| Title | THE SECRET IDOL |
| Brand | EZAKI GLICO |
| Product / Service | ICE NO MI |
| Entrant | ENGINE FILM Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Entrant Company: | ENGINE FILM Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Advertising Agency: | DENTSU KANSAI Osaka, JAPAN |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Yasushi Akimoto | Executive Producer | |
| Tomoaki Tsuji | DENTSU INC. KANSAI | Creative Director |
| Takatoshi Nakao | DENTSU INC. KANSAI | Copywriter/Planner/Director |
| Kosuke Matsushita | DENTSU INC. KANSAI | Copywriter/Planner |
| Taichi Sayama | DENTSU INC. KANSAI | Art Director |
| Masaki Fukumori | Three & Co. | Art Director |
| Hidehiro Shimizu | Director | |
| Shinji Yuki | Cinematographer | |
| Keisuke Nishitani | Three & Co. | Photographer |
| Michiru Kobayashi | ENGINE FILM Inc. | Film Producer |
| Susumu Kawasumi | ENGINE FILM Inc. | Film Producer |
| Yuki Mori | DENTSU TEC INC. KANSAI | Web Producer |
| Makoto Sometani | ENGINE FILM Inc. | Film Production Manager |
To attract a new generation of customers for the Fruit Gelato ice cream, Ice no Mi, we decided to create a CGI idol, 'Aimi' (named after the product), and stage her dramatic debut in a TV commercial. To guarantee Aimi's popularity, we let her join the most popular idol group in Japan, AKB48. Aimi's first appearance was on the cover of a popular magazine. After putting up posters for Ice no Mi with Aimi, we announced that she would be the main cast for the TV commercial. As a new member of AKB48 became the hot topic on the media, the TV commercial was finally aired. We waited for a week to announce that Aimi was a CGI composite of members of AKB48. At the same time, we started 'Oshimen Maker', a website that allows users to create their own idols by mixing facial parts of AKB48 members.
TV news reports: 94 programs News and magazines reports: 270 articles News websites reports: 1,158 sites 58,000 tweets, attracting 1m followers The Ice no Mi website received close to 74m views or 60% of the population of Japan. The promotional value of this campaign has come to roughly 3bn yen. Sales doubled from the previous year, and this in a declining economy due to the March 11th Earthquake. Overseas media such as CNN has also covered the Aimi story, taking the interest worldwide.
The campaign plan, 'The Secret Idol', got the client's approval. Aimi debuted on the cover of the magazine as a new member of AKB48. Aimi's introduction movie was aired in entertainment news, and on the exterior monitors around major streets. Ice no Mi posters with Aimi and members of AKB48 were posted. Aimi's voice sound was put on the Ice no Mi website. The TV commercial was aired, a TV commercial that disclosed Aimi's secret that she was the CGI composite of various members of AKB48. Ice no Mi posters disclosing Aimi's secret were posted around major train stations. The TV commercial's making-of movie disclosing Aimi's secret was put up on the Ice no Mi website. 'Oshimen Maker' (Create your own idols) website that lets the users to create their own idols by mixing facial parts of various AKB 48 members was launched.