It's pretty common in Japan for beverage manufacturers to attach collectible miniatures to products to promote impulse purchases at retail (especially amongst teen and young adult males).
In a current campaign, Coca-Cola Japan is giving away Mercedes Benz classic car miniatures to consumers who buy Georgia canned coffee at convenience stores. The promotion started on February 13 and is running until March 31. Ten models comprise a complete set of the cars (click on the image to get a closer look).
Besides getting a cool little freebie, consumers also have the chance to participate in a prize drawing for a new Mercedes Benz E300 station wagon. Entering is simple enough: just fill out a form on the Georgia website. How do consumers know about the website? The address is printed on a sticker affixed to the miniature car package (and likely also appears in mass media ads).
In Japan, consumer promotions fall into two types which are regulated by the Fair Trade Commission. A "closed type" requires consumers to purchase a product and send proof of purchase along with a completed entry form. These types of campaigns are restricted in the scale of prize they can offer (a specific multiple of the retail price of the product). On the other hand, "open" campaigns involve much larger prizes and anyone can enter without making a purchase. Geogia's website promotion is an example of the latter.
In addition to restrictions regarding prize values, Japan's FTC also imposes specific requirements regarding announcement of consumer promotions. The type of promotion dictates the type of communications vehicles that must be used to advertise such campaigns.
In addition to the Mercedes campaign, Coke is also running ongoing closed promotions involving Georgia. Each can of coffee is affixed with removable "point stickers" that consumers can collect and trade for prizes. The Georgia website provides details on the available goodies and the number of points needed for each.
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Come on USA! Let's do this! i would love to get a hotwheels car with my beverage...it's like getting something in box of cereal. I'm supprised this hasn't caught on in the world of uber competitive energy drinks.
Jim Belosic Belosic|ADG - A Reno, NV Advertising Agency
Posted by: Reno advertising agencies - Jim B. | February 09, 2009 at 03:57 AM