[비즈한국] In an era where brands are remembered not just for products but for senses, experiences, and attitudes, people now place more value on what they are drawn to and what experiences they remember rather than simply what they buy. Bizhankook partners with the brand community 'BeMyB' every month to present the 'Brand of the Month.' We share the new sensibilities and trends captured by BeMyB and explore the context behind why currently notable brands are being chosen.
Brands are no longer consumed solely for their products. It is an era where the scenes created and the memories left behind through experiences matter more than what is being sold. The brands that garnered attention in April clearly demonstrated this flow. Running expanded through collaborations and community, while champagne became a scene that tied together gastronomy, art, and architecture. The sauna was reinterpreted as a lifestyle choice for relaxation, and music found a new narrative through the choice of an independent label. Generative AI is now emerging as a brand that changes the very way everyone performs their work, moving beyond a tool for specific professions.
The domestic brand community BeMyB has selected New Balance, Veuve Clicquot, Sisu House, AKMU, and Claude as the 'Brands of the Month' for April 2026. The categories are 'Wearing', 'Eating', 'Staying', 'Enjoying', and 'Using' respectively. BeMyB selected the most noteworthy brands of the month based on brand identity, timeliness, differentiation, communication, and buzzworthiness.
Wearing: New Balance, Turning the Running Trend into a Community Experience
New Balance, selected in the 'Wearing' category for April, was one of the brands that utilized the running craze in the most multidimensional way. On April 10, New Balance teamed up with webtoon artist Kian84 to open pop-up stores simultaneously at their Seongsu flagship store and Lotte Time Villas Suwon. Both spaces were equipped not only with collaborative apparel, shoes, and gear, but also photo booths, exhibitions, and experiential content. It was a method that went beyond selling limited-edition products to allowing customers to experience the brand firsthand offline.
The highlight of the event was the running event held in Yeouido on April 21. Winners drawn from those who purchased running shoes ran along the Han River with Kian84, physically experiencing the worldview of the collaboration. In essence, they created a structure where product purchase led directly to community participation. It was evaluated that the brand identity of 'balance' and 'authenticity for actual runners,' which New Balance has emphasized for a long time, became even more distinct through this collaboration.
Eating: Veuve Clicquot, Curating a Scene Beyond Champagne
The 'Eating' category brand Veuve Clicquot drew attention with a strategy that makes people remember the experience before the product. The 'Picnic at the Museum' held at Museum SAN in Wonju, Gangwon Province, on April 1 was closer to a sophisticated lifestyle curation than a mere champagne brand event. By applying their signature yellow color to the space designed by Tadao Ando and adding elements of music, gastronomy, fashion, and celebrity, they created the very scenery where the brand resides.
This event was planned to commemorate the launch of the 'La Grande Dame 2018' limited edition. The packaging, reinterpreted by Jacquemus, is read as a way of folding the narratives of two women—Madame Clicquot and the designer's mother—into a single bottle. The history of the brand that began in 1772, the pioneering narrative of 'Madame Clicquot,' and the heritage symbolized by the yellow color were all translated into contemporary sensibilities. The fact that Veuve Clicquot is rapidly increasing its touchpoints with design, art, and lifestyle in Korea this year is aligned with this flow.
Staying: Sisu House, Proposing 'Reset' Rather than Just 'Bathing'
The 'Staying' category's Sisu House is considered the space that has adopted the recent sauna trend in the most sophisticated way. This private sauna, which involved a full renovation of a red-brick building in Sinsa-dong, consists of six rooms that can be used by only one person at a time. A step-by-step flow including a Finnish dry sauna, cold shower, warm soak, and ice fountain was precisely crafted, and devices to enhance the density of recovery and senses were densely placed throughout the space.
The reason Sisu House is special is that it does not limit the sauna to the functions of simple exfoliation or rest. It proposes itself more as a 'space to reset.' By contrasting senses such as warmth and coldness, light and darkness, and scent and touch, it makes one reorganize the overcrowded senses of urban life. Considering that 'SISU' means resilience and a strong mind in Finnish, Sisu House can be seen as a case that transcends a mere wellness space to translate the fatigue and recovery needs of contemporary urbanites into brand language.
Enjoying: A New Scene for AKMU with a Regular Album After 7 Years and an Independent Label
AKMU (Lee Chan-hyuk, Lee Su-hyun), who made the list in the 'Enjoying' category, released their 4th regular album 'Gaehwa' on April 7, coinciding with their 12th debut anniversary. It is their first regular album in 7 years since their 3rd album 'SAILING' in 2019. The fact that the album title is 'Gaehwa' (Blooming) after such a long hiatus creates a narrative in itself. It is a story of finally blooming after the voyage, compressing the present status of a team that has matured over time.
A more noteworthy aspect of this activity is the change in their agency. AKMU left YG Entertainment, with whom they had been for 12 years, and released their first regular album under their new label 'Inspiring Source.' It is a choice to maintain existing partnerships for distribution but to keep the initiative in creation and operation for themselves. It is also impressive that they created a dense touchpoint with fans through the 550-seat listening session 'AKKADEMY' instead of a large-scale event where tens of thousands gather. This is a symbolic case showing the contemporary flow of artist IPs evolving into independent brands.
Using: Claude, Aiming to be a Tool for Everyone
Claude in the 'Using' category was one of the AI brands that grew its presence most rapidly during the month of April. Anthropic's terminal-based coding tool 'Claude Code' released over 30 versions in just 5 weeks from March to April. With the addition of conversational learning systems, progress monitoring, team onboarding automation, and skill-based handover functions in succession, it quickly pushed forward the transition from a simple chatbot to a practical work tool.
In particular, 'Claude Design,' unveiled on April 17, broadened the application scope of generative AI once again. It is a structure where, if a user enters requirements in the chat window on the left, prototypes, presentations, and marketing materials are generated in real-time on the canvas on the right. An interesting point at the brand level lies in the direction rather than the individual features. Claude is moving toward reducing the time spent learning professional tools for each job and narrowing the distance between intention and result. It has become one of the brands that most quickly visualized an era where people can design without being designers and participate in development decision-making without being developers.
Brand of the Month: 'New Balance'
The reason New Balance was selected as the Brand of the Month for April is not simply because it was a beneficiary of the running craze. Through its collaboration with Kian84 in April, New Balance tied everything from product sales to offline space and community experience into a single flow. The pop-up stores held at the Seongsu flagship store and Lotte Time Villas Suwon did not stop at displaying collaborative products but functioned as a venue for experiencing the brand directly by adding photo booths, exhibitions, and experiential elements. Added to this, the event where winners drawn from running shoe purchasers ran along the Han River with Kian84 meant that this collaboration was completed as an 'experience of running together,' rather than just a limited-edition release.
More importantly, this move is in line with New Balance's long-standing brand identity. New Balance has long emphasized its history as a brand that started from the balance of the feet, a fitting system considering various foot widths, and authenticity toward actual runners. The movements in April, ranging from the operation of the Bukchon Run Hub and running classes to the Kian84 pop-up, serve as a scene that reconfirmed running not as a temporary buzzword, but as a language that shows the essence of the brand. In that sense, New Balance is read as one of the cases that designed a brand experience in the most multidimensional way in April.