HATSUNE MIKU

Silver Spike
TitleHATSUNE MIKU
BrandGOOGLE
Product / ServiceGOOGLE CHROME
CategoryA05. Best Use or Integration of User-Generated Content
EntrantHAKUHODO Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company:HAKUHODO Tokyo, JAPAN
Contributing Company:HAKUHODO Tokyo, JAPAN

The Campaign

In terms of Branded Entertainment in Japan, there are strict regulations on such advertising that is for multiple clients at the same time (in our case, Google and music software company Crypton), and had been an untouched territory. Instead of simply a popular animated character, our goal was to demonstrate that Hatsune Miku inspires creativity the Web, and lead to further acceleration of such activities. Therefore, our innovative strategy was to focus on the people-driven culture of a creative chain formed by countless people who are the grass roots creators of not-for-profit works surrounding the virtual singer Hatsune Miku, a music software made by Crypton.

Results

The object of the campaign of Google and Crypton was to inspire more people to join a culture of creativity on the Web. Our core message is 'Everyone, Creator'. We chose as our messenger virtual singer 'Hatsune Miku', by Crypton, which is a software that sings whatever melodies and lyrics that are input. Around Miku, there is an unique people-driven culture - someone writes a song, then someone else draws an illustration from that, inspiring another person to make a 3D animation, and so on - forming a creative chain. We consolidated the millions of creators and their works in this chain into one film. The film itself was made by casting actual creators who are behind Hatsune Miku. Also, a song that is an anthem for creative freedom was created. Finally, through a worldwide 3D concert, we encouraged people to express themselves on the Web.

The biggest appeal is that our content demonstrated Hatsune Miku is not merely a character, but an embodiment of creators on the Web. By showing this, we have increased the number of people who realised that they can be creators, and are continuously being inspired to create works of their own on the Web.

The promotion of Hatsune Miku and the further expansion of the creative chain on the Web led to media coverage in 40 countries, US$25 million worth of free publicity, distribution of the anthem to 216 countries, number 1 on both iTunes overall chart and Amazon, and 3.5 million YouTube views of the symbolic film. On top of that, the film and anthem inspired a large body of fan-made derivative works, and received more than 10 million total views.