The Campaign

There were two objectives of the “RE:TANAKA” campaign for precious metal recycling services. First, change people’s perception from “the services they use only when gold prices are soaring” to “those more accessible for anyone whenever they have unused jewelry”. And second, remove their distrust of the services such as the unclear appraisal and cash conversion method. To achieve these objectives, we focused on a unique Japanese cultural aspect, “Mottainai”, which means “what a waste”. First, we conducted a survey and revealed the issue of “Mottainai” unused jewelry. Then by spreading out the generated topic through different media, we directed people to the website. As a result, they could relate themselves to the “Mottainai” news through their experience of the Gold Appraisal Simulator System on the website. At the same time, we aired a commercial showing how precious metal jewelry are appraised and converted to cash, emphasizing the transparency and validity of transactions. Consequently, during a 3-month campaign, we achieved $2.1 million worth of exposure, 12 times more than the cost. Though gold prices were on a declining trend, gold transactions increased by 121% compared to the three months before the campaign started.

The Brief

Change people’s perception of precious metal recycling services from “the services they use when gold prices are rising” to “those more accessible for anyone whenever they have unused accessories”. We aimed to make many women aware of RE:TANAKA as the front runner in this area. Success metrics were to increase the number of RE:TANAKA usage even if the gold market was on a declining trend.

Results

The news was taken up by 139 media including TV programs, newspapers and websites generating the publicity impact of $2.1 million and 12 times more exposure than the cost. In social media, many words created through this campaign were shared with many people. As a result, by making many women more aware of “Mottainai” for their “unused jewelry”, we promoted recycling of unwanted precious metals and jewelry in TANAKA stores. Although gold prices were on the decline, the number of transactions increased by 103% and transactions amount increased by 121% compared to the three months before the campaign started.

Execution

TANAKA conducted a survey targeting women across Japan to raise their Mottainai awareness concerning precious metals. ・78% of women surveyed have an experience of having lost one of a set of earrings. ・The amount of precious metals lying dormant in jewelry boxes in Japan totals 1.6 trillion yen. ・There are “26,270,000” single earrings in Japan. We released many topics as above related to precious metal recycling and spread them in social media, with a view to being taken up by various media. The news became creative tools to drive people to the website, leading to twice as many website visits as we had expected. On the website, we put a precious metal recycling simulator to change people’s perception of the recycling services and direct them to RE:TANAKA stores. In addition, we aired a TV commercial, appealing to consumers with the transparency of transactions with TANAKA and successfully differentiated from competitors.

The Situation

Precious metal recycling had almost 100% recognition rate among all women, our main target market. However, most of them considered it as the “services linked with market prices, which they use only when gold prices are soaring”. Especially, the number of customers decreased in the spring and summer of 2012 when the gold market was on a decline. So TANAKA focused on their “failure” or lost accessories, which most of women have experienced. We generated and spread the importance and value of recycling unused jewelry regardless of market conditions while motivating them to use the services more frequently.

The Strategy

Many Japanese women have unused jewelry lying dormant at home. So TANAKA awakened a unique Japanese cultural aspect, “Mottainai,” which means “what a waste,” by telling people that there is a large amount of unused precious metals in Japan, and urging them to recycle such jewelry. In addition, by the time women started searching through their closets, we aired a TV commercial ahead of competitors, showing how precious metals were appraised and converted to cash while appealing to consumers with the transparency of transactions. We aimed to encourage consumers to choose RE:TANAKA in terms of these services.