Shinsegae Property turns a beachside mega-screen into the world's biggest lifeguard

Grand Josun Media, a 25m by 31m curved digital screen on the Grand Josun Busan facade, began full operation in June 2025 as Korea's first outdoor-advertising free-display zone outside the capital. Below it, Haeundae Beach draws more than 10 million visitors a year, with 200,000-250,000 a day at peak, and lifeguards found voice announcements alone were not enough.

Turn the beach's biggest commercial screen into a building-sized lifeguard who reads real-time weather and wave data and signals the swimming status at a glance.

Shinsegae Property led the campaign with INNOCEAN producing; a real Haeundae rescue-team lifeguard with over a decade of experience was the model. The anamorphic 3D content was wired to real-time weather and wave-height data and presented three stages - Safe, Partial Control and Full Control - through hand signals, red uniforms and rescue tubes, with day, night and weather variants timed to official beach operating hours.

Visitors of every nationality could read the safety message instantly, and many stopped to film or photograph the giant lifeguard, spreading the campaign organically on social media. INNOCEAN presented the work as an AI-powered DOOH case study at MAD STARS 2025, and it won the OOH Grand Prize at the 2025 Korea Advertising Awards.

Haeundae Beach in Busan is one of Asia's most visited urban beaches, drawing more than 10 million visitors a year and 200,000-250,000 a day in the peak season. Safety guidance mostly reached swimmers through loudspeaker announcements, which lose their power when the crowd is huge and international.

Directly above the beach sits Grand Josun Media, a 25m by 31m curved digital screen on the Grand Josun Busan facade in Korea's first outdoor-advertising free-display zone outside the capital, which began full operation in June 2025. Shinsegae Property, which operates it, worked with INNOCEAN and Studio Lennon to give the medium a public job: 'The Biggest Lifeguard.'

Real lifeguards from Haeundae's private water-rescue team were filmed as the giant 3D figure, and the content was linked to live weather and wave data. Depending on conditions, the rescuer signalled Safe, Partial Control or Full Control using hand gestures, a red uniform and rescue tubes, in versions prepared for different times of day and weather.

Scale made the medium the message: a building-sized lifeguard over the actual beach is legible from a distance where a loudspeaker announcement is not.

Live data kept the screen honest - warnings changed with real wave conditions, so the campaign acted as safety infrastructure rather than decoration.

Non-verbal signals worked across languages, which mattered as Haeundae filled with international tourists who could not understand Korean announcements.

Give an owned medium a public job: when a commercial screen carries live safety information, its attention becomes useful, and the brand earns a role in the city rather than just a slot on it.

The campaign launched in time for the August 2025 peak season and won the OOH Grand Prize at the 2025 Korea Advertising Awards on 2 December. INNOCEAN also presented it at MAD STARS 2025 as a case study for AI-powered digital out-of-home, and the partners framed Grand Josun Media's future as a real-time, data-linked platform for public messages and urban experiences rather than purely commercial advertising.