BANANA TROPHY

Silver Spike

Case Film

Presentation Board

TitleBANANA TROPHY
BrandDOLE JAPAN
Product / ServiceDOLE BANANA
CategoryA06. Use of Special Events And Stunt/Live Advertising
EntrantDENTSU Y&R Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company DENTSU Y&R Tokyo, JAPAN
Advertising Agency DENTSU Y&R Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Yuki Fuse DENTSU Y&R Tokyo Chief Producer/Planning Director
Shoichi Yamakawa DENTSU Y&R Tokyo Account Director
Naoko Gotoh DENTSU Y&R Tokyo Account Director
Ryusei Yoshimoto DENTSU Y&R Tokyo Account Planner
George So Sugitomo DENTSU INC. Creative Director/Planner
Naoki Mori DENTSU INC. Agency Producer
Naru Kudo DENTSU TEC INC. Agency Producer/Director
Nao Otani DENTSU INC. Copywriter
Mai Shibatani DENTSU INC. Art Director
Noriko Osumi DENTSU INC. Planner/Copywriter
Yoshiaki Shiota DENTSU INC. Producer
Takashi Okada East Crew Inc. Event Director
Takeshi Kobayashi/Ayaka Yamaguchi Dentsu Event Operations Inc. Event Director
Hajime Kuwashima Iret Inc. Technical Director
Eriko Shioya/Masaru Nishioka DENTSU TEC INC. Designer/Assistant Director
Jun Kawashima/Kent Mori Puzzle Inc. Web Director/Web Designer
Ryuichi Hasegawa/Takamichi Saito/Wataru Abe Puzzle Inc. Editor/Assistant Director/Markup Engineer
Kenji Muramatsu/Shoichi Suwa/Ken Nobuhara/Masashi Tomihara TAIYO KIKAKU Co.,Ltd. Producer
Takeshi Izumida/Junichi Kato TAIYO KIKAKU Co.,Ltd. Director/Cinematographer
Saori Kiryu/Kana Okui/Nozomi Yokoyama Platinum Inc. PR Planner
DENTSU INC. Additional company
DENTSU TEC INC. Additional company
Hiromi Ohtaki Dole Japan,Inc. Marketing Senior Manager

Results and Effectiveness

Buzz like “The banana too precious to eat!” swept the web and was shared 720,000 times. The “BANANA TROPHY” was broadcasted even on the national news. Media cost was zero, but the total coverage was worth over 1,100,000 USD. The news reached more than 28,000,000 people grasping the hearts of all runners and more. A national market survey showed that, 95.3% changed their impression of Dole to extremely good 83.5% strongly considered buying “Dole’s banana” Sales went up 115% the next month onwards, and Dole became the most unforgettable banana not only to the runners, but to the whole nation.

Creative Execution

When the runner crosses the finish line, the TOKYO MARATHON official RFID on the marathoners shoe will be detected by a special “BANANA TROPHY” web system. Which automatically sends a “JUST FINISHED TOKYO MARATHON 2014!” post onto the runners’ facebook. The runners’ friends can congratulate their finish and all the feedback is collected through the web, which automatically transforms into the “BANANA TROPHY” in real-time at the finish line. The trophy had the marathoners’ name, finish time and cheers from facebook friends printed directly onto the Dole banana, by linking the web to a specially constructed printer using edible ink. The media team constructed the whole automatic time post system that was linked to the specially made printer, collaborating with the TOKYO MARATHON official foundation. All of the Dole bananas were measured and selected beforehand in order to print on the most sweet, ripe and perfectly curved banana.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Japan’s largest marathon race is TOKYO MARATHON 2014 with over 36,000 runners. Dole sponsored this race, but wanted to be remembered as not just a plain fruit. Dole’s banana is extra sweet, delicious and most importantly the best nutritious energy supply for all marathoners. Dole wanted to brand the banana, the ultimate of all bananas. So we create an ultimate Dole banana no one will forget. BANANA TROPHY A memorable trophy made from a real ripe Dole banana, that the runner would be sure to love and share onto their SNS. To directly print a personal message with the participants’ name and information on a banana is news by itself. To do it in real-time on the spot is even bigger news. The banana is a commodity fruit, so creating a special experience around the Dole banana was necessary, and that is what we did.