The Campaign

The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters collaborated with EPSON to create the GLASS SHEET, a special sheet that allows Chinese-speaking visitors to enjoy the game wearing smart glasses displaying flash updates and player information translated into Chinese.

Execution

GLASS SHEET was used for the first time at a game played at the Sapporo Dome on September 22. The flash updates and player information translated into Chinese are transmitted to the smart glasses in real time through a wi-fi access point installed near the Sheet.

This news has created a buzz not only in Japan but in the Chinese-speaking world too, and has had a PR effect of more than $2.5 million. The news has sparked many inquiries from other baseball teams, stadiums and overseas tourist-targeting businesses wanting to implement the glasses themselves.

The Situation

GLASS SHEET goes beyond being just a simultaneous translation sports games service that uses smart glasses; this is a scalable idea that brings a variety of people together to the same place and allows the simultaneous provision of information optimized for separate individuals with different cultures and languages in an entertainment where they enjoy watching a single event. The GLASS SHEET concept is an idea that indicates the expansion of the entertainment business in an era of diversity.

The Strategy

Providing smart glasses targets the Chinese-language flash update information at Chinese-speaking visitors only within the field of vision they use for watching the game and without affecting Japanese spectators who form the vast majority at the stadium. The GLASS SHEET was introduced at a game played on September 22 at the Sapporo Dome, and television, newspaper, web and other media were invited to report on it. To spread the news to the Chinese-speaking world as well as domestically, overseas media were actively approached and a PR strategy created to spread the news of the introduction of GLASS SHEET to the Chinese-speaking countries as well as within Japan.