[비즈한국] The reason one buys a product is not always the same as the reason one likes a brand. You buy sneakers to run, but you might be drawn to the stories of the people who run. At an amusement park, the joy of riding an attraction overlaps with the expectation of meeting a specific character. Where does this attachment, which is hard to explain by product function alone, come from? This is the question that defines our brand cases for September.
The brand community Be My B selected the following as the 'Brand of the Month' for September 2026: Pro-Specs for 'Wear,' Samjin Amook for 'Eat,' Lotte World for 'Stay,' Minumsa for 'Enjoy,' and Hyundai Card for 'Use.' Among these five, Minumsa is the representative brand of the month. While their approaches differed, they are worth reading together because they all found a 'reason to like' that cannot be created merely by explaining the product.
Wear: Pro-Specs
What the brand, known for its new sneakers, first unveiled at its new store was the records of runners. Opened on September 7th, the Pro-Specs Seochon flagship store welcomed visitors with 'Wish You Were Here,' an exhibition commemorating the Chuncheon Marathon. The exhibition was filled with the personal belongings of 12 runners, including Hwang Young-cho and Kwon Eun-ju, and the stories of people they met through running.
This space was created by preserving the frame of the building that previously housed a Pro-Specs store. The exhibition material wasn't found elsewhere; Pro-Specs has been a main sponsor of the Chuncheon Marathon since 2023. The long-standing sponsorship relationship combined with the old store location served as the material to announce the brand's new start.
Launched in 1981, Pro-Specs began rebranding from the spring/summer season this year with the slogan 'Sports for Everyone.' The direction is to talk about the sports people enjoy individually rather than focusing on records and competition. They organized their product lines into four categories: Running, Sports Style, Heritage, and Sports, with a focus on running shoes. The daily running shoe 'SWNA SEAM 26,' created with industrial design studio SWNA, also emerged from this process.
The direction proposed through products in the spring led to the space and exhibition in the fall. They shifted their focus from explaining the sneakers to highlighting the people who run. It is a scene where one can verify how the new slogan is reflected in products and stores. It is also interesting that they did not stop at commemorating their long history, but brought it out as a story that can be used for current activities.
Eat: Samjin Amook
The destination of a running program that started in Haeundae was a space opened by a fish cake brand. Together with the running specialty store 'Racemunt,' Samjin Amook conducted a program where participants ran from the Haeundae branch to 'Samjin Amook THE WAVE Gwangalli.' After finishing the run, the program was structured for them to look around the space and experience the products.
Opened in early September, THE WAVE Gwangalli has a different composition from existing stores focused on buying fish cakes. It is designed to overlook the sea and the Gwangan Bridge, and offers menu items like fish cake cheese sticks and fried rice. They also included shaved ice (bingsu) developed with the Busan brand 'Yongho-dong Halmae Patbingsu' and beverages in collaboration with 'Fuzzy Navel' on the menu. Instead of filling the store only with fish cakes, they suggested a time to eat and rest in Gwangalli.
Started in 1953, Samjin Amook previously introduced the 'Fish Cake Bakery' in 2013. It was an attempt to turn fish cakes, once familiar only as side dishes, into snacks. With this new space, they aim to change the motivation for visiting the store, beyond just the way products are consumed. They enabled people to encounter the brand not only for the purpose of buying fish cakes, but also by watching the sea or participating in running programs.
The location of Busan was used for that connection. They developed menus with local brands and planned a run connecting Haeundae and Gwangalli. It is a choice that fits better with Samjin Amook's starting point than a pop-up that could be moved to any city. The future task is how much these visits will lead to an interest in fish cakes. Even amidst new menus and programs, a reason to seek out Samjin Amook must remain.
Stay: Lotte World
When the parade video was released, the reaction was more than just observation. Fan art and videos were created using characters from the 'Dark Fantasy Parade' at Lotte World Adventure Seoul. The parade video posted on the official X account surpassed 10 million views in a single day. Lotte World kept this momentum going by revealing the character names and holding a secondary creation contest.
The parade is based on the story of abnormal phenomena occurring as the 'Gate to a Strange World' opens. Unique characters caught the attention of subculture fans. Instead of just watching the performance prepared by the theme park, guests chose their favorite characters and reinterpreted them through their own drawings and videos. It created an opportunity for characters to be discussed even without the operating company supplying all the narratives.
They also hosted autumn festivals using external works. In Seoul, they presented 'Invitation to a Strange World' in collaboration with the horror animation 'Junji Ito Collection.' They realized representative characters like Tomie in the space and set up photo zones, media mapping, AR quests, and costume rentals. Products and food reflecting the characteristics of the work were also included. In Busan, they brought in locations and characters from 'MapleStory' and held busking sessions and parades using game music.
This composition creates a different reason for visiting than just deciding which rides to take. This is because walking through places from a favorite work and meeting characters can become the goal of the day. In particular, the fact that fans' creativity attached itself to the original parade characters is a point as noteworthy as the collaboration with famous external works. The characters encountered inside the theme park became the protagonists of drawings and videos outside as well.
Enjoy: Minumsa
A phenomenon emerged where people began collecting bread to get the items used while reading books. The collaboration bread released in August by GS25, Minumsa, and Today's Cute surpassed 1 million cumulative sales in just 4 weeks after launch. Packaging using book covers and the enclosed bookmarks garnered attention, and some bookmarks were even traded on the second-hand market at higher prices than the bread itself.
Convenience store bread was not the starting point of the collaboration. Minumsa and Today's Cute first introduced books with covers redesigned using characters and merchandise at the Seoul International Book Fair last June. This subsequently led to 'The World Beyond Sentences' pop-up stores in Seoul and Busan, and even a collaboration frame was released at the self-photo studio Haru Film. It was a flow where a design that started at the book fair moved to convenience stores and photo studios.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Minumsa is connecting books to collaborations in various fields. At reading parties held with groups like the Seoul Morning Coffee Club, they provided personally selected books to participants. In an event utilizing the Galaxy Z Fold 8, participants read books on the device and had book talks with Minumsa marketers and editors. Every time the collaboration partner and location changed, the act of selecting and reading books was arranged in a different form.
Assets that can be utilized are not only in the publication list. Employees who have built relationships with readers through YouTube also become reasons for attending events. It is a structure where book designs familiar to readers, as well as the faces of editors and marketers, are used as subjects for products and meetings respectively. This collaboration is interesting in that it specifically points to what actions a love for books can lead to, beyond just purchasing books.
Use: Hyundai Card
Credit cards have become identification for a virtual nation. The collaboration card with Maurizio Cattelan, revealed by Hyundai Card on September 15, was designed like a resident registration card or driver's license under the premise of the 'Hyundai Card Republic.' You can put your own face or a character created by the artist in the photo spot. It also includes a banana hologram that reminds one of 'Comedian,' the work that featured a banana taped to a gallery wall.
This is the second 'Artist Special Plate' following last year's Tom Sachs. Customers encounter the artist's work in a different way than just viewing an exhibition. This is because the card itself, which you carry in your wallet and take out every time you pay, is the result of the collaboration. The idea of changing the standardized appearance of a credit card into an ID card is based on an approach of imbuing payment methods with individual taste.
Exhibition activities also continued. In September, they opened the first large-scale domestic retrospective of Wayne Thiebaud, showcasing 105 pieces ranging from paintings of everyday objects like cakes and candies to his final self-portrait. They organized familiar paintings from the perspective of 'order.' It was an exhibition that suggested how to view the works, beyond just highlighting the artist's name.
'Naver X Hyundai Card THE SIX,' scheduled to be held for three days starting December 25, is an event utilizing a partnership. Six world-class female tennis players will participate, and the event offers reservation opportunities to Hyundai Card members and Naver Plus Membership members. It also provides discount benefits to Naver Hyundai Card members. The plan is to create an opportunity for members to visit the stadium together as a benefit of the card partnership.
The Cattelan collaboration card and the tennis tournament seem like different attempts. However, one incorporates culture/sports into an object the customer uses personally, and the other into a participation opportunity given to members. The core of these activities is that they have transformed the image of sponsoring cultural events into a concrete form that customers can hold in their hands or utilize.
September's Brand: 'Minumsa'
It is difficult to explain why Minumsa was selected as the Brand of the Month for September based solely on the sales volume of 1 million loaves of bread. Sales volume indicates the response to a collaboration product, but it does not mean that everyone who bought the bread became a Minumsa reader. Whether the craze for collecting bookmarks leads to actual reading is another matter.
Nevertheless, there is a reason to keep an eye on Minumsa. While attaching a publisher's name to products in other fields, they pointed out relatively specifically what people like. At the convenience store, they presented book covers and bookmarks; at events, they presented curated books and staff members familiar to readers. They found materials for collaboration in the things a publisher has already been doing.
While attempts utilizing space and collaboration also appeared in the other four brands, Minumsa led collection and participation by continuing a single collaboration across the book fair, pop-ups, convenience stores, and photo studios. Rather than explaining a new identity every time the product changed, they carried over elements that existing readers could recognize. As a result, a way to express interest in Minumsa outside of bookstores was created.
The power of a publisher is not determined solely by how many books it has published. It is also important what kind of traces those books have left in the reader's life. Collecting bookmarks