When you think of South Korea, it’s unlikely that craft beer is something that comes to mind, let alone a collaboration with Edison Agency, a Melbourne-based, female-owned design company.
But MoonBear, a craft brewery based two hours out of Seoul, is connecting with new drinkers from a more youthful female demographic thanks to The Edison Agency, a disruptive agency that utilises design led thinking.
In 2015, Canadian-born Head Brewer of MoonBear Brewing, Rob Titley and a group of passionate enthusiasts embarked on a journey to put Korea on the global brewing map – their vision was to create a unique destination experience where nature, beer and food collide.
Edison helped bring MoonBear Brewing’s global vision to life; showcasing the best of modern Korea to the world through brand strategy and positioning, naming, identity design, packaging, research, merchandising, plus branded experience interiors and wayfinding for the brewery itself.
Edison undertook an extensive research phase seeking expertise and insights from both local market consumers and international cultural experts. These learnings informed the design outcome and brought the rich tapestry of local history and culture to life, while being mindful to not implement a western filter to a Korean product.
Research revealed that Korean women are at the forefront of the craft beer movement, driving demand that represents the highest percentile of consumers. This key learning particularly resonated with Edison which, at an organisational level, is entirely female-owned.
Edison Founder and Head of Strategy Amber Bonney led the charge, armed with over 21 years of experience in the creative services industry. She said it was a huge vote of confidence and a somewhat novel approach for a Korean business to appoint an independent Australian agency following a four way global creative pitch.
“It speaks to the expertise and competency of The Edison Agency’s offer and female leadership,” said Amber.
“We were immediately attracted to the idea of being part of an international collaboration of designers, marketers, writers, architects and brewers and what we’ve achieved is the first genuine brewery experience of its scale in South Korea.”
Located two hours out of Seoul in Gangwon Province is MoonBear’s state-of-the-art 4.5 million litre per year capacity brewery and tap house.
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