S.Korea's brewery Seoul Jangsu forms marketing tie-up with fashion industry

With South Korea's traditional milky rice wine makgeolli seeing its second heyday centered on the 20- and 30-something crowds, marketing tie-ups targeting the two demographics are brisk.

Seoul Jangsu, the dominant player on the domestic makgeolli market, stands out in its activities for presenting a hip image through collaborations with fashion and food companies.

Sources from the alcoholic beverage industry on Monday said the brewery will make products in collaboration with Obey, an American street fashion brand that has many fans from Generation MZ, a Korean term referring to millennials and members of Generation Z.

To open on Thursday, the US brand's global flagship store in Seoul, just the third of its kind in the world after those in Paris and Amsterdam, will sell items like T-shirts and makgeolli featuring using Seoul Jangsu's green color symbolizing longevity and Obey's representative logo.

Seoul Jangsu has collaborated in marketing before with a fashion company. In May last year, it released Sotsot Makgeolli with the outdoor brand Kolon Sport, whose logo features an evergreen tree that resembles the Korean word for "sot sot" (soar, soar). With more Koreans in their 20s and 30s going mountain hiking, this drink was designed to spread the image of makgeolli as the drink to have after mountain climbing.

But Dalbit Yuja (Moonlight Citron) is why Seoul Jangsu's makgeolli has left such an impression on Generation MZ. Released in 2020, the drink features as a key ingredient juice from the famous version of the fruit made in Goheung County, South Jeolla Province.

The company's fresh and sweet dessert makgeolli also went viral and sold 100,000 bottles within 100 days of its launch.

Seoul Jansu is targeting Generation MZ with an array of products made jointly with other companies, a leading example being Maksa released in 2021. Made in partnership with GS Retail, this drink was developed based on the combination of the wine and the country's lemon and lime-flavored carbonated soft drink Chilsung Cider.

Write to Jiyoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com