The Campaign

“Hanami” is the traditional activity of gathering in parks to admire blooming cherry blossoms and enjoy the springtime while having a good time. This Japanese custom has been around for more than 1000 years and every spring huge crowds sit under the cherry trees drinking and eating in the company of family and colleagues. Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, “the first underground railway in the Orient,” runs through some of Japan most iconic districts, including Asakusa, Ginza and Shibuya, as well as through many famous “cherry blossom-viewing spots.” The Ginza Line was also selected for this campaign because of the high number of commuters and tourists (Japanese and foreign), and the low number of underage passengers (forbidden to drink alcohol). Rather than simply using OOH ads, creating what can be considered a new touch-point by decorating a familiar space in an unusual manner made for more impactful communication.

Creative Execution

"The Cherry Blossom Train" features a Ginza Line 1000 Series special carriage decorated with cherry blossoms motifs. Every space in the carriage, including windows and walls, is decorated with colorful designs of cherry blossoms in full bloom. Decorating a familiar space in an unusual manner makes for more impactful communication. The carriages decorated on this occasion, nicknamed "retro carriages," are replicas of the 1000 Series models in service when the Ginza Line first opened. Since there are only 2 of these trains out 38 Ginza Line trains, riding on them is considered lucky. Furthermore, advertising is not usually conducted on these special cars. For the duration of the campaign, "Tokyo Cherry Blossom Viewing Guides" were placed in Tokyo Metro racks to showcase cherry blossom-viewing spots as well as "nearby attractions." Special offers were also made available upon presenting the pamphlet. The pamphlets are in Japanese, English and Chinese.

Because these trains complete only 8 round-trips each day between Asakusa and Shibuya stations, there’s only a 1 in 40 chance of coming across them. Partly due to their limited numbers, the story was picked up by various media channels, with advertisement cost conversion exceeding 50 million yen. The trains were also featured in over 300 online articles, as well as news programs and newspapers. We also succeeded in having passengers post about their special experience on social media, with the number of searches on Twitter reaching 7.55 million and the number of keyword occurrences (the number of times a word appears on timelines) reaching 8.19 million. Many positive comments ("beautiful," "cute") were posted, touching the hearts of the cherry blossom-loving Japanese. The high-profile campaign drew both local residents and visitors from far away, regardless of gender, who came by after checking travel information posted daily on a dedicated website.