Show Stopper Mercedes Benz has opened a head-turning showroom in Roppongi that aims to encourage consumers to look at its vehicles in a new light. It comes as fewer young consumers here show interest in owning a car of their own. The massive space, which was also the venue for parties associated with the Fashion ...
Wedding Boom After the Tohoku disaster, many Japanese—especially, young people—were reminded of the importance of relationships and realized, perhaps for the first time, the fears of being alone. Though Japanese politicians continue to wring their hands at Japan’s declining population, since the disaster there has been a small marriage boom in which single women in ...
Mash-Up Marketing Here’s an innovative marketing tie-up that aims to set the publishing world frothing. Bandai and Japanese publisher Kadokawa have begun packaging newly released titles as sets with bath salts through Bandai’s online store. Many avid readers understand the joys of relaxing in the bath with a good book and being able to escape ...
Old Technology is Good Technology Seniors are more Internet-savvy than many people believe, according to research by Dentsu. The agency says 62.5 percent of seniors who regularly surf the web or use email are proficient enough to be considered “net-savvy,” and that percentage is increasing. Almost 60 percent of net-savvy seniors buy products online, and ...
Can Dentsu & MIT Help You Shop? From May 17, Dentsu would like to aid your shopping needs with the launch of the “Finding Gifts with Sasha” website (http://sasha.nadya.jp). It’s the third step in a collaborative experiment with Nihon Unisys and the MIT Media Lab to develop a “context-reading communication computer,” basically a computer program ...
Suntory Sells Hope Suntory is marketing hope to Japanese consumers with montages of two beloved pop songs. “Ue wo Muite, Arukou” (I Look Up While I Walk) and “Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo” (Look up at the Night Sky) are two ballads made famous by Sakamoto Kyu, who died tragically in a 1985 JAL plane ...
Checking Your Look Fashion brand United Arrows has launched an interactive campaign that allows users to dress models in United Arrows clothes, thereby turning themselves into online brand ambassadors, and enabling potential shoppers to get feedback from their friends. Users can customize the models and their surroundings to find their “perfect” look. As items are ...
Future Retail Showcase Packaging, digital signage and information handling systems were on display at the Supermarket Trade Fair 2011, held at Tokyo Big Sight in February. Energy efficiency, eco-friendly packaging and new concepts for product shelves and checkout lines took center stage. One particularly interesting innovation was a “touch-screen freezer,” which may at some point ...
The New Dentsu Way Newly released marketing manual The Dentsu Way, reveals the company’s new model for tackling the Internet-saturated media landscape. Dentsu’s close relationships with television networks have allowed it to maintain a foothold as Japan’s dominant advertising agency. However, the increasing prevalence of online media and mobile technology has forced the company to ...
Dentsu Announces Hit Products of 2010 Dentsu announced their assessment of Japan’s hit products for 2010. According to Dentsu, the top three hit “products” are smart phones, Twitter and munchable chili oil. Munchable chili oil (taberu rayu) is at the front of the “edible condiment” trend, where former accompaniments to food have become dishes in ...
Dentsu Doubles Up in Russia Dentsu’s new launch, Dentsu New Ideas, will be known as “deni.” The company aims to expand its presence in Russia. Nikita Morev, deni’s General Manager, says, “This acronym is also a play on the word ‘deny.’ Denying the status quo and conventional norms, deni will offer a full range of ...
Gal Power! Young fashion-hungry “Gals,” or Gyaru, are voracious consumers. Earlier this year, Dentsu, Japan’s largest advertising agency, set up a Gal Labo (short for laboratory) for inspiration for ways to resuscitate other segments of the economy. As well as being high spenders, Gals are also seen as independently minded and dogged in the pursuit ...
Campaigns that Roar A Twitter-based campaign to promote the IS smartphone from KDDI’s AU service was one of the Japanese winners at this year’s Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The Bronze Lion-winning campaign by Hakuhodo visualizes the concept of a crowd “following”—to use the Twitter terminology—a particular user or topic. A random selection of the ...
Digitally Enabled Commerce The days of struggling to try on a pair of ill-fitting jeans may finally be over. Team Labo recently unveiled its latest innovation called the “Interactive Hanger” at the Public/Image 3D event space in Tokyo. This particular technology allows consumers to virtually try on clothes. Consumers simply pick clothes hanging on the ...
TWO FOR TEA Beverage makers Kirin and Suntory are aiming to boost sales of non-Japanese tea drinks with ad campaigns centered around food. Late last spring a Suntory Oolong Tea campaign was launched underscoring the connection between “food” and “beauty,” taking advantage of a concept that is gaining momentum in the Japanese market today. Teaming ...
HAIR TO STAY Hair care and wig-making company Aderans is addressing the problem of balding in a fun way in a new round of commercials for their made-to-order wig service. The commercials bait viewers into guessing which of three male actors featured in its campaigns sporting cool hairstyles are actually wearing a wig. The high-energy ...
FATHERLY FASHION Young Japanese men are well known for a keen (and often original) sense of fashion—but what about their older counterparts? The answer is: They can be fashionable too. Especially dads. A recent impromptu show in Osaka invited dads to take part in a makeover in promotion of fatherly fashion. Mail order company Senshukai ...
A TASTE FOR BEAUTY Valentine’s Day is a distant memory, yet consumers are still feeling its after effects—and not just from weight gain, but, well, the extra layers of kawaii. Japan is going through another “Deco Boom” or decoration fad, which started with personalized chocolates and cupcakes, perfectly in tune with the Japanese penchant for ...
The Budget Café Do It Yourself became a new marketing watchword during the recent recession, with companies releasing numerous “edu-tainment” products designed for consumers to enjoy at home and with minimal expense, everything from home soba makers to D.I.Y. bath-bomb kits. Now, Japan’s convenience store chains bring you the “home café.” Consumers no longer have ...
Tailor-Maid Jeans Walk into most clothing stores in Tokyo and you will be greeted with a friendly “Hello and welcome” by eager shop assistants. But none of them will say “Welcome, Master”— unless they are dressed in maid costumes. The Akihabara maid cafe fad was almost consigned to the history books until Japanese national clothing ...
THE FUN FACTOR The Lupin Steal Japan Project, which caught the headlines this winter, was a cunning bit of near-subliminal marketing in which a bunch of companies including Nippon Television and Brutus magazine tried to liven up consumers’ recession-weary lives. Based on an anime character, Lupin, and the story of a gang of thieves who ...
Sad Times Japan’s largest advertising agency Dentsu invests extensively in its consumer research division. One particular unit studies and analyzes consumer behavior through the lens of ‘health.’ Its straight-to-the-point ‘Wellness Project’ is run by Yoko Ooya, an analyst who focuses on the stress that consumers have to deal with in modern society. Through interviews with ...
DISCOUNT AIRLINE SHOWS HOW TO 'TAKE OFF' IN JAPAN