When consumer research showed that over 40% of Japanese women in their 20's, 30's and 40's eat ice cream after 9 p.m., Morinaga/Eskimo took the hint and test-launched Mayonaka no Zeitaku ("Midnight Indulgence") last September. Well, the brand must be doing at least reasonably well because it's going national next week. Pitching creamy indulgence with only 140 calories, Mayonaka's key copy is "the ice cream you dreamed of is no longer [just] a dream." At the moment, it's available in four flavors: Smooth* Vanilla, Smooth Green Tea, Smooth Milk Tea, and Smooth Chocolat (that's chocolat, as in the French).
Over the past 20 years the Japanese market has seen a lot of premium ice creams come and go, but nobody has succeeded in displacing Haagen Dazs Japan. Time will only tell if the newest contender can take a bite out of the dominant player, which is not likely to be asleep to this latest challenge.
* The Japanese word used for these flavors, nameraka, implies smoothness, silkiness, creaminess, softness, etc.
