Namacha Panda Sensei marketing promotion

Written by: Michael Keferl on March 16, 2009 at 11:52 pm | In MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

Last weekend Kirin debuted a unique marketing campaign in Shibuya Station that mixed three Japanese loves together: Green tea, cute characters, and vending machines.

While utilizing the always-busy pop-up marketing spot in Shibuya Station, Kirin created an elaborate setup to distribute gift packs of Namacha Panda Sensei, the official character fo the popular tea who has been bottled up himself in recent advertisements.

Up until the beginning of the campaign, Kirin had been heavily promoting the “character in the bottle” commercials to build up hype for the idea. While this may seem tame outside of Japan, never underestimate the power of well-conceived characters for brand promotion.

When it was revealed that there would be select, limited-edition giveaways of Panda Sensei in the tea bottles as in the commercials, lines were formed at the Shibuya-station spot to receive a number to claim one of the coveted little bears. The video below is a brief intro to the concept, where bears were dispersed from vending machines.

In the last years we’ve seen countless promotions integrated with vending machine culture, from Smart Cars to Humans. It’s a medium that resonates with the public, and can be quite convenient as well for creating staff-less promotions. In the Trendpool we discuss some new examples of integrating tryvertising with machines as well.

Pictures via Momo Kimock and FunFunFunOK!

The campaign is making a few more stops around the country on its limited tour, always on the weekends, and is stretching the length of Japan all the way up to Sapporo.

For more insight into Japanese marketing campaigns and promotions, and how they fit in with global trends, check out the Trendpool database. In the meantime, Panda Sensei has a blog you might want to check out.

Tags: beverages, Campaigns, FMCG, Kirin, Marketing
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Kirin beer goes retro again, bulks up

Written by: Rebecca Milner on November 6, 2008 at 12:06 am | In MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

It would be quite possible to regularly maintain a blog entirely devoted to new beer developments in Japan (I am sure it’s out there), but we try to be picky about which ones to cover. But with two new releases from Kirin this fall, and neither of them promising no sugar or sporting a fancy European name, we thought it was worth a second look.

You see, Kirin is Japan’s original domestic brew and was long synonymous with beer, controlling the post WWII market clear until the turn of the millennia when Asahi won the crown, mostly thanks to the overwhelming popularity of Super Dry. So it looks like Kirin wants to remind consumers of those glory days with the plan to re-re-release (they did it in 2006) limited edition beers recreating original Meiji and Taisho brews both inside and out, in honor of the company’s 120th anniversary.

Meiji Lager will have a “thick and bitter” flavor while the Taisho Lager will combine “richly bitter” and “mellow” tastes. Priced at an acceptable ¥217 we’ll have to sample them to figure out what those descriptions really mean. Both are available from December 10th.

Editor’s note: The Meiji Era beer is stil the best beer I’ve ever had in Japan, so I’m looking forward to tasting it again after the first re-release!

For more immediate gratification, Kirin has also launched Strong Seven, a “dai-san” beer weighing in at 7% alcohol content. Dai-san or “third category” beers are actually beer-like beverages made with little or no malt and spiked with an additional spirit.

These third category beers are taxed at a lower level and are thus cheaper—Strong Seven will set you back only ¥147 for all that alcohol and is available from the end of October.

Tags: beer, beverages, FMCG, Kirin, Retro
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Kirin launches metholated coffee, mint soda

Written by: Michael Keferl on August 25, 2008 at 5:32 am | In MARKETING IDEAS | 4 Comments

The fast-moving beverage product cycle in Japan continues unabated (as usual), and recent trends have pointed to minty flavors in a variety of areas. Beverage giant Kirin has now released two new drinks along these lines designed to beat the summer heat.

From their successful World Kitchen series, the Mint Julep Soda stresses its Cuban roots in the Mojito with a non-alcoholic drink that softens the flavor.

For those in need of caffeine, Kirin’s new Fire Menthol coffee adds a slight edge to the flavor, but nothing too overwhelming. I see a great menthol cross-promotion in its future.

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

Shava Dava, Uchi Gochi, drink names explained

Written by: Rebecca Milner on June 26, 2008 at 1:28 am | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | No Comments

Some of our favorite convenience store products have some pretty funny names, like “Crunky” chocolate and “Pocky” biscuits. In many cases however these names are not just catchy, but evocative of a sound: “Crunky,” the sound of the crispy chocolate being crunched and “Pocky,” the sound of the crisp biscuit stick being snapped in two.

Another example is “shava dava,” a jazzy sound reminiscent of scatting in music and the name of a new beverage from Kirin.

The sparkling beverage is flavored with grapefruit juice and vinegar (vinegar in small doses diluted is a common health drink in Japan). According to the press release, the name “Shava Dava” is meant to allude to the sound of the drink’s fizzing bubbles and give the product a cool image to appeal to concerning adult customers.

Shava Dava is an example of the repetitive onomotopeia common in the Japanese language. Words like “goro goro” (the sound of lying about the house) and “kira kira” (the sound of sparkling) are two oft-heard examples.

Mercian’s latest Uchi Gochi wine series is a play on words created to sound like the examples above (and thus appeal to Japanese ears) but is actually a condensed version of the phrase “uchi gohan gochisou,” which translates roughly to “eat at home.”

The wine series, which includes two reds and a white, is designed to suit traditional home-cooked meals. Meanwhile, the website is full of advice for how to pair wine and foods, like matching the smooth, slightly sweet red with a traditional favorite like ginger grilled pork.

While the Japanese have been regularly drinking wine out for years, the idea of drinking at home, especially because wine can be a tough match for many traditional dishes, is still relatively uncommon.

Tags: beverages, FMGC, Kirin, Mercien, Wine
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

No sugar beer from Kirin and Suntory

Written by: Rebecca Milner on February 25, 2008 at 6:17 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | 2 Comments

With the debut of Kirin’s Zero this week and Suntory’s Zero Nama (draft) scheduled for the first week of March, the diet beer market has reached a new competitive peak, just in time to shed some of that post-Valentine’s Day chocolate weight.

The “zero” in both names refers to zero sugar, which is big news for beer-guzzling would-be dieters. Both also come in close to nil in the calorie department, Kirin Zero with 67 calories for a standard 350ml can and Suntory Zero Nama with 81 calories. Though it should be noted that both of these are happoshus, and thus not technically beer.

Sapporo, meanwhile, has a 50% reduced calorie actual beer planned for release on February 27, which weighs in at 119 calories and 4.6g sugar. Sapporo already has a low calorie happoshu, Sapporo Slims, which has 74k calories and 1.4-3.15g sugar (no, we’re not sure why it varies).

Magazine Tokyo Walker gave readers a sneak peak at the new beers and rated them in terms of “refreshing-ness” and “bitterness,” with Suntory Zero Nama coming out on top with 4 (out of 5) stars for refreshing-ness and 3 for bitterness.

Visit our…ONLINE SHOP…Buy cool and trendy gadgets & lifestyle products straight from Japan…fast, reliable and safe…delivered right to your doorstep…

Tags: beer, beverages, FMCG, health, Kirin, Metabo, Sapporo, Suntory
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS