WHERE ARE MY CHEEKS?! MOUTH WATERING, CHEEK-DROPPING DELICIOUS KUMAMOTO PRODUCE

TitleWHERE ARE MY CHEEKS?! MOUTH WATERING, CHEEK-DROPPING DELICIOUS KUMAMOTO PRODUCE
BrandKUMAMOTO PREFECTURAL GOVERNMENT
Product / ServiceRED COLORED PRODUCE
CategoryA01. Creative Effectiveness
EntrantDENTSU PUBLIC RELATIONS Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation DENTSU KYUSHU Fukuoka, JAPAN
PR DENTSU PUBLIC RELATIONS Tokyo, JAPAN
Production DENTSU KYUSHU Fukuoka, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Takao Ito Dentsu Kyushu Inc. Creative Director
Masahiro Wakuda Dentsu Kyushu Inc. Creative Director
Junpei Kamei Dentsu Kyushu Inc. Account Executive
Minoru Okada Dentsu Kyushu Inc. Account Executive
Takatsugu Shindo Dentsu Kyushu Inc. Account Executive
Tadashi Inokuchi Dentsu Public Relations Inc. Chief PR Planner
Yohei Nemoto Dentsu Public Relations Inc. Pr Planner
Kenta Arai Dentsu Public Relations Inc. Web Promoter
Tomiyuki Shimoda HOP Art Director
Junichi Inoue VSQ Producer
Kumiko Esaki VSQ Production Manager
Kenu Nomura VSQ Film Director
Shingo Tabata Freelance Photographer
Minami Harada Freelance Designer
Miho Nomura Freelance Designer
Rina Furue Freelance Designer
Nao Fujishima BUZHOOK Inc. Web Planner
Yusuke Sugiyama BUZHOOK Inc. Web Planner
Tami Shibata BUZHOOK Inc. Web Planner
Maya Fukuda Dentsu Inc. Creative Supervisor

Brief Explanation

Little known among Japanese was the fact that Kumamoto in Kyushu, western Japan, is one of the country’s richest agricultural regions. Most were unaware that the prefecture is a top source of tomatoes, the nation’s favorite vegetable, and recent efforts by prefectural authorities to brand Kumamoto the “red prefecture” -- highlighting the various red-colored foods it produced -- had been unsuccessful. Only 16.5% of the public had made the connection that Kumamoto-equals-red. The agencies (two agencies involved in the campaign) stepped in to assist, devising a campaign centered on Kumamoto’s mascot ‘Kumamon’, a cute bear-like character that is extremely popular throughout Japan and whose red cheeks represent Kumamoto’s red produce. The plan was to attract widespread media and public attention by creating an “incident”. In October 2013, an announcement was made that Kumamon had "lost” his characteristic red cheeks and that a nationwide search was being launched to find them. In Japan, there is a saying that eating something tasty makes your “cheeks fall off”. We thought that creating a scenario in which Kumamon lost his cheeks would make Japanese think about what the cheeks represented in the first place: delicious produce. In other words, the Kumamoto-means-delicious-red-food connection was made by linking Kumamon’s lost cheeks with this well-known Japanese saying. Extensive coverage in mainstream and online media about Kumamon and the lost cheeks produced an enthusiastic public response, with thousands Tweeting claiming to have “found the cheeks”. Three days into the search, Kumamon’s cheeks were declared found, and the true purpose of the episode – to promote Kumamoto as a “red” food-producing region – was revealed. Sales of agricultural products related to the Kumamon character showed dramatic increases year by year. Sales in 2014 increased 34% from the previous year to 16,154 million yen, and continued to rise even further to 48,787 million yen or 302.0% of the 2014 sales in 2015. And whereas in 2012 the public had mostly associated the color green with the prefecture, by 2013 red was firmly established as its No.1 brand image color. The people of Kumamoto recognized the PR efforts of Kumamoto Prefecture with local newspaper Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun writing in a November 9, 2013 article, “this unique PR campaign focusing on Kumamon’s missing cheeks is a success”. Demonstrating the impressive long-lasting effect of the campaign, initiatives have still been ongoing into 2014 and beyond. For instance, there were red food-related Kumamon promotions from companies based outside of Kumamoto, including tomato-flavored potato chips, vegetable soup pasta, and even a “Kumamoto Red” cruise around Tokyo Bay. The campaign’s success has even begun to influence other prefectures, with Aomori in the north using Kumamoto as an example of how best to promote local products at a seminar for local businesses, workers and residents.