Brief Explanation

Suntory, a leading beverage company group, operates a classical concert hall in Tokyo, Japan. Every year, Suntory Hall holds an event free of charge and open to the public. With this special event, Suntory Hall intends to lower the barrier to younger audience attendance. We created a hybrid of drink and instrument – The Glassical Instrument – and served it to the visitors of the open house event. We featured this hybrid of instrument and drink in a movie and launched it before the event. A survey after the event showed, that 70% of the attendees would like to visit Suntory Hall again, soon.

The Brief

Suntory, a leading beverage company group, operates a classical musical hall in Tokyo. But surveys show that the main clientele of classical concerts in Japan are between 45 and 64 years of age. So Suntory Hall decided to target younger audiences. Every year, Suntory Hall holds an open-house event to lower the barrier to younger audience attendance. We were asked to help extend the average length of stay after the end of a concert. So we had to find a way to make younger people indulge post-concert atmosphere and drinks.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

After hours of examining and recording of all kinds of combinations of glass, ice, and liquids, we recorded a Glassical Concert conducted by world-famous Yutaka Sado and launched it as a movie. The resulting movie was launched before the open house event. We interviewed 330 Tokyoites between 20 and 40 (representing the new target group) before and after watching the movie. More than 60% of the interviewees said that the Glassical Instrument left the deepest impression, making classical music feel close to them. Whereas before watching the movie, classical music was perceived mostly as gloomy and uptight, now more than 20% thought of it as a bright and fun experience. After the open-house, which made attendees experience their own Glassical Concert, 70% of the attendees said that they would like to visit Suntory Hall again, soon.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

To meet the standards of Suntory Hall’s exquisite acoustics and Suntory’s internationally recognized whiskies, we wanted to combine both: sound and drink. So we created a hybrid of drink and musical instrument: The Glassical Instrument. First, we employed a Japanese patented technology called “Ice Mold” to produce seamless quarter notes of ice. Next, we hauled more than 300 types of glasses to Suntory Hall and spent several days experimenting with countless combinations of glass shapes, sizes, thicknesses, with different liquids and filling levels. We then choreographed and recorded a Glassical Concert film, featuring world-famous conductor Yutaka Sado. The movie was shown online, on ad-screens around Suntory Hall, and aired on a TV station, which is popular with females.