Hite Jinro, South Korea’s premier soju brand, has firmly established itself as a pioneer in introducing Korean spirits to global markets. Now the world’s No.1 distilled spirit brand, Jinro aims to move beyond export-led growth toward achieving mainstream recognition. This shift requires a communication approach that resonates with millennials and Gen Z, two groups shaping consumer trends worldwide.
With soju’s rising popularity attracting a wave of new competitors, Jinro faces the challenge of reinforcing its premium leadership as the “true No.1 Korean soju.” The brand needed a bold, targeted approach to differentiate itself and connect meaningfully with international audiences.
We reinterpreted Jinro's unique differentiators through a global lens and established a brand identity designed to resonate internationally. This strategy centered on three main pillars: By Jinro, Of Jinro, and Only From Jinro. We also analyzed audience behavior to define the role of each social platform and proposed tailored content approaches to maximize performance across channels.
As part of this strategy, we localized Jinro’s brand slogan — “Easy to Drink, Drink to Link” — adapting its tone and manner to feel intuitive for global audiences. This ensured the brand voice and creative assets felt native in each market while strengthening Jinro Soju’s global positioning. By emphasizing Jinro’s fun, light image of being a drink anyone can enjoy easily, we reinforced the slogan’s emotional value and positioned Jinro as the “link” that connects people and cultures throughout the campaign narrative.
Shifting beyond view-based metrics, we prioritized engagement as our main KPI and designed diverse content formats to drive audience participation. Our guiding philosophy, “here & now,” emphasized creating content that feels immediate and relevant: leveraging trending moments, memes, and cultural events in real time so audiences can relate instantly. On YouTube, Jinro became more than a brand channel - it evolved into a branded entertainment hub. On Instagram, we focused on short, punchy hooks and fast production turnarounds to capitalize on trends and maximize interaction.
