The Campaign

Most TV commercials in Japan are 15 or 30 seconds long, and simply designed to promote the product. Few commercials are made to shape their brand through entertainment.

Results

Starting with the teaser commercial in October 2013, the details of the event were spread through announcements in commercials, online, and social media. Using a press conference, we made the call to the general public for amateurs who wanted to take on pro baseball players. And because Nodogoshi Nama beer was planning to help people realize their most amazing dreams, we asked the participants not only to show what those dreams were, but to make a real effort to make those dreams come true. The fans in the audience would also share in the excitement as they watched the players achieve their dreams, and that footage was aired as a TV commercial.

To draw interest, we first produced and aired a 15-second commercial. We also made a 180-second long version for YouTube along with an 8-minute documentary with behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the commercial. This documentary got people interested and spread widely through Facebook, Twitter and other social media. And through PR exposure in various media on the setup of the event we were planning, we drew the audience to YouTube and our website.

#1 share in market. The sight of the players living out their dreams built excitement among the audience, and that excitement became a TV commercial. 21,033 fans assembled for one brand. YouTube commercial: 713,583 views Making-of documentary: 228,512 views 7709 likes on Facebook Exposure in 16 TV, 93 print, and 322 online media PR equivalent of $3,770,290 (383,740,186 yen) (The commercial aired 4600 times on TV and online between January 24 and February 28.)