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

01 // INTRODUCTORY OVERVIEW

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?