Last weekend Kirin debuted a unique marketing campaign in Shibuya Station that mixed three Japanese loves together: Green tea, cute characters, and vending machines.
While utilizing the always-busy pop-up marketing spot in Shibuya Station, Kirin created an elaborate setup to distribute gift packs of Namacha Panda Sensei, the official character fo the popular tea who has been bottled up himself in recent advertisements.
Up until the beginning of the campaign, Kirin had been heavily promoting the “character in the bottle” commercials to build up hype for the idea. While this may seem tame outside of Japan, never underestimate the power of well-conceived characters for brand promotion.
When it was revealed that there would be select, limited-edition giveaways of Panda Sensei in the tea bottles as in the commercials, lines were formed at the Shibuya-station spot to receive a number to claim one of the coveted little bears. The video below is a brief intro to the concept, where bears were dispersed from vending machines.
In the last years we’ve seen countless promotions integrated with vending machine culture, from Smart Cars to Humans. It’s a medium that resonates with the public, and can be quite convenient as well for creating staff-less promotions. In the Trendpool we discuss some new examples of integrating tryvertising with machines as well.
Pictures via Momo Kimock and FunFunFunOK!
The campaign is making a few more stops around the country on its limited tour, always on the weekends, and is stretching the length of Japan all the way up to Sapporo.
For more insight into Japanese marketing campaigns and promotions, and how they fit in with global trends, check out the Trendpool database. In the meantime, Panda Sensei has a blog you might want to check out.
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