Custom Starbucks Combini prices, coffee trends

Written by: Rebecca Milner on December 19, 2008 at 11:45 pm | In MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

Starbucks Japan, who kick started the chilled cup coffee craze with it’s Discoveries line, has a subtle but cute marketing strategy taking place on the convenience store shelves. In the place of ordinary price tags, Starbucks is using these decorative branded ones.

Plastic models evoke what the packaged beverage would look like if you were stopping to sip at a café rather than drinking on the run.

Considering that chilled beverages are only highly marketable half of the year, we’ve got our eyes on the heated shelves in anticipation of what manufacturers have in store. So far however, we’ve just seen the Starbucks Double Shot canned coffee and the Tully’s Winter Shot, a “heated” cup coffee that debuted last winter.

In other coffee news, JT’s canned coffee brand Roots has announced the December 8th launch of a new product, “Fine Days! Low Sugar.”

In addition to being significantly lower in sugar than the average canned coffee, the beverage contains a 50% increase of the polyphenols found in coffee, which are presumed to have anti-oxidant qualities.

Tags: beverages, FMCG, JT, Starbucks
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Kinnikuman goes for gold, Gundam collects ash

Written by: Rebecca Milner on August 28, 2008 at 12:43 am | In MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

While slime and Space Invaders are busy celebrating their 30th birthdays, manga icon Kinnikuman is feting a most important 29 this year. Two in Japanese is read “ni” and nine “ku.” Put them together and you get “niku,” get it?

In honor, Bandai is offering a commemorative premium solid gold figure that comes, fittingly, in a crystal capsule. (It should further be noted that while “kinniku” means muscle in Japanese, “kin” is the word for gold).

The made-to-order items (sorry, the deadline passed on August 21st) will reach collectors on Kinnikuman Day, August 29th. Bandai quotes an estimated cost of ¥49,350 but notes that the actual price will reflect the current market price for gold.

Meanwhile, Gundam needs no anniversary excuse to morph into any number of collectible, occasionally useful, goods. The latest is the Gundam Mobile Ashtray, in the design of the “Zaku” mobile suit.

This key holder model from Banpresto, while not quite solid gold, comes in a “classy metal finish” according to the press release. The mobile ashtray, popularized through the various styles offered at the Mobile Ashtray Museum, is Japan Tobacco’s attempt to marry two well-known local practices, smoking and product design.

See more examples here and here.

Tags: Bandai, Characters, JT, manga, Retro, Smoking
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Fresh breath drinks and more: New beverage round up

Written by: Rebecca Milner on August 14, 2008 at 12:03 pm | In MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

Usually we try to organize these updates by theme, but since no trend has emerged yet to rival the recent no sugar or vegetable liquor booms, here are a few noteworthy debuts in random order.

Japan Tobacco has a new soft drink, “Fresh Breath,” that promises to banish bad breath, thanks to ingredients like rosemary extract.

The grapefruit flavored drink is sugar free and zero calories, with a minimalist “masculine” package design that reads “for men.” Never mind that several of Japan Tobacco’s products might be responsible for the less than fresh breath in the first place.

Key Coffee is going the ultra-healthy route with its latest konnyaku-based drink, “Internal Beauty Health.” Konnyaku is a starchy vegetable native to Japan that is very high in fiber and contains almost no calories. It was the health-food-of-the-moment a few summers ago after a popular TV show raved about the product causing supermarket shelves to be emptied in a manner of days. Despite its purported detoxing effects, konnyaku has little taste and makes for a pretty dull diet.

(Typical konnyaku vs Key Coffee’s drinkable version)

The new beverage from Key Coffee however, mixes the stuff with apple juice, throws in some skin supporting ceramide, and claims that a glass a day before meals will have a noticeable health effect. Now that sounds more manageable, though maybe not the ¥5,880 for six 1L bottles that the website is charging.

Meanwhile Calpis is out to prove that you don’t need a vegetable on the can to sell an alcoholic beverage these days. With reported sales up 160% this year, the Calpis Bar Time series has decided to release two new flavors this summer: passionate mango and refreshing green apple.

The Bar Time series is edited by Shinobu Ishikagi, the 2005 International Bartending Association champion .

Those who still can’t get enough of the vegetable cocktails, however, can head down to the Vegesh Bar on the outdoor event space at the new Akasaka Sacas building from July 18 until August 31.

Vegesh is the latest veggie/fruity mash-up alky-pop from Asahi and Kagome.

Tags: beverages, Calpis, FMCG, JT, Key Coffee
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Unagi eel-themed drinks for summer

Written by: Rebecca Milner on July 27, 2008 at 11:51 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

It’s not enough for beer to be the official drink of the oppressively hot Japanese summer, one beer company is hoping to tie-in with the traditional food of summer, unagi (eel). Miyashita Sake Brewery is launching a “Suitable for Unagi” black beer that matches the color and richness of the grilled eel coated in sticky and slightly sweet sauce. Sold online in gift packs (¥2,425 for six), the “Suitable for Unagi” beer is intended as a summer gift for friends and co-workers.

Unagi is traditionally eaten during the summer to boost stamina against the appetite-destroying heat, particularly on the midsummer days of the Ox (July 24th and August 5th this year). While the origin of this custom is generally unknown and up for dispute, Miyashita is promoting a theory that explains that because the day of the Ox is associated with calamity, people traditionally turned to the Black Tortoise (the guardian deity of the north, also the direction associated with the Ox) for protection from disaster. The Black Tortoise God is black, thus people ate black food like unagi and now, says the brewery, black beer.

Posters advertising unagi to be hung in restaurants this summer, from unagi.org.

Whatever the reason (and we apologize for any of the questionably accurate explanations above, translated from the Miyashita promotional material), suffice to say the tradition has been a boon for eel merchants since the Edo period.

Meanwhile, a new beverage from Japan Tobacco Beverage says skip the eel altogether and instead go for a bottle of “Unagi Nobori,” a carbonated beverage combining vitamins and “eel extract” with a “refreshing flavor” to beat the summer swelter.

The packaging evokes a traditional unagi vendor, though a ¥147 a bottle the price is significantly less than the real thing.

Tags: beer, beverages, FMCG, JT, Summer, Unagi
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS