Brief Explanation

In the initial round of meetings, ‘Kamoi’ just commissioned us to design patterns, POPs and the packages for ‘mt’. They did not have a clear vision for marketing strategy as they have never dealt with such a woman-targeted products. So when we gave a presentation on holding a promotional exhibition, they were a little skeptical about it. After the first exhibition, we felt confident about the possibilities of this promotion and we started expanding this project.

The Brief

‘mt’ is a derivative product came out of masking tape which is usually used in construction site. As it is made by Washi, it can be cut by hand easily and peeled off without any marks. Handicrafts lovers enjoy decorating their personal belongings and room interiors with it. ‘mt’s maker ‘Kamoi Kakoshi’, which holds the largest market share of Masking Tape, launched ‘mt’ as a sundry product in 2008 and about 600 kinds of tapes have been released since then. ‘mt’ sparked the Washi tape boom in Japan and it has been spreading overseas.

How the final design was conceived

When we were given a commission to design for ‘mt’, we saw a great potential in it. Although ‘mt’ had broad utility, it would not be accepted by customers if it was not displayed in a comprehensible fashion. So we presented our client to hold a promotional exhibition that customers can experience ‘mt’ fully. Actually it was a challenging because we had never seen the kind of exhibition before and there were no similar products to ‘mt’ in the market. So we planned a unique exhibition ‘mt ex’ to introduce the character. Since the first exhibition in 2010, ‘mt’ has held many similar events at home and abroad. The entry work ‘mtex Yokohama’ was held at a beautifully-designed pier. To welcome passersby, the broad deck and the floor were covered in mt’s blue and white stripe. Those two colored tapes were hanged from the ceiling and left customers a strong impression. We collaborated with Segway Japan and held a test-ride event. Customers enjoyed riding mt wrapped Segway and had fun on catching some air. Apart from it, we provided many things such as the tryout corner that customers could use free-sample tapes and tried to amuse them multidirectionally.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

For each promotional exhibition, we provide limited edition tapes customers only get at the site. At Yokohama site, so many customers came to get the tapes that they had to wait in line. The pictures of the exhibition diffused through SNS and the reputation spread by word of mouth. The aim of this exhibition was to show customers how to use and enjoy ‘mt’, we tried to amuse customers with multifaceted approaches. As a result, the exhibition became topical event and succeeded in gathering a surprising number of people. It led to increase ‘mt fans’ and develop the market. ‘mt’ created a new category ‘Washi Tape’ in a sundry market. ‘Kamoi’ took advantage of this boom and improved their sales. The competitive products followed after ‘mt’ were also enjoying large sales.