[BRAND_ID // GENTLE MONSTER][SYSTEM // COMM_THEORY]

01 // INTRODUCTORY OVERVIEW

06 // SOURCES

Gentle Monster is a South Korean brand of sunglasses. Initially, the company solved a purely utilitarian problem: the frames needed to be adapted to the specific features of Asian facial structures. However, after gaining popularity at home, the brand began to expand globally.

The target audience of Gentle Monster is primarily female Millennials and Generation Z. These individuals live in metropolises, spend significant time on social media, and are passionate about art and culture. Courage is an important psychological characteristic for them; they are open to new and unconventional things, perhaps because it allows them to feel unique.

In this study, we examine how Gentle Monster builds an entire universe around itself. The brand utilizes almost all media websites, videos, games, AI animations, installations, social networks, and works of art. We will analyze the role each element plays in this large brand structure to gain a holistic understanding of Gentle Monster’s communication strategy.

Gentle Monster employs several communication channels. The primary space for interaction with the audience is, of course, the website. It features the product catalog, store locations, collaborations, brand news, and FAQs. It is the ideal place for a detailed introduction to the company.

Social media plays a massive role in the brand’s communication. Gentle Monster posts unusual and vibrant advertising campaigns, which we will examine in detail later. This interaction channel is crucial for establishing the brand’s image — showing that they are «on the same wavelength» as the youth. It is worth noting that Gentle Monster maintains a presence across a wide variety of social networks, from familiar Western platforms to those like KakaoTalk, WeChat, and Weibo. This speaks to the brand’s true global reach; it is vital for them to maintain contact with audiences worldwide.

Special attention should be paid to Gentle Monster’s activities in the art industry. The company creates installations and sculptures that not only promote the brand but also hold objective artistic value. To study Gentle Monster’s media communication in more detail, we must first establish a theoretical framework. Let us look at which theories are applicable to the chosen brand.

According to Ernest Bormann’s symbolic convergence theory, dramatizing fosters group cohesion. [1]

A dramatizing message is one that contains imaginative language or other creative expressions of an idea, such as allegories, anecdotes, fables, puns, or narratives. In analyzing Bormann’s concept, Em Griffin emphasizes that group fantasies serve as markers of stepping outside the «here and now». These include discussions about the group’s past, predictions for the future, or any talk concerning people and events outside the group itself.

Symbolic convergence is the sense of community or collective consciousness that develops within a group through communication that goes beyond professional jargon — namely, through stories and jokes.

When individual meanings align, they construct a shared reality or shared subjective meanings. This shared reality develops within a group through non-task-related communication. When a member uses a pun, a metaphor, a joke, or tells a story, it can shape the group’s symbolic reality — provided that someone else in the group picks up on it and builds it out.

This symbolic identity can shape the very trajectory of the group. As Bormann explained, groups that rarely engage in fantasy chains are seldom attractive or cohesive. Such groups tend to be dull and mundane. Furthermore, the fantasies that originate within small groups often find their way into public speeches, get picked up by the media, and ultimately spread to the general public.

A crucial question for structuration theory is whether individuals create social order and meaning in the process of interaction, or whether a pre-existing structure constrains the behavior of its human members [2]?

Social systems, the actual activities of people — are always localized in time and space.

Social structures, on the other hand, represent the structural properties of a social system outside of time and space; they exist only virtually, independent of a subject.

A key assumption of the theory is that generative structures comprise three institutional dimensions:

• Signification structures provide the shared interpretive schemes necessary for communication. These rules of interpretation allow people to perceive and interpret events, thereby lending meaning to interactions.
• Legitimation and domination structures provide the norms that sanction certain forms of behavior, while structures of domination offer the resources to exercise power.

The idea that production and reproduction are two sides of the same coin is called the duality of structure — structure is both the medium and the outcome. One of the core ideas of the theory is that structures and systems are recursively interconnected through this duality of structure.

According to Giddens, dynamic modernity is inherently future-oriented and separates time from space. As a result, we place our trust in detached bloggers and experts, which creates an uncertainty that can only be resolved by reintegrating expressive tools back into familiar structures. Modernity compels us to reflexively self-examine; technology has accelerated the flow of ideas, and marketers have invaded private life. Ultimately, the theory views transformations as the outcomes of human action, making it highly relevant to organizational and interpersonal communication, mass media, and digital networks.

Here is a natural, fluent translation tailored to the context of brand marketing and media studies. The brand establishes a symbolic convergence within language, incorporating plots, character settings, actions, and a distinct rhetorical vision.

In their video commercials, which barely resemble traditional product demonstrations — there is a clear emphasis on narrative and plot development. Almost every video runs between 1:20 and 2 minutes, making them significantly longer than typical commercials. The logo appears only at the very end, serving more like unobtrusive closing credits. In the 2026 Veggie Collection 🍅 campaign, the glasses feel more like a plot-critical detail than the primary reason for the video. This approach aligns much closer to filmmaking than traditional advertising.

For instance, the video for the 2025 Fall Campaign: THE HUNT featuring Hunter Schafer explicitly references the films of Stanley Kubrick.

The reality of GENTLE MONSTER is inherently absurd. At the core of this universe lies a dramatizing message — one filled with imaginative language and creative expressions of ideas, such as allegories, puns, and narrative structures.

Campaigns like the 2025 BOLD featuring Tilda Swinton, among others, utilize techniques that generate a palpable sense of threat, impending disaster, conflict, or crisis. This is achieved through the repetition of identical loops or sequences, the use of emotionally charged vocabulary and idioms, and a deliberate mix of visual and verbal tools. Furthermore, as previously noted, the brand relies on a structure that closely mirrors traditional cinematic storytelling.

This approach adopts a core principle of filmmaking: bringing a distinct character to life and seamlessly integrating the product into their world. The product then sells successfully by capitalizing on this fantasy universe, much like how the Marvel Universe and its superheroes directly drive the sales of cereal boxes featuring their images.

GENTLE MONSTER also launches collaborations with other fictional worlds that already possess established dramatizing messages. A prime example is their partnership with the art collective AES+F, with whom they produce videos and create immersive gaming environments.

In February 2026, it was reported that the South Korean eyewear brand released a collection in collaboration with F1 and Disney. Earlier, in May 2025, Gentle Monster introduced a collaboration with the Bratz doll franchise. This structural approach leverages an already existing character and embeds the product into their world, amplifying the dramatization through massive installations — a contemporary art technique that scales elements to the absolute limits of the physical space.

Additionally, the brand’s standalone gaming projects stand out as distinct milestones in their own right.

Ernest Bormann’s symbolic convergence theory holds immense practical value for analyzing Gentle Monster’s communication strategy. The fantasy-themed elements embodied in the brand’s wild kinetic installations and surreal campaigns act as a powerful tool of stealth marketing — selling a visual experience rather than pushing a product directly. By deliberately constructing «dramatizing spaces» that transport the audience to fictional, futuristic worlds, the brand fosters deep emotional cohesion within its community, strengthens brand loyalty, and builds a closed-knit ecosystem united by shared myths.

At the same time, when viewing this case through a critical lens (such as the ideas of James Olivenmore), SCT allows us to pinpoint the sheer commercial success of these installations, yet it leaves an open question: why exactly does this specific, destructively dystopian fantasy language evoke such a powerful desire among modern consumers to inhabit and share this reality?

Let us analyze the brand through the lens of structuration theory, which poses a fundamental question: do individuals generate social order and meaning in the process of interaction, or does a pre-existing structure constrain their behavior?

In an era of overproduction, securing a unique space for a product is crucial. Anthony Giddens notes that dynamic modernity, unlike past cultures, is inherently future-oriented rather than anchored in the past. Gentle Monster’s innovation expands cultural consciousness by striving for absolute contemporary relevance. At the same time, as Jean Baudrillard argued, needs do not originate within us; rather, production entirely models and controls demand. Consumers are always constrained by the retail shelf, space, and time: their choice is narrowed down to a few pairs of glasses, and only exceptional initiative paired with abundant free time would drive a customer to formulate an individualized demand. While monitoring the audience helps track sales, it is the manufacturer’s initial offering that primarily shapes final consumer need. Gentle Monster expands its limited eyewear collections with meaningful, thematic layers, making the physical retail space feel monumentally grand.

Through its installations, the brand defines the rules and logic of the space (structure), within which the viewer/buyer and the seller interact with one another (system). It is precisely through these live sales and the social practices of the participants that the brand’s artistic atmosphere is simultaneously realized and reproduced anew.

In the concrete case of Gentle Monster, social systems can be identified as real-world activities (in contrast to online shopping) localized in a specific time and place. These are, of course, their massive physical installations that compel people to pause, contemplate the artwork, and ultimately purchase a product from such a «curator».

The next crucial concept involves social structures, which exist outside of physical properties — functioning virtually and independently of any individual subject (such as through Instagram Reels). These structures exist as teasers for physical events or announcements of upcoming collaborations, encompassing three key institutional dimensions. At this stage, the structure of signification emerges: a themed eyewear collection is enhanced by generative characters and powerful visual storytelling. These images are then legitimized, thereby sanctioning specific forms of behavior.

Ultimately, the eclectic nature of this theory thoroughly explains the mechanics of a company operating in such an unconventional manner.

The brand gained widespread recognition through its conceptually unique flagship stores. The unconventional nature of this approach lies in the fact that the store functions more like an art gallery than a space where the product takes center stage. This stands in stark contrast to the traditional retail model, where the entire layout is designed to project an explicit «walk in and buy» message.

These spaces, defined by total installations, legitimize large-scale, high-concept art scenes that would be awkward or impractical in other locations. In this case, the decision to make these installations static rather than nomadic solves the problem of emptiness in a retail space where the product is a small element within a minimalist environment, while also extending the lifespan of the artwork’s exhibition.

The brand’s founder, Hankook Kim, positions the product as an aftermath rather than the primary focus. Such strategies serve multiple functions and possess a degree of universality, ultimately driving the brand’s success in the market.

To amplify the consumer’s sense of presence during the purchasing process, the brand could provide a personalized piece of art or a tangible outcome of their co-creation within the art environment at the point of sale.

Yet, regardless of how massive the brand’s interventions are — or how aggressively it attempts to capture attention through actor collaborations and video games — the actual purchasing chain remains classical and authoritarian: the consumer encounters an advertisement while immersed in the social system, subsequently navigates the social structure, and ultimately buys the product at a physical location or simply orders it online.

To elevate the group fantasy to a new level, it is highly recommended to represent these brand myths through participatory, interactive practices.

In the context of Bormann’s theory, deepening symbolic convergence is achievable by integrating live performances into the physical retail space. These performances anchor global fantasy themes within a local context, triggering a powerful emotional response from the audience. From the perspective of Giddens' structuration theory, such performances transform the rules and resources of the spatial structure, shifting the consumer from a passive observer into an active agent.

To further deepen symbolic convergence and emotional cohesion, the brand should deploy a tactic of «local myths». When designing spaces in new cities or launching collaborations, Gentle Monster could weave elements of local identity into its fantasy narratives — deconstructing regional history, mythology, or urban toponyms. This would provoke a much stronger resonance within local communities, transforming a global brand into a deeply personal cultural experience for the residents of that specific region.