The Campaign

Taste first, label second. We developed a service enabling consumers to try blind tasting of sake with no knowledge of price or brand and assess their preferences on a Web app, where an AI system determines their sake palate. Palate types are described with 12 onomatopoeic expressions, giving users an intuitive feel for flavor without needing specialized knowledge. Since the app uses unbiased taste data, it disconnects from brand recognition, price, and word of mouth and enables anyone to find out their true palate type. We targeted younger generation in 20s to 30s, they were usually preferring beer and cocktails that are easy to order. They did not understand how to pick and choose the Sake of their taste, what they would like. Taking this approach to use their "Instinct" rather than "Knowledge", the choices were made based on their individual pallet which made them unique.

Creative Execution

Yummy means tasty but at the same time can mean "Blind" in Japanese. This is why we decided key color to be black, but also used colors to express the exciting feeling when tasting sake. To encourage involvement by a variety of distinctively individualistic breweries and sales outlets, the main hand-drawn logo and the motifs for each onomatopoeic expression were designed to have wide appeal while featuring unique designs that present an integrated brand. While the 12 colorful onomatopoeic motifs clearly differentiate varieties and trigger intuitive excitement about the sounds they represent, their modern designs create a positive sense of mismatch with the traditional image of Japanese sake. The assessment app uses motion to bring excitement to the simple task of scoring. Our service is designed for novices, and will enable more people including young generations to enjoy drinking sake for a long time to come.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

We combined AI and humanity providing a steady and sustainable way of changing an entire industry based on the exciting “Taste first, label second” philosophy. We recorded 300% YoY sales increase overall, retailer all over the country are requesting our venues to be open. Customer satisfaction reached 92% and out of all customers as we targeted 55% were in 20s, 20% in 30s. Definitely made an impact to younger generation consumption of Sake. Gained 299MM impressions by PR. Yummy Sake has enabled consumers to discover pleasing sakes that are new to them and also new way of choosing. Market responded "I was able to discover new brand I like, and new taste I like" "I've never knew what I liked out of all options so it was great to use devise to discover" This shows that we have definitely made an impact to younger generation consumption of Sake.