Japan Marketing News

Charming new umbrella from MUJI

Here's an elegant little innovation from Mujirushi Ryohin (MUJI). The handle of this umbrella allows owners to customize by adding a strap or charm. It's smart in that it provides MUJI the opportunity for a profitable new line of add-ons—much like the big business that's grown out of straps for Japanese cell phones. This new feature is being touted as a way for owners to assure that others don't make off with their umbrellas accidentally. I'm not so sure if it will serve the intended purpose—given the Japanese propensity for adding appealing touches, the enhancements may lead to an even higher incidence of "lost" umbrellas in the future.

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McDonald's Japan to reintroduce MegaMac

Following the wild success of a test launch earlier this year, McDonald's Japan will reintroduce the MegaMac, a 292 gram (10 oz) sandwich with four beef patties, for another limited run starting April 1. The MegaMac was so popular during the first phase that shops throughout the country ran out of both beef and buns and had to implement rationing that limited sales at specific locations to just 30 or 50 sandwiches each day.

For beef lovers, this is great news. But McDonald's Japan still has a few logistical kinks to work out before it can offer the MegaMac on a more regular basis. In this next round, the big burger will be available during just three, 5-day blocks as follows: April 1-5, April 15-19, May 1-May 5.

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Exceptional Japanese print ads: Levi's Japan

Here's another example of cool advertising in Japan. Levi's Japan is presently running a series of well-engineered 3-D print ads for its "engineered" jeans. Not only are the optical illusions eye-catching and spot-on in terms of supporting the brand concept (the jeans feature "3-D construction"), they play well into the ongoing resurgence of interest in such visual diversions in this market. Click on the image for a better view (stare at it a while and the background will start to move!)

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Armani Exchange begins Japan store openings

It took like what seemed forever, but the Armani Exchange has finally come to Japan. The first two shops opened earlier this month in Chiba and Yokohama and a third is scheduled to begin operations in Shibuya in September. Additionally, twenty more stores are expected to open in Japan over the next three to five years.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been wondering what took A/X so long to get here. Every time I've visited one of their shops in Hawaii, San Francisco or New York I've noticed a conspicuous number of Japanese shoppers ringing up purchases.

Now only one major apparel mystery remains. What's so important in other markets that Abercrombie and Fitch can afford to continue to ignore the millions upon millions of dollars of assured revenue that awaits their Japan entry?

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Movie industry seeing a big shift in Japan?

The other day I received an inquiry related to the movie business in Japan, and this inspired me to take a peek at recent industry data. After punching some numbers into Excel, I came up with this graph*—which compares box office revenues in Japan earned in recent years from Japanese versus imported movies.

Uh oh. It appears that Hollywood may—at least for the moment—be in a bit of trouble.

In 2006, while the box office take from imported films dropped about 20%, revenues from local flicks were up over 30%. What's more, this appears to be part of a trend.

So, what's going on here?

The honest answer is that it's hard to say for sure without a close analyses of several factors.

However, I do have my theories which involve the following:

- Macro trends: societal, cultural, technological
- Industry infrastructure shifts
- Consumer tastes vs. content
- Advertising and communications issues

I can't elaborate on these further at the moment (too busy looking for my next gig). With luck I'll be able to return to this topic in a future post.

*Box office data from Motion Pictures Producers Association of Japan

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New "sauce" to hit Japanese shelves

In a couple of weeks (April 3), Suntory will begin its national rollout of a new kind of alcoholic beverage in Japan. No, this is not another one of those fruit cocktail drinks that have flooded the market these past few years—it's something different.

TomaToma is a combination of white wine, spirits and. . .drumroll please. . . .tomato juice (58% tomato juice, to be exact).

Apparently Suntory invented the product in response to growing Japanese consumer interest in healthy living, so this is probably just the first drip in what will likely become a deluge of veggie booze beverages in coming years.

In fact, rumor has it that Asahi and Kagome are at this very moment working together on the production of their own alcoholic veggie concoction for salubrious sippers.

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Exceptional Japanese print ads: Takarajima Bessatsu

Here's a clever bit of advertising for Bessatsu Takarajima, Takarajima Publishing's imprint that specializes in educational materials. It ran in 2004—which as you may recall—was the year bird flu panic was spreading in Asia.

The copy reads "The birds didn't know. Now, more than ever, knowledge will save you."

The ad won an Asahi Newspaper Advertising Prize in 2005. Click on the image for a better view.

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