Friends for real
People want their beer to be real. So if your brand says you’re all about local drinking culture, you better mean it. Particularly when your audience are super-sharp Hong Kongers able to spot a fake from miles away.
When Yau first launched, it seemed set for greatness. It had the global knowhow of Carlsberg. The pioneering spirit of Brooklyn Brewery.
Client
YAUStudio
SingaporeExpertise
Brand & Creative Strategy, Brand Identity, Packaging DesignBut something was missing. That realness. That authenticity. Those little cues that told Hong Kongers: “we’re one of you”.
Take the name: HK Yau. Nothing says “foreign import” to drinkers in Hong Kong than the letters HK.
So it disappeared. Instead of a brand dressed in cliches, Yau became rooted in the thing it was always meant to be about: “yau”, or “friendliness”.
The kind of friend who gets it. The friend who knows all the in-jokes. The one who doesn’t try too hard, and doesn’t expect you to, either.
After Yau, came yauisms. Hyper-local, uber-relatable Cantonese puns that gave life to a whole range of beers.
Fancy a lager? Meet Bor Yau, the yau that’s always up for a ball game. Want a wheat beer? Say hey to Chu Pang Gau Yau, the soul of the party. Or how about a pale ale with Fat Siu Yau, the always-on enthusiast?
And from yauisms, a visual identity emerged—as vibrant and head-turning as the city itself. Eye-popping colours, brain-melting illustrations. The inimitable friendliness of Hong Kong, canned and ready to go.
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