Japan Marketing News

Exceptional Japanese print ads: Suntory Sore Kara

Here are a couple of potent print ads from Suntory. They're for Sore Kara, one of their shochu brands. (Sore Kara means "and then" — implying something like, "and then you're having fun.")

Shochu is a distilled, nearly flavorless alcoholic beverage made from ingredients like sweet potatoes, rice, barley, or sugar cane. It has a fairly high alcohol content (25%-40%) and has traditionally been a bit of a "poor man's" drink (in the past, college students drank it mixed with sweet juices and older, slightly threadbare gentlemen could often be seen nipping it on park benches and under train overpasses.)

Then, a few years ago, the entire shochu industry pulled its act together and began aggressively repositioning the drink to appeal to young adults and gourmet consumers. Today, all kinds of brands are available at different price points. College students and older men are still drinking it, but so are trendy, affluent adults

It's well known that there exists a large segment of Japanese consumers that is obsessed with international fashion and the latest in shiny new products and trendy restaurants and nightclubs. With Sore Kara, Suntory is targeting a different segment; adults 35+ who are attuned to the latest, but aren't infatuated with glitter. People who are aware of the world, but haven't jettisoned their Japanese heritage. The kind of consumers who are attracted to substance rather than polish. Those who value great friends over great venues. People with authenticity.

Suntory does a good job connecting with this group. These ads aren't simply good-looking. They're carefully constructed to maximize impact with the target group. Below is a point by point analysis.

Talent
- The talent in these ads communicate authenticity through and through. They're somewhat well-known musicians who perform in grassroots genres like blues, rock and folk. Neither of them is particularly "pretty" — in fact, they're exceptionally common looking — but their expressions are friendly and genuine; they're enjoying themselves. On the one hand, they're "regular people," but because they are musicians, they also carry street cred.

Art Direction
- The combination of photography and painterly graphics communicates a message that's both modern and traditional. The choice of black and white photography not only creates visual tension, it backs the authenticity angle. It also communicates artistry and craftsmanship. The layout is strong and straightforward—as direct as a good friend. This brand is "honest."

Graphics
- They've done a great job of working graphic elements from the bottle design into the ad. Moreover, these elements are well-chosen. The background sky communicates night, and the use of deep blue rather than black creates a sense of modernity and sophistication. The moon also conveys a sense of night (the time you want to be out drinking with friends), but its perfect circular shape also says "Japan" and thus, "tradition." The fact that the graphics are hand-painted brings an aura of craftsmanship to the brand, along with additional authenticity.

Copy
You'll notice that the Japanese text inside the moon has one character enclosed in parentheses ( ). This allows the headline to be read two ways:

"Sore Kara, it's new."

And,

"Sore Kara, it's you."

(In other words, it's just like you, or just right for you.)

It's difficult to convey in English, but the form of the word "you" used here creates a sense of intimacy—the kind of intimacy you'd experience with family members and close friends. "Man, this drink is so you."

The copy that overlays the black and white photos reads "Authentic shochu. Sore Kara." This further reinforces the whole idea of authenticity and quality.

So when a consumer looks at this ad, he or she is taking in a whole range of communication:
- Shochu
- Suntory
- Nighttime
- Friendship
- Enjoyment
- Authenticity / honesty
- Simplicity
- Craftsmanship / artistry (quality)

All in all, great work.

p.s. In case you're wondering about other aspects of the campaign, I've seen the TV spot and I can't report that I'm as impressed as I am with the print. Specifically, I'm not too keen on the music, which is a duet performed by the two musicians featured in the print ads. It's just a bit too reminiscent of 1950's US pop and early 1970's Japanese folk—which may be just right for consumers 55 and over, but may strike the wrong chord with those 35-55.

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Designer pickup trucks?

Okay. Here's a subject I know nearly nothing about: pickup trucks.

But I came across the news somewhere that Mistsubishi Motors is about to release a truck in Japan called Triton that they've already struck gold with in Thailand.

Normally I wouldn't pay a huge amount of attention to such an announcement—after all, Japanese automakers introduce great vehicles all the time.

But there's something about this truck. How shall I put it. . .it's kinda cool looking.

Now I don't know how it performs, or even if that matters. What I do know is that design-wise, it's going to be turning a lot of heads, including those of people who'd probably never have considered driving a pickup before.

A search of the net revealed several websites (ex. here and here) that provide info on the Triton. Apparently it's going to be available first in continental Europe, the UK, Australia and Japan, in addition to Thailand (in some markets it's known as the Mitsubishi L200). I've not seen anything to indicate that Mitsubishi plans to sell it in the US yet — but that makes sense since most US pickup users are probably more interested in performance than style (in fact, a lot of pickup owners in the US would probably be put off by the modern, curvaceous design of this vehicle).

Yet in more design-sensitive markets, I can envision plenty of young adults buying this car just for the looks or as a functional part of their trendy, active lifestyles.

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Retail sales down, again

Over the past couple of days, Nikkei MJ has reported that August 2006 retail sales were down across the board for Japan's department stores, convenience stores and supermarkets, compared to last year.

According the the Japan Department Store Association, department store revenues were lower by 0.9%, and the Japan Franchise Store Association stated that sales were off by 1.8% at convenience stores and 1.1% at supermarkets.

This was the fifth month in a row that department store sales failed to reach last year's levels and the eighth month running that supermarkets performed weaker than in 2005.

Overall, this doesn't bode well for continued economic recovery in Japan.

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TV ad music is big business in Japan

Back in July I wrote about the irresistible television ads Kewpie had been airing for its Tarako pasta sauce.

It seems I wasn't the only one enamored of these commercials. An entire ancilliary business has been born of the compelling music used in them.

Oricon (Japan's answer to the Billboard charts) reported that the song Tarako, Tarako, Tarako hit number 3 on the singles chart last week. Moreover, the teen girls that sing the number have been featured on various Japanese TV shows where they have performed the full-length version (see below).

It's by no means unusual for the original music created for Japanese TV commercials to be released separately as singles. The same goes for the tunes created for hit TV shows. The Japanese music industry has worked symbiotically with ad agencies and TV production companies for as long as I can remember. In fact, ads have launched the careers of many Japanese pop stars and the relations between pop music and advertising are so tight that even well-established artists often create tunes with the hope of having them used in commercial ventures. In Japan, entire collections of CDs are released which contain nothing but the songs featured in popular TV ads.

When I first arrived in Japan nearly 20 years ago, I remember being somewhat disturbed by the idea of pop stars "selling out" by allowing their music to be used in ads. But after a few years working with people in advertising, broadcasting and the music industry, I realized that the rightholders to music properties, be they advertisers, music publishers, talent agencies or the artists themselves, were probably correct in leveraging their music across as many outlets as they could—assuming their goal was to maximize sales. After all, by the nature of the game, every TV commercial and TV program is watched by tens of millions of people nationwide. There's no way to get that kind of exposure in radio, where audience numbers are much, much lower.

It took a few years, but music artists in Europe and the US have also come to realize the power of this approach. Relatively newer artists like Moby have used advertising to break into the music business, and older musicians like Bob Dylan have seen that allowing their music to be used in ads is an effective way to reach a generation of fans who may have never heard of them.

If you're interested in taking a look at the full-length version of the Kewpie Tarako ad song as performed by Kigurumi, click on the video below.

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Head-turning Japanese brand names: Melty Kiss

Sure, this name makes you do a double take. But personally, I find it kind of endearing. Melty Kiss is one of the many fine chocolate brands manufactured by Meiji Seika, one of Japan's top confectionery producers.

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Japan-only products: LeSportsac

Here's another example of an international brand that has released products specifically for Japan. LeSportsac's Japanese website shows all of these items (and quite a few more) as "Japan Limited Editions." It's fairly common for fashion companies to create products specifically for Japan since the market responds well to broad assortments and rare items.

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Will complex movie marketing pay off in Japan?

Let's say you're a major Hollywood studio and you're about to start marketing a film that was shot on location in one of America's smaller cities. I've heard that it can make sense to spend extra funds on regional and local promotions because area residents often take a greater interest in the film simply because it was shot nearby. That seems reasonable. What I'm wondering about is whether any US entity is going as far as United Cinemas is about to go here in Japan.

United Cinemas is not one of Japan's major studios. In fact, it's not a studio at all—United is one of Japan's operators of multi-screen "cinema complexes." Originally the company was established as a partnership between Paramount and Universal, but in 2004 it was bought out by Sumitomo Trading and Kadokawa Publishing. They operate 15 multi-screen movie facilities nationwide with the newest opening in the Toyosu area bordering on Tokyo Bay in October.

What are they going to do? They're taking the idea of regional promotions one step further by investing in movie projects that will be filmed near the locations of their theaters. In other words, here is a theater chain that's going to be making its own films. Moreover, to assure that they'll be able to fill seats, they plan to shoot the films near the theaters themselves to create local buzz.

This is either incredibly clever or tremendously naive. At first glance, it would appear that this kind of investment couldn't possibly pay for itself. After all, it costs millions of dollars to make a single movie and even one million spent on TV ads will buy you thousands of GRPs of prime-time TV advertising. Why not just spend the money on mass media to promote the films you're already sourcing from the established studios?

It turns out that United got the idea after they were asked to pitch in some funding last year for a short film created to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Nagasaki Station. The movie played at United's theaters in Nagasaki and apparently drew local residents in droves.

Okay, so using local settings to draw local residents may make some sense. But local interest can't possibly be enough. On the other hand, what if United creates films that can work nationwide? If they can come up with a universally appealing story (sorry for the pun), it might just work. Remember, the film has to be shot someplace, so why not near the multi-screen theaters they own? The company probably won't need to spend a dime on regional promotion. The local press will generate buzz for them.

Moreover, since United will own the film, it will obviously earn much higher returns than movies it has to source from one of the studios. Taking all of the box office receipts certainly beats splitting them with distributors!

What's more, the idea makes sense from the point of view of synergy. Remember, United is owned by Kadokawa Publishing, which itself has its own successful movie production division. So the know-how to make good films is available. Investing in is own movies may pay off for United Cinemas and its parent company, as well.

Additionally, there's one more benefit. United Cinemas will probably pay next to nothing for the film idea—at the same time it starts to generate pre-publicity.

Why?

Because the company has been soliciting script ideas from the general public in a competition that drew almost 400 entries! This is so unusual that they're already generating plenty of buzz. If the winner has a good story, great. If not, United can always get one of the staffers from Kadokawa to whip it into shape. In the meantime, excitement continues to build in the areas where their theater complexes are located.

The first of the movies will be filmed in the Tokyo Bay area to promote United's new Toyosu location. The winning script idea will be announced to the media next month (just in time for the Toyosu opening) and the movie is expected to begin filming quickly to ensure a release next year (which will bring attention back to the theaters again).

On the one hand, all of this synergy looks pretty clever.

But is it too "complex" to really pay off?

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