Jay Park Soju, Boa Beer, Lim Chang-jung Makgeolli… .
Liquor companies are gearing up for celebrity marketing. This is to increase the public’s interest at once and quickly enjoy the effect of increasing sales. Jay Park’s soju has already become a sensation and is experiencing a shortage.
According to GS Retail on the 20th, 200,000 bottles of ‘Wonso Juice Spirit’, which started selling at GS25, a convenience store on the 12th, were sold within a week (until the 19th). It surpassed the beer ‘Cas’ and the soju ‘Chamisul Fresh’, which had ranked first and second in sales of alcoholic beverages, to rank first in sales.
Wonju Spirit is the second product of ‘Wonsoju’, a distilled soju that singer Jay Park established and launched a local agricultural company in Wonju, Gangwon-do. Although the price is on the high side at 12,900 won, it is gaining popularity among the MZ generation (millennials + generation Z) and is creating a craze. Since the 11th, GS25 convenience stores that have placed orders for soju spirits have 15,482, beating Cass (15,380 points) and Chamisul Fresh (15,204 points).
As Won Soju has become very popular with ‘Park Jae-beom Soju’, there is an atmosphere in which alcoholic beverages bearing the names of celebrities are being released one following another. Singer Lim Chang-jung released ‘Lim Chang-jung Rice Powder Makgeolli’ last May, which commercialized the popular menu of her meat restaurant she runs. Next month, it is also planning to launch a ‘a glass of soju’ in collaboration with 7-Eleven. It is known that Lim Chang-jung not only went out as her model, but also participated in her product development process and actively expressed her opinions on her soju taste and bottle design.
In addition, ‘Squeeze Brewery’, a craft beer brand, launched two types of ‘Beer for J’ with singer Lee Seon-hee on the 13th. ‘Top (real name Choi Seung-hyun)’, a former member of the idol group Big Bang, recently unveiled the wine he launched and is preparing to release it. Budweiser of OB Beer recently launched a limited edition product featuring singer BoA as a model. This limited edition beer is designed in a 500ml can with the lyrics and illustrations of BoA’s song ‘No Limit’.
It is a method of promoting brands and products by using the influence of a star model. In the past, marketing focused on trusted actors or celebrities such as Jo In-sung, Hyun Bin, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Min-ho, Ha Ji-won, and Kim Yuna, etc.
An industry official said, “There are still not many techniques that are as effective as celebrity marketing.
Ahn Hye-won, reporter at Hankyung.com [email protected]
