DESIGN NORI (SEAWEED)

TitleDESIGN NORI (SEAWEED)
BrandUMINO SEAWEED STORE
Product / ServiceSEAWEED
EntrantI&S BBDO Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company:I&S BBDO Tokyo, JAPAN
Advertising Agency:I&S BBDO Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Kenichiro Shigetomi I&S BBDO Inc. Creative Director / Art Director / Designer
Ririko Murata I&S BBDO Inc. Planner
Kiyoyuki Enomoto I&S BBDO Inc. Copywriter
Takuto Kawata Designer

The Campaign

Client's original Nori (seaweed), a fusion of traditional Japanese design and latest cutting technology

Success of the Campaign

First off, we made the decision to apply design thinking to the product itself, not just the packaging. We also needed to choose the right designs. We wanted to convey our classic brand heritage and our positive hope for the future so that our customers could sense our values and feel more optimistic when seeing our designs. So we carved into nori various classic patterns (MonYo) from Japanese history that signify happiness, long-life, etc. By combining a traditional product with a modern laser cutter, these patterns create an entirely new type of nori never seen before. The designs are entirely new for the industry, and convey both our wish for the future, as well as our respect for the past.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

The tragic tsunami of March 2011 dramatically affected all industries in Northern Japan. Our client was one of them. They came to us, their channels of distribution damaged, their business hurting, and asked us to create an online campaign for them that would help to rebuild their business. But it¹s hard to think of a product that could spur less interest online than a black square of seaweed. The design of a square of nori has not changed since its creation in the 15th century.