Here’s a little Valentine’s Day treat for all you lonely boys out there! I Want Chu (”chu” meaning “kiss”) is an interactive Flash site starring a feast of succulent female lips.
Scroll through the ladies’ mouth-watering assets and vote for which ones you think are the most kissable. But the best thing — the lips move! That’s right, they wobble as you select their image, and you can further “interact” with them (i.e. jiggle, poke and manipulate them) using your cursor. It’s actually pretty addictive…and saucy! But be warned — you only get five votes!
Hang on a minute. What’s is this all about? Okay, it’s actually a campaign for ROHTO’s Oil Moist Lips product. Applicants were collected from all over Japan and their photos put online for your salivation. You can vote up to March 7 and the winner’s lips get featured in an ad.
For a pharmaceutical corporation, ROHTO takes a very progressive attitude towards its web presence. We previously blogged about the Marumaru Love campaign that took advantage of a Web CM and Twitter aggregate site.
ROHTO also seems to have a thing for kissing. Alongside I Want Chu it launched a website last year teaching you how to smooch!
It seems that Set Japan, who wowed us with their Louis Vuitton / Murakami and Marc Jacobs promotions last year, have now been working on “built” QR codes for clients like Frisk mints, utilizing actual physical object (like the product in this case) to create the scan-able barcodes.
We all would like to have a girl for every day of the week. While most of us struggle unsuccessfully to convert our fantasies into reality, Suntory has achieved this feat with their latest TV commercials campaign.
The new ads for the Jokki Nama (mug draft beer) feature a different model on different days of the week, with the six girls (Thursday is a bumper day with two models) joining forces for group appearances on the weekend editions. Take a look at the gallery to see how, though the stars are carefully dressed in the same colored yellow and white clothes, there is still a strong sense that each day is special.
This kind of series-style tactic creates buzz (the poster alone, with the six scantily clad, uniformly dressed ladies is pretty exciting!) and ensures a sense of freshness, as even seeing an ad for the same product is different every time. The campaign extends to the web too, with downloadable wallpapers and mobile goods, generating a collector’s mentality — choose your personal fav and then get her merchandise!
We just love digital tryvertising and this interactive terminal at Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku blew us away when we stumbled upon it a few months back. The Digital Cosmetic Mirror by industry giant Shiseido can be used to test make-up and recommendations without even having to pick up a mascara brush! Using augmented reality to do sampling is a novel way to involve consumers, and can be a useful technology for saving on waste as we cover in our ECO Japan innovation report.
All you do is sit down and let the camera scan your face. The terminal then gives you tailored recommendations. Pressing a few buttons on the touch-screen paints make-up onto your image in realtime, allowing you to see the results instantly. You also try out make-up that is currently making waves, along with printing out before and after photos with product information for you to go make the purchase of whichever colors caught your eye the most.
When a man’s down on his luck it is kind to offer him a helping hand back up. However, it is rare for a company to do this in their campaign slogan.
Yet that is precisely what tour operator H.I.S. is doing for its spring vacations campaign, currently being heavily advertised on TV. It proudly announces “We support JAL” (H.I.S.は日本航空を応援しています), over images of JAL jets soaring phoenix-like into the skies. The bankrupt airline is in need of friends, having some 2.3 trillion yen ($25.4 billion) in debt as of late September last year.
H.I.S. points to five reasons to use JAL: their trustworthy network of routes; delicious meals; good in-flight entertainment; its safety with children; and their air miles system.
Now this is clever for several reasons: it latches H.I.S.’s seasonal promotions onto the slightly nationalistic sentiments that Japanese might feel for their troubled original carrier, and certainly pulls moral and emotional strings (we all want to help victims, right?). Also, people who might be concerned that the prices of the packages are TOO cheap will be reassured — oh, it’s that low because it’s through JAL, not because quality (or safety) has been jettisoned.
We are pleased to announce the release of our in-depth report on Japanese ECO trends, a seriously under-reported area with real future implications for global business.
We’ve spent several months researching all about the emerging technology that will change our modes of transport, as well as the consumer trends, community shifts, and lifestyle changes. Along the way we’ve encountered power-generating floors, Shibuya fashion gurus taking to the farms, and surprisingly green vending machines. While often unique to Japan, these new movements provide limitless possibilities for inspiring innovation around the world.
The new Japanese government has promised a bold twenty-five percent reduction in emissions by 2020, and will no doubt introduce regulations and legislation designed to achieve this target. However, our research has told us that the real success happens through consumer and industry interaction, that the biggest innovation is in harnessing the power of the consumer for creating real change.
There’s arguably no better country than Japan for brand-to-consumer interactions.
Our 75+ slide report is packed full of original images and on-site local examples with analysis and numbers. Even if you’re not a researcher or marketer, there’s a lot to be learned from the pioneering developments happening in Japan that will likely have implications for your own business.
You can read more about the report on our special Eco Report page, where it is available worldwide in digital form.
Though Wendy’s of course left Japan late last year they did not leave by choice — their franchisee just decided not to continue the brand — and they may, like Burger King, make a return. Burger chains, especially market leader McDonald’s, are in fact going strong, with the fast food industry enjoying a 3.1% jump in Japan last year.
Kentucky Fried Chicken had some 86.8 billion JPY ($963 million) in sales for fiscal 2008, and this winter celebrates forty years in Japan with a big, multi-media, Japanese-style campaign.
Alongside TV commercials and product offers, KFC has made a special Flash site to encourage people to “集まれ” (”get together”). Clearly this is a slogan that appeals to the Japanese market, with its group mentality (and food-obsessed) consumers. Users can post onto the site their plans to get together with friends and pop to Kentucky’s. These posts are shown on a map of Japan complete with the number of people going in the group, a short phrase (”My first KFC of the year!”), and sometimes photos.
The campaign rounds out with a lottery applied for by mobile, promising to reward forty people with a cute Ayaka Haruse doll (the actress also appears in the TV CMs).
We do have misgivings about this campaign. It is running right across February and March, thus covering both Valentine’s Day and White Day (March 14). Though getting people to gather and share their KFC love is one thing, it certainly doesn’t have a romantic vibe. This campaign will doubtlessly prove popular with KFC fans but is unlikely to capture the hearts of consumers eager at this time of year to be buying chocolates.
Family Mart purchased am/pm in late 2009 and is hoping its tactic will turn around its subsidiary’s fortunes. Currently together they hold 8,700 stores throughout the country, taking the group close to the 9,600 branches of number two convenience store Lawson’s. Family Mart, however, announced at the time of the acquisition that they would keep am/pm wholly independent. The fact that they are willingly to switch some of their own stores to their smaller former rival indicates they are serious about building it up.
It begs the question, how much does the consumer care about which specific convenience store they are shopping at? The number one factor in the appeal of the conbini is, well, the convenience — it is always nearby and there are a plethora of basic groceries. As long as it has all the right range of food, drink and essential household items, does the consumer care what is the name above the door?
The answer, it seems, is yes. Am/pm has failed to rise beyond number seven partly because it has not established a name for itself — there is little unique about it in terms of its branding or the products it offers. Family Mart, on the other hand, has MUJI products, its own products, and tie-ups with the T-Card. Lawson’s also has a distinct character through its Natural Lawson and Lawson 100 range of stores, plus a fondness for exciting collaborations and campaigns.
Given Lawson’s plan to start the PONTA point card this year as a direct challenge to the Family Mart-Tsutaya T-Card (which has 33 million members and 56 affiliates), could this decision by Family Mart fatally split their forces against their arch-rival — or will it shore up its smaller subsidiary into a more formidable, mid-level convenience store? The change-over between the Family Mart and am/pm branches will be happening through to February next year, and we will see over the months what the new name does to the sales at the stores.
We can still recall a happy time a couple of years ago when Yukie Nakama was on almost every single ad. 2009 was a bit more eclectic, though, but certainly had its fair share of memorable characters.
Almost all Japanese TV commercials (and posters and other advertising campaigns) feature a geinoujin (artist / celeb). However, in the west it is seen as embarrassing to “sell” yourself for money like that, especially if — as in the case of some performers in Japanese ads — you are a respected actor. (Ironically, though, Japanese CMs are awash with Hollywood actors earning a quick buck just so long as they are not shown back home.) It is customary for TV shows to dredge archives for old commercials featuring then-unknown superstars for a quick laugh.
Here, there is nothing wrong with cultivating and commercializing your image, regardless of your level of fame. It becomes part of your appeal and you have to sell yourself to succeed in all the careers you have on the go. The divide between actor/model/TV personality has always been an ambiguous one. In the UK and USA, at least, it is still seen as an usual case when a singer crosses successfully over into acting — or vice versa. In Japan, it is commonplace; indeed, you are expected to have dual careers at least nominally.
It is clear straightaway that certain types of celebrity are popular choices for all these commercials and posters. Why did au choose boy band Arashi to sell their phones? Certainly, if the recently mad scenes at Omotesando station (see below) were to go by, these boys have crazy fans. Of course, the power of the ikemen look surely gets young girls (and certain young boys, no doubt) to gaze at the posters. But they are looking at their tender faces, not the product they are holding. What is interesting about groups like Arashi is that their appeal is wider than you might think. They have a clean look; they are nice, young lads without a hint of scandal. Young men gawk at them and want to emulate their style (no doubt to impress their girlfriend). And even a male middle manager can look at them and almost imagine they would make a good marriage partner for his young daughter.
Likewise, others conform to certain desired “looks”: charisma (Takuya Kimura); kawaii (Becky, Haruka Ayase, Yu Aoi); hattoushinbijin (Namie Amuro); foreign/exotic (Dante Carver, Meisa Kuroki); safe and trustworthy (Aya Ueto and golfer Ryo Ishikawa); dumb gaijin (Mr James of the infamous Macdonald’s ads); bijin (Ryoko Hirosue); innocence (Erika Sawjiri, Noriko Sakai — ironically both now disgraced). The archetypes contain many variants and mutations, but there are clear pigeonholes that the ad agencies and corporations stick to with wild success.
Another key fact is that jimusho (agencies) have more power in Japan and the celebrities themselves might have less say over which ads they appear in — and which they veto for the sake of their dignity.
But this is all well and good for the celebrity. They get mass exposure (and cash). But what is really in it for the companies being advertised? When you see an image of Takuya Kimura it’s impossible to trigger an image of a particular product because he advertises so many! Take your pick from hair wax to cameras. His ubiquity has made him the most famous man in the country and helped his film and TV career, but this overshadows any of the products he promotes. You don’t think of the camera, the food, the car or whatever.
The celebrities (and jimusho) are big winners, but surely this is as unimaginative an advertising system as you can create.
Another side-effect of this ubiquity is backlash. A number of the popular CM stars this year particularly were grating to say the least, partly through their overt, lachrymose kawaii-ness — but also partly just through over-exposure, by being on too many CMs and billboards.
Surely top of this list must be the Kodomo Tencho (Child Store Manager), star of Toyota ads, played by cute cheeky Seishiro Sato. Isn’t he so sweet in that bright red suit! Did he have you racing to your nearest dealership to purchase a Prius?
Though I liked the concept I found the smiles of Seishiro-kun patronizing; I could smell the cynicism behind the talent agency that was milking him. But then I have always found something creepy about child actors, especially when they are dressed in adult clothing. No doubt seeing things like Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills has left a lasting impact on me.
I personally rather like the long-running Boss coffee ads with Tommy Lee Jones (a rare occasion of a foreign star not belittling themselves) — but am undecided about the dancing duck and cat in the Aoi Miyazaki Aflac commercials.
Amusing, impressing, cute, annoying: the list of candidates and adjectives could be endless…Which stars did or did you not like watching?
Diesel’s streetwear sub-brand 55DSL’s Japanese side has done an interesting collaboration with Coca-Cola that evolved from a simple bottle design contest. We first found these a couple of months ago while scouring Harajuku with a client (conveniently an FMCG client), and the bottles immediately grabbed our attention as we walked by.
The design contest started with a call out for designers to make their own contour bottle for Coca-Cola, and the finalists were boiled down to fifteen choices. From there, a winning design was chosen and made into t-shirts and skate decks for sale.
We actually thought that the bottles were cool enough on their own, but, alas, they weren’t for sale.
Not sure if the display is still up, but the bottles were all on display for a while, as well as the winning design’s goods.
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