spent time finding the perfect moment where breathing and shoulder line didn't collapse.

Collecting everyday sounds: The poly team blended the on-site live footage with poly, capturing sounds like leather rubbing, cushions returning, and coasters being set down. We lowered the music volume and placed detailed sound at the forefront.

Set Smell: The strong scent of leather permeated the actual filming location, so we managed the concentration of the scent consistently by circulating the air conditioning to ensure it didn't affect the actor's condition. While this was an off-screen consideration, it brought out the comfort of their expressions.

12) Brand Message Touchpoint: "Transfer of Trust"

We eliminated exaggerated acting or trick shots to ensure that the maturity and solidity exemplified by Hyun Bin were transferred to the structural reliability of the product. As a result, consumers perceive "you can trust what you see," creating an emotional safety net for a high-involvement purchase like a sofa: a choice without regrets.

13) Conclusion: "Don't overstate"

This ad doesn't boast. Instead, it persuades with scenes and details of each moment. The first sitting in the morning, the afternoon's concentration, the evening's relaxation. Giacomo is a presence that reliably "protects" all of these moments. Therefore, a short sentence in the final scene is sufficient. Giacomo, the solidity that protects everyday life.