The Campaign

NTT West, one of Japan’s leading telecommunications carriers, wanted to send out into the world something fun and advanced, using telephones and the Internet. As a major corporation, NTT West is conscious of its obligation to contribute to society, and has been concerned about the ill effects arising from the loss of real experiences caused by Japan’s advancing computerization. Given NTT West’s direct involvement in the process of that computerization, the company wanted to do something that would help protect the loss real experiences. Japan’s rapid computerization has led to the rise of virtual experience and corresponding loss of real experiences. NTT West sought to help rectify this grave social issue through an initiative that combined enjoyable real experiences and information technology. The company was convinced that people did not need to be forced into “old-time” natural environments, instead believing that real experiences could be enjoyed in settings relevant to the modern age. But since it is a long-established corporation, it suffered from a brand image of being rigid and old, despite being a forward-looking company. NTT West had to wipe away this image, which is particularly inappropriate considering it is actually involved in state-of-the-art operations such as Wi-Fi.

Results

This project was a collaboration between NTT West and another of Japan’s leading technology companies – two corporations specializing in communications technology and information technology. NTT’s partner developed technology to scan pictures of fish and have those fish swim in a virtual ocean projected onto a screen. Meanwhile, NTT West developed the applications that would automatically generate videos of the fish swimming the moment they were scanned and upload them to the official YouTube channel in real time. Participants could give their fish names and search the videos to find their fish by name. This high-entertainment-value event was held at one of Japan’s most famous aquariums. Fresh from seeing real fish in the aquarium’s tanks, participants were inspired to take part in this fun, creative activity. The experience of seeing the fish they drew swimming around created a strong impression among participants, with the added bonus that the experience did not end there – they could also view their fish swimming around on YouTube. They shared their fish using SNS, which served to stimulate conversation with their family and friends. Numerous press releases were distributed to increase the chance of coverage on TV and online news sites. Aiming for TV coverage and other third-party exposure rather than simply advertising helped ensure that the project was judged on its own merits by people throughout the world. We believed that the project could stand on its own and earn positive reactions from around the globe without paid advertising. We were convinced that those positive reactions would help add a dash of positivity to the world and earn NTT West the image it deserves as a technological innovator.

Children who participated in the event surely went home and told grandma and granddad about how they saw lots of real fish, and how they drew a picture of a fish that then seemed to come to life and swim. No doubt, they looked up their fish on their computer or smartphone to show everyone. This, in turn, would have spurred conversation about fish, about the event, and about a range of other topics. Parents, too, would no doubt have shared their kids’ fish drawings with their friends around the world on SNS. In this way, we have helped create special memories that people have shared far and wide to create shared experiences.

This project had a strong significance educationally and as social contribution, so we invested our energies into a public relations strategy aimed at garnering media coverage in the belief that winning positive admiration from others would be more valuable than a straightforward advertisement. The event was covered by major television stations and broadcast throughout Japan, while other TV stations, magazines, and online news sites also reported on our endeavor. In all, the projected was featured in media more than 100 times. This exposure is estimated as being worth as much as 350,000 US dollars in paid advertising. It was also shared among more than 1.07 million people on Facebook and Twitter. The reach of the project is highlighted by the fact that the video uploaded to YouTube received 2.5 times more views than the number of people who participated in the event. This is significant because it enables the participants to see their fish again and again whenever they want.