CLOSET CURRENCIES

TitleCLOSET CURRENCIES
BrandVISA
Product / ServiceCREDIT CARD
CategoryB02. Consumer Services
EntrantDRILL Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company DRILL Tokyo, JAPAN
Advertising Agency DRILL Tokyo, JAPAN
PR Agency VECTOR GROUP Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Keisaku Ibuki Drill Planner
Keiichi Shimada Signal Inc.(Vector Group) Social Media Planner
Wataru Amano Signal Inc.(Vector Group) Social Media Planner
Miho Chikuma Initial Inc.(Vector Group) Pr Consultant (Magazine Web)
Ayano Nomura Initial Inc.(Vector Group) Pr Consultant (Newspaper Web)
Atsuko Maruyama Initial Inc.(Vector Group) Pr Consultant (Tv Media)
Chiemi Akiyama Initial Inc.(Vector Group) Pr Consultant (Tv Media)
Fuyuka Arita Initial Inc.(Vector Group) Pr Director
Michiru Muraki Initial Inc.(Vector Group) Pr Producer/Project Manager
Masako Yamada Adk Account Manager
Ken Matsuda Adk Copywriter
Osamu Enari Drill Executive Producer

The Campaign

Our mission was to increase credit card usage among Japanese overseas travelers. However, there was a large barrier: the Japanese strongly believe that 'cash is king.' When travelling overseas, over 70% of Japanese travelers exchange enough foreign currency to cover their entire budget prior to departure, without clear reasons for doing so. No matter how much Visa proclaimed the superiority of credit cards, stating, 'It's a better deal. It's safe,' this style hadn't changed for decades. We decided to take a completely different approach. We chose to appeal to the 'MOTTAINAI' aesthetic (a sense of regret for wastefulness) that is deeply ingrained in the Japanese. We focused on the unspent foreign currencies that are lying around people's closets, and called this 'Closet Currencies.' All travelers can related to this seemingly small amount of waste. In fact, a study found that over a total of $16 billion dollars' worth of foreign currencies are lying unused in Japan. Over-exchanging currencies is creating a large amount of waste. This information stimulated Japanese people's sense of 'MOTTAINAI,' and spread quickly. It was picked up by news and other TV programs, newspapers, magazines, websites, and SNS with a media exposure equivalent of $4.5 million dollars. As a result, the number of people who exchange cash for their entire budget was reduced 10%. With Visa's dominant share of the market, it goes without saying that this 10% contributed greatly to their sales.

The Brief

Our mission was to increase credit card usage among Japanese overseas travelers, in other words, to break Japanese exchange style that hadn't changed for decades.

Results

This information stimulated Japanese people's sense of 'MOTTAINAI,' and spread quickly. It was picked up by news and other TV programs, newspapers, magazines, websites, and SNS with a media exposure equivalent of $4.5 million dollars. As a result, the number of people who exchange cash for their entire budget was reduced 10%. With Visa's dominant share of the market, it goes without saying that this 10% contributed greatly to their sales.

Execution

In our research, over a total of $16 billion dollars' worth of foreign currencies are lying unused in Japan. At first, we spread this fact to the reliable media, such as newspaper, as big social news. And then, we spread these articles to the other media, such as TV, magazine, with the context that travelling with much cash is wasteful and old.

The Situation

When travelling overseas, over 70% of Japanese travelers exchange enough foreign currency to cover their entire budget prior to departure, without clear reasons for doing so. No matter how much Visa proclaimed the superiority of credit cards, stating, 'It's a better deal. It's safe,' this style hadn't changed for decades.

The Strategy

We focused on the unspent foreign currencies that are lying around people's closets, and called this 'Closet Currencies.' All travelers can related to this seemingly small amount of waste. We intend to appeal to the 'MOTTAINAI' aesthetic (a sense of regret for wastefulness) that is deeply ingrained in the Japanese and to replace the part of the budget with credit card.