Yogyakarta – The Media and Cultural Program at the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) hosted a Practitioner Session entitled “Tenun Coffee Roasters: Building Culture with Branding” on Thursday, May 21st 2026, at Meeting Room A, 5th Floor, Unit 1, UGM Graduate School. The event featured Edrick Edsel Wijaya from Tenun Coffee Roasters, who shared his experiences and perspectives on branding practices in the coffee industry and their role in shaping culture and community.
The session brought together students enrolled in the Branding and Promotional Culture course, as well as master and doctoral students from the Media and Cultural Program. Designed to bridge academic inquiry and professional practice, the event provided participants with an opportunity to examine branding beyond its conventional function as a marketing tool. Instead, branding was discussed as a cultural process in which meanings, identities, and social relationships are created and maintained.
Edrick, during his presentation, highlighted that successful branding extends far beyond product quality. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, brands must establish emotional connections with their audiences through compelling narratives, shared values, and meaningful experiences. Drawing on the journey of Tenun Coffee Roasters, he demonstrated how a coffee business can cultivate a distinctive identity by integrating authenticity, community engagement, and storytelling into its branding strategy.
The discussion explored how brands participate in the formation of consumer culture and social communities. Participants were encouraged to reflect on the ways branding shapes perceptions, influences lifestyles, and contributes to broader cultural practices. In the contemporary digital environment, consumers are not only purchasing products but are also engaging with the values, stories, and identities represented by a brand. As a result, branding functions as an important cultural practice that actively contributes to the production of meaning in everyday life.
The interactive session generated lively discussions among participants. Questions ranged from strategies for building customer loyalty and maintaining brand consistency to the challenges of adapting to change consumer trends and sustaining relevance in a rapidly evolving marketplace. These exchanges made students gain valuable insights into the practical realities of the creative and entrepreneurial sectors.
The event reflects the Media and Cultural Studies Program’s commitment to provide students with experiential learning opportunities that connect theoretical knowledge with real-world practice. By inviting practitioners from diverse industries, the program seeks to enrich students’ understanding of how concepts studied in the classroom are applied in professional and social contexts.
This practitioner session showed participants how to gain practical knowledge on branding strategies and also a deeper appreciation of branding as a cultural phenomenon. The experience encouraged students to critically examine the intersections of culture, communication, and business, while recognizing the ways in which brands can shape social meanings, foster communities, and influence contemporary cultural life.
Author: Khoirul Mujazanah