Building a campaign
before the campaign existed

The first conversation sounded simple. Marketing expected a collaboration and believed only a small promotional sticker would be needed for a dip box. The event details were still unclear. The campaign identity had not been defined.

A week later, the project officially began. Nothing was as expected. There was still no creative brief. The food had not been decided. The campaign mechanics were unknown. Even the list of required assets did not exist.

The only confirmed information was that artwork had to be submitted to HYBE for approval by Monday.

The first challenge was not visual design. It was understanding what could legally and creatively exist within the boundaries of the approval framework.

Initially, illustrated character stickers inspired by the members were explored, believing this would create something personal for fans. Those concepts were rejected. HYBE made it clear that nothing could directly represent the artists or imply an official character licence.

Only through repeated approval rounds did the real structure become clear. The partnership was not with HYBE itself. It was organised through JUNG Festival, while HYBE acted only as the approval authority protecting its intellectual property.

That distinction completely changed the design approach. Instead of building a campaign around the artists, the visual language had to celebrate the event while remaining recognisable to fans without crossing licensing boundaries.

The final identity shifted away from character illustrations and focused on original Bunsik assets, event graphics, and custom promotional elements that could legally exist within the approval framework.

As approvals continued, the scope expanded almost daily. The campaign was no longer a sticker.

New menu visuals were required once the BTS meal was finalised. Packaging tape had to be created. Promotional sticker packs for customers were added. Digital menu screens had to be updated. Retail posters were needed. Window graphics transformed the entire storefront.

Emergency bag labels were produced in-house while commercial printing was still in progress. The branding system grew faster than the original plan, yet the launch date never moved.

Once the artwork was finally approved, only seven days remained before launch. Printing suppliers had to be sourced immediately. Production specifications were rewritten around available lead times. Artwork was adjusted to suit different cutting methods.

Budgets were negotiated while files were still being prepared. Emergency materials were printed internally using office equipment so stores could operate even before commercial deliveries arrived.

Distribution became another design problem. More than ninety thousand stickers had to be allocated according to expected sales volumes across different branches so every location would have sufficient stock throughout the event.

At this stage, design was no longer about creating graphics. It became production planning, logistics, and decision making under severe time constraints.