Korean superstar Hyun Bin has been the talk of the town since last week when leading wireless provider Smart Communications unveiled the Crash Landing On You lead actor as its first international brand ambassador.
The partnership between the telco and the 37-year-old actor is a yearlong contract, which includes another television commercial, a series of campaign and promo, and a visit to the country.
“He actually told us that he would have wanted to be here during the launch of the television commercial, so we’re really praying that flight restrictions are lifted soon and things go back to normal so we can make more people happy," said Smart's senior vice president and head of wireless consumer business Jane Jimenez Basas during an online press conference held earlier this afternoon.
Asked how much was the cost of roping in the Korean superstar to be the face of Smart’s latest campaign, Basas declined to divulge the figure in the contract but she was quick to say that it was a "priceless investment" for the company.
In the TVC released on Friday Hyun Bin is seen riding a sports car and zooming past the city streets – a fitting reference to the blazing speeds by which Filipinos can enjoy their daily dose of entertainment powered by Smart LTE and Giga Promos. The ad strongly concludes with Hyun Bin delivering Smart’s new tagline in Filipino, “Simple. Smart Ako.”
“The ‘Hyun Bin Phenomenon’ is pretty much due to digital technology – Filipinos have developed the craze because they are able to stream his shows, hear the buzz about him online, share their excitement with their friends, and even get to interact with him through social media,” shared Basas.
“This makes him a perfect ambassador for Smart as we empower Filipinos with technological solutions made easy so they can enrich their daily life and pursue their passions,” Basas added.
“'Simple. Smart Ako' sums up our company’s approach all this time to make amazing technology available, and more importantly, simple for every Filipino,” said Al Panlilio, Smart president and CEO and PLDT chief revenue officer.
During the online event, members of the media were curious on the process of tapping the Korean actor given the current coronavirus pandemic that made it impossible for almost everyone to travel. Despite the situation, the executives from Smart said Hyun Bin was able to make the production for a telecom advertisement “very easy.”
“We got him to sign the contract in April. Everything was done online,” Basas confirmed. “And surprisingly, working with his team was simple and easy.”
The material for the advertisement was shot in just one day. And the Smart team was just supervising the production remotely.
"I think they understood the challenges that we were facing. And what was surprising was, like his character in the popular series, he didn't make a lot of fuss. They would tell us if it’s doable or not, and obviously they were working with obvious diligence and were very professional,” shared by Lloyd R. Manaloto, the company’s VP for corporate marketing strategy.
Hyun Bin and his team’s professionalism made the entire production to go smoothly hence the executives from Smart had nothing but good words for their latest poster boy making them all agree that he’s the perfect choice for the job.
Hyun Bin gained global fame when he starred in Crash Landing On You as Captain Ri opposite Son Ye-jin.
The Asian heartthrob is best known for his roles in the 2005 romantic comedy My Name is Kim Sam-soon, the romantic fantasy drama Secret Garden (2010–2011), and fantasy drama Memories of the Alhambra (2018–2019).
His popularity was further widened by starring in a series of box office hits including the action thriller Confidential Assignment (2017), the crime thrillers The Swindlers (2017), and The Negotiation (2018) as well as the horror movie Rampant (2018).
