There are a lot of different ways that brands are encouraging people to stay cool this summer. From Super Cool Biz to free ice cream, Japanese are looking for welcome breaks to beat the heat. Since there’s so much product innovation in the beverage sector, Japan is an amazing market to look at, especially in seasonal transitions.
I was on my way to Kobe last week to do an innovation workshop, and decided to try cooling down on the shinkansen with Japan Tobacco’s latest drink Menthol Shock. Since they seem to know their way around menthol, it seemed like a natural choice. “Freshness” is a strong trend in a lot of sectors, especially tobacco.
I’ll leave the snarky review to others, though I certainly wondered whether JT was simply looking for a way to get rid of excess menthol cigarette stock. It’s true that Japanese beverage makers are quite versatile in using surpluses from other products in creating new drinks, but usually they taste good! Air conditioning is not for drinking.
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