LOVE Creates Johnnie Walker House, Seoul - Their Most Ambitious Brand Experience to Date

MANCHESTER, England and SHANGHAI, September 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Following the success of the award winning Johnnie Walker Houses in Shanghai and Beijing, creative agency LOVE has now designed a third House for Diageo in Seoul. Just being launched, the super deluxe whisky embassy is described by LOVE in design terms as "The most ambitious Johnnie Walker House to-date".

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

http://www.multivu.com/mnr/63462-love-creative-johnnie-walker-house-seoul

Since LOVE developed the concept for the Johnnie Walker House in 2011 Diageo has reported that the Shanghai and Beijing Houses have generated millions of dollars worth of premium whisky sales. In addition, the brand experience spaces have welcomed 1000's of celebrity and high profile guests, with 9 out of 10 people in China aspiring to visit a Johnnie Walker House.

Like the preceding Houses, Seoul House has been inspired by the 'whisky conversation' theme and culturally curated at a local level; every room, display and interaction sets out to engage sophisticated Korean consumers and tell the story behind Johnnie Walker.

Unique art installations play a key role in bringing Seoul House's immersive design to life. LOVE commissioned a number of globally renowned Korean artists and digital studios to produce imaginative pieces, as well as high definition video art for the experiential space.

A modernist re-working of the iconic striding man by leading Korean sculptor, Park Chan-Girl, has been created as an outdoor sculptural piece. Another high profile artist, Byoungho Kim, has designed a breathtaking hanging 'whisky droplet' sculpture representing the importance of water in the whisky making process. The audio visual copper installation descends through all six floors in the House with whisky droplets reducing in size until only one single droplet remains to reflect the purity of a Johnnie Walker blend.

LOVE Executive Creative Director, David Palmer says: "This is our third Johnnie Walker House and our most ambitious yet. Because this is South Korea our brief was to go super-contemporary with an emphasis on clean lines and inventive use of digital technology.

"Once again, we've collaborated with Singapore agency Asylum - as well as working in tandem with LOVE Shanghai - to create a design piece that pushes the possibilities of how we can talk about Johnnie Walker whisky, creating new immersive spaces and experiences to ignite a whisky culture in South Korea.

"For the first time we've been able to create an exterior for the House, so we've opted for a design that beautifully interprets the Brand's 24 degree label in special copper coloured material. The result is high impact and clearly establishes Johnnie Walker as a true luxury presence within South Korea."

James Thompson, MD Global Reserve, Diageo, adds: "Johnnie Walker House Seoul is our most contemporary House to date combining traditional craftsmanship with modern technology. Each House we create is an expression of luxury Scotch whisky hospitality which takes into account cultural nuances and combines working with local artists keeping the concept fresh and exciting each time."

Commercially the Johnnie Walker House concept has become very successful for Diageo. Since the Shanghai House opened in 2011, sales of super-deluxe Johnnie Walker whisky in China increased by 64% year-on-year. Diageo now plans to roll out the business model beyond Asia.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About LOVE

LOVE is a 50 strong creative agency with offices in Manchester, London and Shanghai. Storytelling is at the heart of the agency's approach, developing creative ideas and innovative solutions to drive conversation and engagement for leading global brands. Working with a wholly integrated approach across advertising, branding, design, digital and experiential, LOVE finds the most interesting things to say in the most interesting ways.

Recent LOVE brands include Johnnie Walker, Baileys, Tanqueray, Nike, Umbro International, Levi Strauss & Co, Virgin Media and the design of the world's fastest selling album cover for One Direction. Since it was founded in 2001, the agency has won over 250 awards, including the coveted D&AD, Creative Review, Clio and Design Week awards.

http://www.lovecreative.com

http://www.lovecreative.com/cn (for Asia)

Contact: Louise Palmer, LOVE: +44(0)1619073150 or louise.palmer@sunshinepr.co.uk

Video: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/63462-love-creative-johnnie-walker-house-seoul

SOURCE Creative Agency LOVE