Japan Marketing News

Effective Japanese TV ads: ANA

This ANA ad targets older Japanese who have both the time and money to travel. Many over 60 still have a very romanticized view of "things international" and overseas travel, and a good proportion are enthusiastic fans of Jazz, as well. While some younger Japanese might consider the use of the New York backdrop and African-American-band-playing-typical-Jazz-standard as somewhat hackneyed, it probably strikes just the right note (ouch) with the intended audience.

While the effectiveness of the branding is questionable (after all, it's pretty easy to substitute any other airline logo into this ad—nothing about it is truly specific to ANA), I give this commercial high marks for its ability to capture your interest and keep you engaged. On that measure, it outperforms most other airline ads, which are excruciatingly predictable, and forgettable.

Top 5 Japanese Companies, Part V (travel agencies)

According to a survey conducted by Nikkei Research covering the period of August 2006 to July 2007, Japanese travel industry revenues grew almost 4% versus the previous year. The increase was attributed, amongst other things, to a rebound in traffic to China and the popularity of European travel connected to World Cup soccer amongst Japanese tourists.

Of Japan's top five travel companies, JTB and HIS saw the best growth, with sales expanding 10.5% and 14.7% respectively. In contrast, Kinki Nippon Tourist and Hankyu Travel experienced subtle revenue decreases (under 1% each), while Japan travel achieved very moderate growth of 1.1%.

Based on the Nikkei data, here are Japan's top five travel agencies as of July 2007:

1) JTB
2) Japan Travel (日本旅行）
3) Kinki Nippon Tourist
4) Hankyu Travel
5) H.I.S.