One recent statistics stated Koreans are the heaviest drinkers on the globe- twice as much as Russians. There is a good reason why. Unlike western counterparts, Koreans are too shy to express their feelings so they rely on alcohol so much when building deep relationships. No.1 Soju (Korean traditional liquor) with 90 years history in Korea, Cham-iseul, responsibly volunteered to help people drink less and express more. By doing so, the client expected people in their twenties would get stronger attachment as top of mind in young target group was relatively low and had decreased.

We created ‘Grill Talk’. Korean food is about grilling so we found grill grids the best media. 6 grill grids with 6 laser cut messages were made – Truly love you, Truly sorry, Truly thank you, Truly respect you, Truly awesome team, Truly a great job. (“Truly” as the minimum reminder of Cham-iseul meaning Truly Clean) The grills and grill grid menu were provided to major restaurants in Seoul. He/she picked one that fits his/her situation. The message showed on the cooked side. People got closer without a hangover. Young people spread the idea through active postings on SNS.

“Likes” on Hitejinro (the company) Facebook page almost doubled thanks to the promotion. It is very meaningful for such an old brand to help make its presence on SNS in building relationships with young targets. Actually,

top of mind in aimed target group rebounded and showed a record-high figure of 75%. During the promotion period, the mean alcohol consumption at the restaurants was decreased by 21.5% while the portion of sales of Cham-iseul was maintained. Considering such a low budget spending of 50 thousand dollars, ROI was huge as free PR effect was equivalent to 2million dollars.

It seems ironical that a liquor brand promotes “drink less.” However, Cham-iseul is No.1 soju (Korean traditional liquor) with a 71% market share, which means it is more important for them to not be so focused on short term sales but rather develop a long term relationship by emotionally bonding and to prolong the presence in Koreans. This is especially true for people in their twenties exposed to various international liquors such as wine, craft beer, and so on. This campaign created such a strong impression to where there is no better option than Cham-iseul for Koreans to get closer.