Twisted View of Marketing in Japan

Sometime, TV programs feature “Interesting Oversea Advertising” or some sort to show award winning advertising from Cannes.  Some films make me say “Aha!”, but more often, they leave me behind, “What?  Why?”

Unless I switch my brain to “Understanding Oversea Culture”-mode, many of them are just too hard to understand or appreciate.

A few years ago when I went to the Cannes award event, my “Understanding Oversea Culture” brain had melted and vaporized, spending 3 full days in theaters to watch, just watch thousands of advertising.

So, here is a piece of advertising that “Fu”-san asked me for perspectives:  Evian.

Do you get it?

I just don’t get it.

Visuals are great, very well crafted, that make me watch through, but at last, I am left out with “???”.  Well, you could argue, if it held me till the end to (vaguely) understand it is for Evian, then it does the job as a commercial film, though.

I heard that Evian has some effects to activate cell renewal, revitalize them, reduce health problems associated with aging, make skin beautiful, or help your brain to work.  However, at the end of the day, it is a bottle of mineral water, not medicine, that they may not be able to actively sell these as efficacy.

It could be then the case that they transformed them into an idea of “Evian = Fountain/Spring of Youth”, and dramatized it through “Full of life/youth = You become a baby”.  Am I correct?  Don’t know.  “Drink Evian and stay young”?

(It may be completely wrong thing that I have “logically analyzed” it, though.)

OK.  If I work hard, at least I can understand what is going on and intent behind it.  But if I keep my brain as “Normal (Japanese)”-mode, I have no clue what is going on for what-so-ever…

I wonder what is wrong with me.  I suspect the analogy of Youth – Baby itself puts the big wall that I cannot go over anyhow, right before me.  Even with copy/superimpose like “Let’s observe the effect of Evian on your body” and “Evian, live young”, they don’t help.  Often people say “Japanese people are just too literal”, and am I one of them?

While I usually agree with Creative saying “Let’s believe our viewers, they are matured enough to appreciate this.”, in this case, I would not buy it.

Am I the only one?

I would, by the way, agree that, with this great and fun visual drama, it would become talk of the town.

Airing it as it is should be much better than AXE, who somehow produces boring, cheap, and sloppy “Japan original CM’s”.  AXE has so many great films around the world, and they are not as “sophisticated” as Evian, so that they can/should choose to air them as they are.  If there is “most boring AXE advertising award”, Japan gets Grand Prix every year.

“O.”

Unlike the previous topic, it is about a campaign (or marketing) that does not interest me very much.

Why about the one that I am “NOT” interested in?

It is because I’ve got quite a few inquiries.  Since its start, from various people.  “How do you interpret this?”, “What do you think they want to achieve?”, or “It’s been talk in town, but how effective is it?”

As it has been out there for sometime that it does not have a kind of momentum it used to have once, and that many professionals have already put their argument or evaluation, I do not think I can add any new perspective here.  Just wanted to respond to those questions came to me.

It is about Softbank’s CM featuring SMAP.  Just in case, here are links from YouTube for the very first one of this campaign and the recent one about color variation of phone.

 
How come this does not intrigue me much?  I do not dislike the other campaign featuring a dog, instead.

It is probably because I somehow do not see/feel what they are doing as “marketing”, but as “rich man’s fight/scuffle”, firing bundles of buck out from a big cannon.  Well, in a sense, you can say it is dead on Softbank’s character, so it may be very good “Brand building”, though.

Structure of campaign, at its beginning, was a “set-up documentary” with flood of TV media:  A big group of talents representing Japan, who used to be a CM character of docomo, a competitive company representing Japan, is “transferring” to Softbank.  Obviously fake movement.

It is indeed a kind of thing that only rich man can think of.

The second series featuring color variation of phone and iPhone is what they have been doing even before this campaign using Hollywood stars.  Films of this campaign feel like “set-up documentary or fake making-film” as well.

But I kinda like its idea.  I may tell you “If SMAP was not there, it should not have been bad advertising”.  The world can become better place with full of fun and joy if the world is filled with many vivid colors.  Not bad.  Visuals are very beautiful.

In any case, as it is “rich man’s scuffle”, amount of media is horrendous.  Or said differently, huge amount of media transforms the obvious “set-up documentary” to “obviously fake but entertaining movement”.

In net, to people like me, there is not much to learn.  As consistency is power, I hope they continue this.

If I have to find any lesson here, it is that, unless you are trying hard to dump your money, do not take this approach of making so-so idea into “societal movement”.

Rather, work hard to develop strong idea.  It is not easy, but I would suggest this way.  When an idea is outstanding, you do not have to stir up it to make it “societal movement”.  It will be.

“O.”

Award winners have been announced for this year’s “Consumers’ Tameninatta Advertising – For the consumers’ good Advertising” award.

I guess many of you may not know this award, but this year’s was already 49^th.

METI Award, say Grand Prix, went to Panasonic Nano-e’s newspaper ads, Toyo Exterior Support Rail (handrail)’s magazine ad, and Toshiba’s company ad on TV.  I could not find the first two on web, but found Toshiba’s light bulb CM on YouTube.

“1890, Japan’s first light bulb was made by Toshiba.  Since then, we have thrown lights over your house and your town.  Toshiba is planning to terminate production of incandescent lights、aiming at 2010.  As the first company to make light bulb, we wanted to be the first to make a decision not to make.  In the future, we shift our effort to produce energy saving lights such as Neo Pole Series (light-bulb style fluorescent lamp) and LED lamps.  Long and strong cherished hope to light bulb.  But, it is longer and stronger for the earth.  Toshiba.”

It seems quite popular CM.  It holds you to say “A-ha” at the end.

When I myself watched this on TV, I rushed to make a complete list of types of incandescent lights at home and bought a lot of them to stock.  I do not like fluorescent light.  Well, I know I should not have acted anti-eco way…  But, the advertising indeed made me re-act, and think “OK, after using up the stock, let me switch to LED”.  It is a good piece of advertising. 　Poor excuse...

So what is “mixed feeling and questions”?  There are a few.

To start with, I have a big “?” to its name of “Tameninatta - For consumers’ good” (while I am not confident if this is translating its original nuance).  It means the world is full of those advertising that are not for their good?  No?  It means it is selecting “the best” from good ones?  OK, I was chopping and playing on logic, I understand.  And there are plenty that are not necessarily targeting to consumers.  You are right.  Some are for shareholders, for recruiting, for supply chain, for internal communications, and there are others, too.  But, “Tameninatta – for their good” reads like looking down to them.  Oh, it is just a bad try of faultfinding?  Excuse me.

Fact is, when I was working for marketing/advertising in manufacturer, that receiving this award was a very big credit.  As it was consumer goods company, it was always fulfilling to see advertising making an impact to numbers, and when consumers told us “It’s a good commercial” or “It made me like the brand”, I felt that all the hard work had completely been paid off.  And if the award of “For consumers’ good” chooses my work, it is a big honor.  The biggest reward, because I suppose it must be selected based on research among lots of consumers.

What?  They do not choose that way?  What do you mean?

Let’s take a look at judges…  Final judges are university professors and reps from consumer organizations.  Looks reasonable, so far.  6 out of 12 are women.  Sounds thoughtful.

So, these people go through all the pieces of advertising, in addition to TV CM’s, where approx. 1,000 new spots are born a month, from newspaper, magazine, radio, and web.  Is it so?  Not.  It says they review applied ones.  I see.  And they have pre-screening, first…

If I look at the list of judges for pre-screening, it appears 7 out of 20 are college/university students and 4 are university lecturers, so it means more than half are from college/university.  What…  These pre-judges select about 600 from all the 3,500 applications.  He~~~~, what a hell…

“Mixed feeling” is, by the way, also coming from my observation that, while clients are in general very pleased and honored to get this award, somehow, Creatives often give “a bitter smile”.  Not all of them, off course.  I saw some showed great appreciation to it.

But, there seems something for “a bitter smile” in advertising industry.

It might be too much of my suspicion, but it seems to me “It may be a great award for consumers’ and clients’ good, but it is not always for Creatives’ good”.

Are they having doubt to its selection process?  It looks true, unlike other advertising awards, they indeed do not invite judges from advertising industry or creative field.

Or, because “It does not judge its artistic value as a piece of work”?  Well, advertising is not made for an artistic expression as a primary purpose, though.

Not going to that extreme, because “It does not evaluate its originality/novelty of advertising executions”?  I kinda understand that impression, vaguely though.

Or, because “It has some Dasai (not cool) impression/image”?  Yeah, I understand that.  What leaves that impression, then?

Taking a look at all the finalists, you may find some consistency across.  Maybe of same old dramatic devises/set-ups or cliché.  And, well although I cannot find exact word to describe this, I think there are quite a few “Preachy/Enlightenmentism (?)” stories, “Interfering” speaks, or “Hey, ain’t I doing my best to be good for society” type of telling.  Is this the reason for your bitter smile?  (At least, Panasonic’s works, a regular member of this award, are still on its Panasocic-like enlightenment tonality.)

OK.  Let me talk to some Creative guys soon.

“O.”

In the past few years or so till 6 months ago, TV advertising campaign from ST was on air quite often, and it was quite “?”.  Particularly, ones in the most recent year were felt like “Hey, you must be kidding!”

One day, watching TV with one of my friends, I said jokingly to him, who is quite familiar to this industry,

“Well, if they continue this kinda advertising, it wouldn’t be too far that the Shacho (company president) gets fired.”

“Ah, recently, they changed their Shacho, indeed.”

What?  I see…  According to him, the previous Shacho retired and succeeded the position to his son, but recently, the previous Shacho had to make a come-back.

Oh, my...

(Well, I do not know if this advertising had anything to do with this Shacho changes, though.)

The campaign features “A comfortable life without malodor” of “Tonosama (Load) and his family in the future” in quite large scale dramatization.  On the floor of his chateau or castle, a big group of his women and men, and even some Nonjias, I recall, sing and dance in line like musical show, and then Tonosama does “Shu!” (to deodorize the big hall).

It is for the product called “Shoushu (deodorizing) Plug”.

Later, I also saw a piece of film where the Load and his family live with hi-tech robot, don’t know why/for what.

(Different campaign for another product is also funny, known as one of those funny Japanese advertising, that a lot of, somehow, Gaijins show up and powerfully sings the name of the brand “Shoushu Riki (Power)”.  Or, there is another series for mothballs where you see a character of what you don’t know in strange animal costume.  I saw the recent pool-out spot of it the other day, singing funny wordplay.)

In any case, all of them seem to me large scale drama that is quite expensive to make.  While I do not have any data with me to say anything for sure, I suppose amount of media should also be relatively high in this category.

Well, I have to say it is a bit too much.  It is not the kind of advertising that you cannot get what it wants to say, but it makes you wonder why they have to take that approach to say it.  Or, said differently, it tries hard to be funny for its sake.  What made them do so?

Here goes another story of big Ad Agency’s trick or set-up?

But, all the film have a consistent idea and all of them look similar, bunching them as one campaign.  So there must be some intent behind it.

“Just a ‘Shu (splash/spray)’ deodorizes your living space, so innovative and easy that your family can enjoy comfortable fun life.”  That is what they want to convey.  Nothing is wrong with it.  However, as it is, it’s just too generic and ordinary to know why the product is good and how, when you see hundreds of similar kind of deodorizing products out there.

There is no fresh/eye-opening element in its idea, to start with.

Under the not eye-opening idea, they would have tried so many things to make it fly.  After all, it would end up no way but making its execution showy and funny…

“Innovative = Future”, “Family = the Load and his people/family”, “Life with fun = Musical show”, “Living space = Big floor in the castle”, making everything big and showy.

I guess many people still remember advertising from ST for “Shoshu Pot”, funny and cute commercial.  Some may have sung its song together.  I am pretty sure that it gave them a big success to their business.  In my view, it was a clean hit in the category of hard to be distinctive and low share of mind.

Now, I think I got something.  It was their success model:  When you have unique naming for product and unique advertising, it can sell even in this tough category.  This big investment could be a result of stretched or too vague interpretation of their success/experiences.  And, the newly succeeded Shacho tried just too hard to be Shacho?

My advise is to air that “Shoshu Pot” advertising once again.  I bet it sells again.  That was a great piece of advertising.  (I could not find it in You Tube.  Lots of kids show up and sing play-on-word of the name of the product many times, nothing else, but cute and funny.)

By the way, there I guess still remains a strange culture that “TV commercial is for Shocho’s fun”.  It is no longer good old days of high economic growth like in 60’s and 90’s.  It should be cut out now, as later is better than never.  Big Ad Agencies are the only ones making money out of it.