Brand a Day!

Branding a product or service is very common, but how about branding a day? Well, it can be argued that some holidays are surely branded besides having a historical or religious base, but other branded days are purely commercial.

Just a couple of weeks ago couples around the world celebrated Valentines Day putting a smile especially on the face of florist, chocolate manufacturers, jewellers, and restaurant owners. However, in some countries this is taken even further and in Japan White Day is celebrated on March 14th. The Japanese celebrate Valentine's Day in a rather unique fashion, with women giving the men chocolate as well as other gifts. But there is more to it, the gifts of chocolate are divided into two types: giri choco (obligatory chocolate) and honmei choco (chocolate for the man the woman is serious about). Giri choco is given by women to their superiors at work as well as to other male co-workers.

On March 14th, exactly one month after Valentine's Day, men who were lucky enough to receive gifts of chocolate have the chance to return the favor by giving the women who gave them gifts of chocolate a more expensive box of chocolate or sweets, as a sign of love.

There are a few theories on how White Day started and according to wikipedia:

“White Day was first celebrated in 1978 in Japan. It was started by the National Confectionery Industry Association (全国飴菓子工業協同組合) as an "answer day" to Valentine's Day on the grounds that men should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on Valentine's Day. In 1977 a Fukuoka-based confectionery company, Ishimura Manseido (石村萬盛堂), marketed marshmallows to men on March 14, calling it Marshmallow Day (マシュマロデー).

Soon thereafter, confectionery companies began marketing white chocolate. Now, men give both white and dark chocolate, as well as other edible and non-edible gifts, such as jewelry or objects of sentimental value, or white clothing like lingerie, to women from whom they received chocolate on Valentine's Day one month earlier. If the chocolate given to him was giri choco, the man as well may not be expressing actual romantic interest, but rather a social obligation”.

I just thought this is an interesting example on how smart marketers can brand a day and assure a huge seasonal spike in sales. How about branding a day yourself, any ideas. This might just make sense to Seinfeld lovers, but remember George Constanzas fathers holiday called “Festivus”. Well, Festivus for the rest of us!

Cup Noodle Making it Easy!

There are brands that do not stand out for their luxurious or colorful design, but for pure convenience and practicability. One of those brands is Nissin's Cup Noodle.

If you have been in a convenient store in Japan you might have bought there some instant noodles and used one of the microwaves available to get them ready to eat. Furthermore, anybody that has been in Tokyo knows that the vending machine concept is taken to another level and can be found pretty much anywhere.

Cup noodle has now taken this concept by heart and a step further in their latest promotional campaign. Already known as a convenient product,its key brand value, it is trying to reach the "geeky segment" with this campaign. Besides, I am pretty sure that as a by product the media coverage generated will also reach other segments of interest.

But now more about the campaign. Until the end of March, Cup Noodle fans will be able to enter a contest to win one of 3000 limited edition "My Vending Machine Cup Noodle dispenser/water heaters". Want to know more, well just check out the video.

I just found this an interesting way of promoting a product while further emphasizing the brands key value. Thank you cup noodle, and thank you Japan for offering sometimes things that are just a bit different.

Brand Packaging in Japan!

When it comes to branding it is crucial to reflect the right company image in the marketplace and an integral part of this is product packaging. If it is a tangible product the packaging is the thing the customer can see or feel immediately in the store and as in other aspects of life, a first impression can be made only once. Be it color, shape, or the labeling of the packaging, these are all aspects that have to further enhance and match the strategic message the brand is trying to project. Furthermore, practicality and convenience are other important factors of packaging that are gaining importance as a distinctive feature.

Oi Och Matsch ready to drink green tea, from Japanese tea brand Ito En, shows how innovative packaging can be presented, but in this case the innovative feature is just a tool to provide the consumer with the freshest product possible, which is one of the goals of the brand, stand for freshness and quality. Their PET bottle contains natural water and a cap filled with green tea powder. When ready to consume the beverage the cap is turned, which enables the powder to fall into the bottle and after some shaking a freshly mixed tea is ready to drink. It’s a simple process with a big payoff for the product and brand. Somehow it seems that especially in the Japanese market brand packaging is a crucial aspect of a companies overall strategy. I still remember from my time in Japan that if you bought some random cookies, often each cookie within the box was packed individually to assure freshness every time, and not only with highly priced products, this was quite common in Japan for products from different price segments. Maybe it was not the most environmentally way of doing things, but from a marketing perspective arguably a smart choice, even if packaging costs were high.

Below is a link to a number of interesting pictures about brand packaging that I found in www.businessweek.com. Check it out, and let us know if you have encountered some interesting examples around the world.

Check link here


photo courtesy GNPD, www.gnpd.com

Incognito Burger!

McDonald's Japan has temporarily remodeled two of its chain stores in Tokyo by stripping away any branding and just offering their quarter pounder in a red and black box. According to a spokesperson their aim is to offer the consumer a blind taste test without the preconception of who made the burger - pretty much with the thought "let the quality and taste speak for itself". However, I believe that it is more a stunt to get some press instead of a real taste test. Regular by walkers know that this is a MCD store, even if they changed their decor for a while, and the writting on the box seems to use a common MCDonalds font, which should be a hint about who made this burger. Anyway, I still thought it was an interesting idea and wanted to share this with all of you. Below is the link to the original text.

Check the link here