The Campaign

“Sympathetic marketing” is an idea that arose with an eye on this situation. In order to re-stimulate latent memories of Docomodake and to spark fresh enthusiasm for the brand, we dreamed up a campaign that would involve Docomodake leaving home and disappearing, after which the whole country would search for him.

Creative Execution

A letter was uploaded onto the brand website informing viewers of the disappearance of Docomodake. A “Search Campaign with a Reward” was then announced using social media and newspaper advertisements. Users visited the home-leaving website specially set up for use on smartphones and tablets and began searching. The story involved searching for Docomodake from a large atlas of the world with the odd hint provided by a variety of characters who appeared from time to time. Docomodake was discovered five hours after the campaign got under way, and during the brief space of time 82,000 people took part in the search.

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

82,000 people took part in the search during the short period of five hours after the campaign was launched, and Docomodake was safely discovered. During this time, the website received around 500,000 hits. Docomodake appeared in the social media accounts of famous mascot characters of other companies in order to provide hints for the search. This resulted in an explosion of interest in the topic on social media so that it became the second highest-ranking jumper on Yahoo! that day as well as being featured on 26 Web media and on TV news. There were more than 6,000 tweets. These included remarks from people caring for Docomodake who was complaining about the appearance of the new character, with remarks being made such as “Come back, Docomodake!”The campaign thus resulted in an increase in the affection felt for the characters and in the good impression made by the brand.

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

As a way in which to improve the brand image with the distinctive PR technique of “sympathetic marketing” using Japanese people’s affection for cartoon-type characters and a drama involving shifts between new and old characters.

The targets embraced various generations with the emphasis on young people who are familiar with the characters and who use smartphones and tablets. Using social media and mass media, a campaign was launched to create interest in the disappearance of this nationally popular character and to offer a reward to the first person who found him. Users throughout Japan were able to participate on a specially created website using the Google Map API. Using maps of the world they searched for Docomodake based on tiny hints given, and further interest was generated through people uploading comments on social media on what was happening.