THE EDIBLE BUSINESS CARD

TitleTHE EDIBLE BUSINESS CARD
BrandSAGA CITY
Product / ServiceSAGA NORI (SEAWEED) / CITY PROMOTION
CategoryE02. Costs / Creative Performance PR Campaign
EntrantGEOMETRY GLOBAL Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation GEOMETRY GLOBAL Tokyo, JAPAN
PR GEOMETRY GLOBAL Tokyo, JAPAN
Production GEOMETRY GLOBAL Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 2 TYO MONSTER Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 3 SAGA AD CENTER Fukuoka, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Masato Mitsudera Geometry Global Japan Executive Creative Director
Yasuo Matsubara Geometry Global Japan Creative Director
Kengo Arima Arima Office Ltd. Copywriter/Planner/Director/Music
Akihiko Ono Geometry Global Japan Art Director
Masao Omokawa TYO Inc. MONSTER Division Producer
Yuta Shimotsu CHINZEI Camera
Yumiko Yoshida TYO Inc. MONSTER Division Art
Aki Kumamoto Freelance Song
Yuji Murata PPC Mixer
Miyu Okuda TYO Inc. MONSTER Division Production Manager
Naoki Miyazozne SAGA AD CENTER Creative Producer/Account Executive
Daisuke Mishima SAGA AD CENTER Creative Producer/Account Executive
Kanako Takeuchi SAGA AD CENTER Creative Producer/Account Executive
Tomonori Kobayashi KOZEN Cooperation
Masami Hase KOZEN Cooperation
Hironori Ochi KOZEN Cooperation
Chihiro Komatsu KOZEN Cooperation
Shigeru Yamamoto HEISEI Warehouse Cooperation
Sayuri Hara Netcom BB Web Corder
Daiki Hamamoto Netcom BB Web Director
Daniel Comar Geometry Global Regional Executive Creative Director (Asia Pacific)
Federico Garcia Freelance Scenario Writer
Shumpei Negami  Cutters Producer
Heather Richardson Cutters Producer
Billy Montross Cutters Editor

The Campaign

When Japanese people meet for the first time, they gently exchange business cards using both hands, instead of a hand shake. We created edible business cards made out of seaweed to demonstrate this unique and particular way of Japanese greeting method into effective face to face advertising & PR through selected local ambassadors. Event and individual activities drove media’s interest toward “Saga” widely through news worthy well designed unique edible business cards and generate people’s buzz through digital and consumer lottery.

The Brief

• Overall budget: $35,000 • Breakdown of costs: $15,000 for Movie Production Cost & Press Conference $15,000 for Seaweed Business Card Production Cost $5,000 for Website Production Cost • Paid media budget (where applicable) None for Paid Media

Execution

The business cards were handed over to the local celebrities such as the mayor, corporate president, senior official of union, the landladies of a Japanese-style hotel, and local talents. PR events held Saga city and Fukuoka city (the regional area hub) invite Major media personals. The seaweed was engraved with names using special laser cutting technology. Since the best quality Saga Nori is very thin and fine, it took more than 2 months on testing laser cutting and actually making it happen. The edible business cards were designed with the cultural patterns and rare animals that represent Saga prefecture. 50 official ambassadors distributed 100 edible business cards throughout Japan to drive interest and guided to campaign website. 100 general consumers won their edible business cards by lottery and show off their card on their SNS site. The campaign also exposes through official website with YouTube movies, Instagram and Twitter.

The mission for local celebrities were to distribute 100 business cards within one month after they were assigned to be the PR person such as the mayor, corporate president, senior official of union, landladies of the hotel, and talents. Then 100 general consumers who won the lottery pass their edible business card to others. 5,000 edible “Saga Nori” business cards distributed within a month. 2,000 edible “ Saga Nori” business cards distributed by lottery winners. National newspapers and TV station news shows picked up our unique campaign and help Saga Nori and Saga prefecture become famous across the Japan. Total media impressions were worth $ 4,000,000, from a $ 35,000 budget . From all over the country we were flooded with the demand for purchase, so now the world’s first local “edible” seaweed business card becomes available online for people around the world.

The Situation

The edible business cards were handed over to the local celebrities, and PR events held in Saga and Fukuoka (the regional area hub) invited Major media personals. Eight kinds of edible business cards were designed with the cultural patterns and rare animals that represent Saga prefecture. 50 official local ambassadors distributed 100 edible business cards throughout nationwide to drive interest and guided to campaign website. 100 general consumers won their edible business cards by lottery and they show off their card on their SNS site. This campaign also exposes through official website with YouTube movies, Instargam and Twitter.

The Strategy

Many Japanese traditional meals use Nori (seaweed) as a daily ingredient. Amazingly 1/4 of Japan’s seaweed production is made in Saga, and for 13 consecutive years they have been the largest producer in Japan for both volume and sales. We decided to put a new twist in this timeless practice and turn it into a direct marketing opportunity. When the Japanese meet someone for the first time, they hand out business cards instead of shaking hands but carefully with both hands. We developed a business card made of seaweed in order to enable this unique and peculiar way for Japanese to greet and turn into this moment into one to one marketing to generate interest toward Saga prefecture.

Links

Website URL