Japan Marketing News

Mitsubishi introduces sharp innovation in mechanical pencils

Leave it to Japanese designers to bring superb engineering and creativity to even the most everyday products. This time it's mechanical pencils.

One of the most annoying problems encountered by pencil users is stroke bloat. One minute you're writing or sketching with the most delightfully precise lines, the next minute every stroke looks fat and dull. It's because the tip of your pencil flattens as you write.

One of the most attractive features of mechanical pencils is that they're less prone to stroke bloat than their wooden counterparts. But they're not immune.

Until now.

Glico looks to fatten margins with thinning Pocky

In recent years, Japanese consumers have grown increasingly interested in nutrition and body weight, thanks in part to the attention the media has given to Japan's increasing incidence of metabolic syndrome, and the recent measures the Japanese government has instituted to help combat the problem.

In the marketplace, not only have we seen the broad introduction of diet beers, malt liquors and canned cocktails, soft drink companies have also gotten into the game with various teas and functional drinks that either prevent the absorption of fats or claim to help people to lose weight.

Now the chocolate manufacturers are about to get on board the anti-metabolic syndrome bus too.

Apple iPhone coming to Japan on July 11

Interested in the iPhone in Japan?

From an Apple press release that went out yesterday:

Softbank (SBM) and Apple® today announced that the highly anticipated iPhone™ 3G will be available in Japan on July 11. iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

Read the press release in its entirety here.

Previous Japan Marketing News post on the iPhone in Japan here.

Heineken Japan taps a cool new angle

Historically, international beer companies have faced some difficult challenges in Japan, especially when it comes to getting distribution in restaurants, pubs and clubs. Oftentimes local proprietors receive very strong incentives (cash!) to stock the brews of just one Japanese company or distributor, and that means that the door can be slammed shut on international brands—and other Japanese brands—right from the start.

Things can be rough even if a bar or restaurant is open to the idea of serving competing beers. International brands have to go head to head with Japanese companies offering a multitude of excellent brews, to say nothing of fighting it out with other world players.

What's a foreign company to do?

Ingredient of the season: Citrulline

If you keep your eyes peeled in Japan this summer you're going to see several new products that contain the ingredient known as citrulline.

An amino acid first extracted from watermelon by a Japanese researcher in 1930, citrulline is said to reduce the buildup of ammonia in the bloodstream, dilate blood vessels, and promote production of nitric oxide, which amongst other things is supposed to help prevent muscle fatigue. So it's no surprise that Asahi is promoting its new Citrulline Water using sports-related advertising, and Lotte has launched Citrulline Gum to coincide with its support of the Beijing Summer Olympics.

In the U.S., citrulline supplements have apparently been marketed previously to promote circulation and prevent hardening of the arteries, but Japan's health ministry did not approve the ingredient for use in food until August of last year.

Other Japanese companies like Shiseido have also jumped on the citrulline bandwagon so it's probably only a matter of time before a dozen more citrulline products hit Japanese store shelves.

Beer trend: "zero" brews

Look closely.

See any pattern?

Say hello to the latest trend in Japanese brews: zero sugar low malt beers.

Fanta Japan shakes up the beverage market

I discovered this new and unique Coca-Cola Japan product the other day in the vending machine near my home. It's called Fanta Furufuru Shaker.

In some ways it's reminiscent of those jelly drinks marketed by Weider Japan. If you're not familiar with them, imagine a semi-soft version of Jello that's drinkable.

Where Coca-Cola Japan has added a twist is in adding carbonation that's activated by shaking the can.

The first mouthful feels a bit like Jello, but then the carbonation hits you, producing the sensation that you're actually eating your soda.

Less adventurous souls and the conventionally minded (in other words, adults), may find this off-putting.

But Japanese kids are going to, ahem, eat it up.

And you are simply not going to believe the TV ads.

Fanta Japan regularly produces fairly "out-there" commercials, but you won't want to miss the ones currently posted on their website. After you reach the top page, click on TVCM, then play the video that comes up in the main screen.

In particular, keep a close eye out for this character, whose can shaking technique is going to stimulate a lot of chatter in some quarters.

Consumer insight: Japanese face fetish

When it comes to the physique, some Japanese women, much like some women elsewhere, invest considerable time, money and effort in the pursuit of shapely curves—whether the locale be the chest, legs or bottom. But one way in which they differ—at least by my reckoning—is that many spend an inordinate amount of time worried about the shape of their faces. I'm not talking about the curve of their noses, the fullness of their lips or the angle of their brows, though sure enough, plenty of gals fret about these as well. What I'm talking about is more general—and has more to do with size than detail. Many Japanese women are fixated on the size of their faces.

It's just one of those cultural things. In Japan, you often hear women gushing over the pulchritude of some model or movie celeb, "kao ga chisai!" (Her face is [so] small!). Everybody in Japan seems to want a small face.

As a result, you frequently come across items like the one pictured above. Manufactured by a firm called Sun Family, the "small face belt" is meant to help women to diminish their visages (and fight sagging cheeks and double chins too). It works just as you'd imagine. Fit the donut around your head, pump in air, and squeeze your chin and cheeks inward and upward.

Does it work? I couldn't tell you.

What I can tell you, however, is that understanding the consumer need that leads to these kinds of products has implications for anybody involved in the health and beauty field, especially when it comes to the area of functional cosmetics.

Best selling Japanese cell phones

According to some data recently collected at one of Japan's largest big-box electronics retailers, the two best-selling Japanese cell phones at present are the DOCOMO 905i, and the W61CA from au (above ad). Each of their websites features plenty of images to give you an idea of how they look and what features they have. Check them out here: W61CA DOCOMO 905i.

McDonald's Japan to go mega in the morning

You're probably already tired of hearing about McDonald's Japan's mega sandwiches*, but since they're at least partly behind the company's ongoing revenue growth (while others in the market have faltered), you probably ought to know that they'll be bringing a new MegaMuffin sandwich to the morning menu for a limited time, from April 4 to May 8.

And just in case you fail to rise in time for breakfast, you'll still be able to chow down on MegaMacs and MegaTeriyaki burgers at other times of the day during the special campaign period.

* More info here and here.