Six years ago, I went to Japan to investigate whiskey highballs. On the way from the airport to my accommodation, I stopped by the small shops I met. There were many really small izakayas, and I enjoyed simple tempura and a refreshing highball for less than 10,000 won.

In the evening, I visited three restaurants and tried to taste all the kinds of highballs that filled the menu, but I got quite drunk. Luckily, the client from the headquarters who guided me was very understanding.

The next day, at the distillery I visited, a white-haired employee gave me a special workshop provided by the headquarters. The person in charge told me he had worked at the distillery all his life. Afterwards, I had Japanese-style white rice and visited a 'bar' near my accommodation.

The moment I opened the door, I felt a sense of alienation because there were many customers in their 60s and 70s. Considering it was around 7 pm, it was also the time when our mothers of similar age would be preparing dinner. At that moment, a man in his 50s with a flamboyant hairstyle who was carrying a guitar opened the door to the shop, saw that there were no empty seats, and quickly turned around and left.

Then I spotted a female customer in her 60s sitting in the middle of the shop. She seemed to have come out for a drink from home, wearing very casual clothes and slippers, watching the TV news on the wall and sipping a whiskey.

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Japan has been producing its own whiskey since the 1920s. Taketsuru Masataka, who had studied whiskey abroad, returned after directly writing and drawing everything about the local distillation methods and equipment, met Torii Shinjiro, a businessman who sold imported wines, and together they started Japanese whiskey.

After that, in order to suggest to the public the custom of drinking whiskey as a drink, they produced photo albums with Japanese-style course meals with whiskey added, and ran a nationwide franchise bar business that specialized in whiskey, which helped Japanese whiskey brand companies build up their experience with whiskey that Japanese people have experienced since childhood. The things I observed were all natural moments that could be confirmed because of this background.

That's why I started to understand why the Japanese people thought the sales team in Korea didn't know much about whiskey.

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The sales team members at the Korean office who had the opportunity to be interviewed for another project were all people with at least 13 years of experience in liquor sales. In order to reorganize the introduction materials and sales pitches for the launch of a new whiskey brand, they shared their rich experience on what product information is most needed by shopkeepers in a limited time. However, if there is an insurmountable wall of understanding regarding the subject of whiskey, it is simply the difference in the whiskey culture experienced in everyday life.

The sales team members said they had experienced whiskey as a kind of moonshine since they were children. The liquor that a wealthy friend's father kept carefully in his liquor cabinet. The difference in background, such as the liberalization of liquor imports in Korea in 1980, which was once encouraged as a national industry but disappeared due to the low commercial viability due to the low amount of original liquor remaining after distillation due to the climate characteristics, and the sales experienced by the sales team along the distribution route of whiskey following the reception culture, were understood to be more active in the shadows than in Japan.

After finishing the survey schedule, I visited Osaka Castle, famous as a tourist destination.

I looked around Osaka Castle along the cherry blossoms that were all filled, and before I knew it, I found myself at the Toyotomi Hideyoshi Shrine. That's right, the one who started the Imjin War.

After confirming this, I turned around and left for the airport immediately.

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The essence of a product is unique.

However, the meaning of the product can vary greatly depending on the country or region.

Understanding and respecting this difference and entering the market can lead to a more favorable nuance in the attitude, message, and strategy itself, which is confirmed in marketing and sales.