The Market Situation

When HITE Beer (formerly Chosun Beer) was first introduced to consumers, the Korean beer market was already dominated by OB. Indeed, to most Koreans, OB was another name for beer, and it did not allow comparison either in brand image or consumer preference. To compete with OB, more than anything else, HITE had to have something that could differentiate it from the market leader.

Around that time, Korean consumers were becoming more environmentally aware and 'green image' advertisements appealed to the public by emphasizing the purity of nature in all aspects - from the product name to the image, colors, and production techniques.

Being properly aware of this trend, HITE Beer differentiated itself by launching advertisements that emphasized that HITE used clean and pure water drawn up from deep underground rock beds. As if the Goddess of Victory were smiling upon us, it was discovered that the monopolistic market leader Doosan, the producer of OB Beer, had released a large amount of phenol, a hazardous substance, into the Nak-dong River, which later entered into house water supply systems. The public was enraged by this "Phenol Incident". The timing could not have been more perfect for HITE.

Product Analysis

Competitive Advantage: the water we used, which is the major ingredient of beer, was clean and pure being drawn up from rock beds 150 meters underground.

Target: The main target group was salary men in their twenties and thirties, while we picked college students as our sub target, and housewives in their twenties and thirties as our other target audience.

Ad Concept: 'Pure beer made of 100% natural water from 150M underground rock beds'

This analysis and the consequent ad concept was adopted because it was believed to be the strategy that could shake our competitor's position as dominant market leader, and create room for ourselves in the almost monopolistic Korean beer market.


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In April 1993, HITE finally revealed the first set of product launch advertisements
"Pure beer, HITE. We use 100% natural rock bed water." one, began to recognize the name, HITE. HITE Beer succeeded in positioning itself as another market leader by differentiating itself as 'high-quality water' beer. In other words, HITE used its water as its marketing weapon, which was totally unconventional.

The next rounds of ads used questions as their catch phrase, "Would you really have your beer boiled?"; and then, "Water makes up 90% of beer. Which beer would you choose?" These ads played a decisive role in clarifying the brand concept of HITE. In other words, HITE consistently stood by its marketing concept by putting all the emphasis on the water. OB, which had remained unresponsive during the initial stage of the HITE launch, finally began to make its move against HITE.

In January 1994, OB's production facility was selected as an 'exemplary site in environmental management'. While environmental management had nothing to do with the quality of beer, OB embarked on a massive newspaper campaign taking advantage of the occasion. By this time, however, HITE had already come up with various counter plans and comfortably made its response.

Our first counter ad to OB was "Why aren't you selective with the beer you drink when you are so careful about the water you drink." Lucky for HITE, around the time this ad was released, Nak-dong River, one of the largest rivers in Korea and an important source for house water supply, was found contaminated and OB was involved in the incident. The entire case became a serious social issue; the media and the public alike became very keen about the quality of drinking water. So, our second counter ad ran, "A beer that keeps its silence, and a beer that can speak," taking advantage of OB's low-profile situation.

Gradually, HITE secured its position in the Korean beer market, and continued its advertisement with "the legend of HITE" as its theme. HITE's ads strongly appealed to Korean consumers because they properly addressed the interests of the public at the right time. In addition, to further secure its brand image as a quality beer, the ads consistently emphasized "water" so that when people heard the word 'water' they would automatically think of "HITE", and when they heard HITE, would think of 'natural rock bed water'. This water has become a source of our marketing power and helped us stay ahead of the competition.