Background

The future of rice in Japan is in danger. Rice is one of Japan’s staple foods and the most important element of washoku, the traditional Japanese cuisine named a UNESCO Cultural Heritage. However, rice consumption has dropped by half in the last 50 years. Young people especially are moving away from eating rice. What is more, the rice farming population is down to 1/4 what it was before, and the average age of farmers is now over 70. To address this crisis, Japan's leading farming machinery manufacturer Kubota wanted to tell young people about the farmers' plight and promote rice consumption. They came up with an artistic message using rice itself as the canvas.

Describe the creative idea

The art of "Rice Grain Art" was brought to Japan long ago. We updated it for today’s generation. About 80% of young people in Japan read manga, which have always included lots of scenes of people eating rice. We extracted 137 scenes from five popular manga series and rearranged them into an original story about how special rice is. Then each of the scenes was carved onto individual grains of rice using a microscopic blade 1/4 the size of a human hair. We also had a popular rock group write a love song to rice and used it in the music video.

Describe the strategy

The target was young people in their 10s and 20s. To get the message to this demographic, which is difficult to reach through TV, print and other mass media, we combined manga (read by 80% of young people) and music (using a popular rock band). We produced a video using cutting-edge technology to engrave individual grains of rice. We uploaded the song to streaming platforms. We also staged live performances. Interesting trivia about rice was posted on the social media account to convey the importance of rice in a fun and wide-reaching manner. By selecting channels that young people could identify with, we promoted exposure for the project in multiple contexts.

Describe the execution

The video was released and the social media account opened on November 2, 2018. Popular manga artists and band members involved in the project tweeted about it to their fans. This generated huge interest in entertainment media and made it a trending topic on Japan's largest news portal sites the following day. Then wider TV and print exposure brought the project beyond the target audience to all of Japan. Rice trivia from the official social media account was also picked up by other media, which got people talking about rice. Then the band went on a three-city tour in December and tickets sold out immediately. Young people singing together about their love for rice became a huge topic.

List the results

- The project was covered by 489 media outlets in two months. - The spread from Japan’s largest news portal sites to TV and print generated $1.7 million Advertising Value Equivalent and a reach of 580 million. - Reach on Twitter exceeded 29 million, and supportive tweets totaled more than 37,000. - At the concerts, 10,000 young people dressed in white, the color of rice, and sang along with the theme song. - The YouTube video has been viewed more than 10 million times and the comments section is still getting positive reviews. Young people said, “I want to eat rice!” “I want to support rice farmers!” And farmers responded, “I was moved. I’ll keep working!” The project succeeded in spreading the message about the rice crisis among young people, and they responded with their resounding support.