The Campaign

Over a two-year span we put on a cherry-blossom "light-up" event to solve our client's problem. We believe it was a fine publicity effort in terms of increasing the number of tourists as a result of the event.

The Brief

By organizing the interactive "light-up" event under Nagatoro's cherry-blossom trees—some of the finest in Japan—we succeeded in boosting the number of tourists at night.

Results

During the event we achieved a 150% increase in the usual number of night-time visitors.

Execution

In the first year we decorated the cherry-blossom trees with lights that respond to hand movements, and in the second year we put up illuminations that change color on their own. Initially this was conceived as a one-year only project, but due to TV and newspaper coverage, along with the positive response from visitors on social networks, we organized the event for a second year.

The Situation

Excitement is building in the Japanese tourism industry during the run-up to the Olympics, but many areas have seen declining tourist numbers year after year due to poorly-run publicity efforts by local governments. Our client, the town of Nagatoro, was one of them. Another worrying issue for Nagatoro was that the tourists went away at night.

The Strategy

We thought up an event that would put the spotlight on the already famed cherry-blossom trees, which are a tourism resource of Nagatoro. Since the Japanese love viewing cherry-blossoms, they are perfectly willing to make the trip to see these beautiful trees. And because cherry-blossom viewing in Nagatoro usually happens in the daytime, we were able to draw visitors at night with our interactive light-up project.