︎      Building an Asian lifestyle brand

Written by Giacomo Felace
2020.08

          We live in an era where lifestyle brands are lack of distinct personality. Companies are obsessed with target audience and are eating insights instead of building their proper vision and tribe.

Now more than ever, this type of top-down, and social analytics focused approach doesn’t work. The need of human connection is stronger than it has ever been. Potato Head is different. It‘s an Indonesian-born brand that has been built from the ground up with a focus on art, and culture giving real meaning to the word “sustainability” (too often misused and empty). It’s awesome to see an organization emerging not from big chain groups but from the singular vision of an entrepreneur focused on community like Ronald Akili.

Potato Head began as a restaurant in Jakarta. It has since grown to include outposts in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bali.

The strenght of Akili and his team is to know how to convey a sense of community and inclusiveness – and they’re skilled at blending format, scale, culture and engagement. In a place like Bali, where tourism is growing and there can be little to no interaction with the local community – collaboration and meltingpot are the real opportunities.

Potato Head manages an incredible balancing act. Its properties are beautifully designed with a twist of Balinese culture and they attract global creatives like Peggy Gou, Virgil Abloh, and DJ Harvey. There is an emphasis on sustainability, and the mix of different approaches. There is a feeling of respect and harmony. A proper balance.

The relationships with local farmers and craftsman are strong — and you get the sense that the community has been intentionally crafted in a symbiotic way that respects the core DNA of the Island but also makes it contemporary in some ways.

The brand culture that has been developed is not an accident. It has been built up and iterated over time. It’s one thing for a hotel in a tourist area to cart in international DJs by the ton and throw up galleries, but it’s another to cultivate new scenes and serve as a catalyst for things that already exist. 

With Potato Head, one gets the feeling of an emerging local and global brand coexisting at the same time.

The culmination of modern art, hospitality and music are all packaged through an Indonesian lens. And it’s based on elements both ancient and new, through food, music, design, and craft. In a hyper digital world, they crave unique, live, face to face experiences that connect people to the global village and to each other. They create sensory moments – where you can touch, feel, taste and even smell the brand in person.

This is exactly what I mean for building a brand. The aspiration to go from a “just-a place/product/service” to an “icon” with a clear foundation and personality. The opportunity to export your culture on a bigger scale through different channels. Potato Head is an experience brand that exists to reimagine what an experience can be. They do that by pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in every format — virtual, live or hybrid.

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