Cannes Contenders: BBDO Japan
How will Asia Pacific perform at Cannes this year? In the lead up to the Festival, Campaign Brief Asia will be showcasing the work we hope will impress the judges…
BBDO Japan
To demonstrate Mars Petcare’s real understanding of the relationship between pets and their owners, they released a charming online film for National Smile Day in Japan.
The film features owners talking about their love for their dogs and how they feel like one of the family. At a photography portrait shoot they are then surprised to see that it is their own dogs racing up a specially built gantry taking photos. Naturally the smiles are huge at this guest photographer and the results are seen at the end of the film.
The premise is simple – owners love taking photos of their dogs and just looking at them makes their owners smile. Imagine how big the smile would be if the tables were turned and their own dog took the pictures.
BBDO Japan
Whilst we consider Visa accepted in restaurants the world over, until last year, cash remained the sole purchase source in Japan’s conveyor-belt sushi restaurants. To publicise Visa’s new acceptance location, they needed to create an engaging means of getting this cultural change talked about positively.
As the budget was minimal, a series of online films of varying difficulty, were introduced for the “High-Speed Sushi Quiz” in which viewers had to guess which Sushi was flying past them. Once the answer was revealed, the film then showed that Visa was now accepted in these restaurants.
This high-speed payment for a high-speed meal was circulated all over the internet and provoked discussion amongst viewers and the media giving a huge ROI for Visa and much needed PR for their new initiative.
BBDO Japan
For centuries, fish and its industry has played a huge part in the economic and culinary lives of the Japanese but knowledge of the role it had was diminishing. SBS channel in Shizuoka produced an educational TV programme to celebrate fish and the fishing industry called “Let’s Go To The Fish Market” – competition for viewers as ever was difficult.
So a social experiment was undertaken. With the influx of Western food, it played upon the common rumour that children believed that salmon swam in the shape of a fillet! Using four rubber-covered motors, robotic swimming salmon fillets were placed into an aquarium and the reaction of visiting children was filmed.
For an USD 800 investment in production, over USD 400,000 media exposure was achieved for the promo film and viewership of this local programme against more famous national shows grew by over 10%.
BBDO Japan
Onomichi is a quiet coastal town in Japan which had been struggling to attract tourists – not least because it had no real defining landmarks. What it was known for was cats – they were absolutely everywhere in the town.
A website was set-up which utilised their eyes and a “Cat Street-View” was produced which allowed you to see around the town from a height of 15cm above ground. In this way, you could explore the town like a cat, squeezing into narrow back streets, looking at stunning views from rooftops. As you took the route, you were given all manner of tourist information you might require.
The excitement and coverage online was enormous with interest from all over the world, and, crucially, visitor numbers grew by over 20% (including from outside Japan) far exceeding expectations.
Want to showcase your agency’s best chances at Cannes this year? Open to all Asian based agencies entering Cannes this year. Just email kim@campaignbrief.com with a paragraph or two on each of your best chances at this year’s festival. Include a link to the case study/TVC or supply jpegs if it is print.