John Miziolek, from Toronto branding company Reset Branding, and Co-Founder of the D Event, talks with Sung Kang, Director of Marketing for Specialty Beverages at Mark Anthony Group. A “long suffering brand marketer” Sung originally attended recording engineering school in Florida (the cornily named ‘Rock n Roll U’) at the age of 18. He then returned to Toronto and continued to impress his parents and potential mates by pursuing multiple degrees in political philosophy. Then he met Heather Reisman and helped her open a couple of Indigo Stores at a time he likes to call “the ‘when-it-all-began’ epoch”. An MBA and many marketing jobs later, here he is, in all his glory. Sung has led the marketing and design efforts on many global food brands including Cheerios, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, and Fruit-Roll-Ups. In addition to getting people to eat more stuff, he’s helped redesign a 100,000 sq ft office, tended bar at a winery, played guitar in pubs for beer and wings, and has also had the distinct pleasure of marketing drugs (Buckley’s Mixture) and alcohol (Mike’s Hard Lemonade).
What is Sung passionate about? ” I’m passionate about making TRULY awesome stuff and serving it up to the world. In my experience, too many brands and companies put lipstick on a pig and then wonder why no one buys it. I think a designer’s passion for the things they design shine through the inanimate stuff we put on shelves and reach out and grab people… stuff that doesn’t really tickle designers doesn’t really tickle consumers. It sounds too simple to be true, but there it is.”
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