THUNDERBIRDS CORPORATION

TitleTHUNDERBIRDS CORPORATION
BrandKYOWA HAKKO KIRIN
Product / ServicePRESCRIPTION MEDICINES
CategoryA09. Best Use or Integration of Gaming and/or Digital Media
EntrantBILCOM Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company:BILCOM Tokyo, JAPAN
Contributing Company:ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS Tokyo, JAPAN
Contributing Company:BILCOM Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Kazuhide Hasegawa Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd. Manager/Corporate Communications Dept.
Hideki Uchida Bilcom Inc. Creative Director
Jotaro Kuwahata Bilcom Inc. Account/Project Manager
Yoshitada Hirobe Bilcom Inc. Social Media Planner
Taishi Yokoyama Robot Communications Inc. Creative Director
Norifumi Furuya Robot Communications Inc. Art Director
Keigo Kowata Robot Communications Inc. Web Designer
Takayuki Fukuzaki Robot Communications Inc. Planner
Yasuhito Tanaka Robot Communications Inc. Planner
Junichi Matsuzaki Director
Yusuke Ando Robot Communications Inc. Producer
Takeaki Suzuki Robot Communications Inc. Producer
Masaki Yanai Robot Communications Inc. Cg Producer
Asuka Yotsumoto Robot Communications Inc. Cg Assistant Producer
Nobuyuki Nishigaki Fourdigit Inc. Technical Director

The Campaign

TV commercials, TV series, short films and other visual content are used across various platforms such as social media and online games to make branded entertainment, but the mass media in Japan has always had a very strong influence. The fact that Twitter has the top share of social media in Japan is unique. Also in Japan we have the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act which dictates that prescription medicines are not permitted to be shown in advertising, and new medications in particular are subject to limitations under a March 2012 cabinet decision by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Results

The Challenge: The lack of opportunities and motivation for the target audience (businessmen aged 40 - 50) to learn about specialised medical information of their own accord. Objective: Heightened awareness of antibody drugs at the forefront of medical treatment. Strategy: Core Idea “Thunderbirds”, all the rage when the target audience was young, sets up a fictitious company in Japan and recruits staff. Execution: We created content where the 'employee' (user) could access the website through PC or smart phone and learn about medicine in an enjoyable way with a character from Thunderbirds. By logging in through social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, users could access the following content: -A movie of the company establishment press conference filmed with a remake of the dolls from Thunderbirds -An online school where Thunderbirds characters holds lessons about medical treatment -An app where the user can create an avatar of themselves as a Thunderbirds-style character -Diagnostics that gauge users’ aptitude when they answer questions and assign them to a suitable department of the company -An element of gamification where the more the player uses the site, the bigger their company building grows In conjunction with the site, Facebook and Twitter accounts were created for daily communication with users. Information was also sent from Thunderbird character “colleagues”.

Within the parameters of these advertising regulations, we focused on methods with a high PR value to create a buzz through web media and print: characters and themed content. The strategy included shareable content aimed at spreading the campaign through social media. The creation of a Facebook page and Twitter account also established direct communication with consumers.

In the first month after launch approximately 15,000 members signed up. From the log, we saw that on average they visited and were active on the site once a week. Additionally, from the comments and messages that were posted on the Facebook and Twitter pages, we saw that users were getting right into the role of ‘employee’ and enjoying the world created in the content. Moreover, it is expected that we will see increasing contact from users in this campaign and we predict even better results moving forward. Statistical Data -Approx. 15,000 users joined in the month after launch -Approx. 70% of users are linked through social media accounts -On averages users revisited the site 4 times in a month -In one month, approx. 40,000 items were shared -70% inflow of visitors from shared content