The Campaign

We created a way for foreign travelers to easily order Suntory’s draft beer in traditional Japanese-style izakaya bars just by saying a unique phrase coined in English, Chinese, French, Thai, and Spanish. The phrases in the five languages mean something completely different to each other, but they all clearly sound like, “I’d like a glass of Suntory’s draft beer, please (Suntory no nama biru kudasai)” to the Japanese ear. We added impact to the phrases by making them a little peculiar in meaning and succeeded in piquing the interest of foreign travelers by making them wonder whether such phrases will actually work and stirring their curiosity to try them out.

Creative Execution

As the first touch point of Beer-lingual among foreign travelers, we decided to collaborate with a free mobile wi-fi app service used by more than 1.4 million visitors. When the traveler used the wi-fi service in an area where there are many bars and restaurants, the app automatically identified the home language of the traveler and showed the Beer-lingual phrase in that language. Next, the app used Google Maps to guide the traveler to the nearest establishment serving Suntory’s draft beer. There would be Beer-lingual posters and beer mats inside these establishments, so that the visitor could order Suntory’s draft beer by name even if they didn’t speak a word of Japanese.

Results

Originally, the campaign was intended only for Tokyo, but its effective and unique approach caught the attention of salesmen and bar/restaurant owners seeking to increase inbound marketing towards increasing foreign travelers. As a result, the campaign rapidly expanded to some 1,000 establishments.

Suntory's draft beer is only available from tap, such as at restaurants and traditional Japanese-style izakaya bars. We thought that foreign travelers visiting Japan will be perfect ambassadors to help increase awareness of Suntory’s beer outside of Japan. The key was to get foreign travelers unfamiliar with this brand to order it by name. If we can get them to try the beer, they would remember the name and taste. Through humorous phrases that stimulated the travelers’ interest and sense of adventure, we executed an activation plan that would get travelers to order Suntory’s draft beer by name.

Among foreign travelers to Japan, we decided to focus on those that came from areas where awareness of the Suntory brand was especially low. To choose which languages we’ll create the Beer-lingual phrases in, we looked at the ranking of countries with the most number of travelers to Japan and chose the languages spoken in the top-ranked countries: English, Chinese, French, Thai, and Spanish.