TOKYO SUSHI TRAIN

TitleTOKYO SUSHI TRAIN
BrandSUSHIRO GLOBAL HOLDINGS LTD.
Product / ServiceBRAND
CategoryB03. Use of Print / Outdoor
EntrantTOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation ADK MARKETING SOLUTIONS Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation 2 ADK Tokyo, JAPAN
Media Placement ADK MARKETING SOLUTIONS Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Ken Matsuda ADK Creative One Inc. Group head
Ryo Hasegawa ADK Creative One Inc. Art Director
Takashi Mizuochi ADK Creative One Inc. Designer
Ichiro Yamada ADK Creative One Inc. Group head
Mako Abiru ADK Creative One Inc. Planner
Kou Shimizu ADK Creative One Inc. Web Director
Naoki Yasutake ADK Marketing Solutions Inc. Account Executive
Tatsuya Naoe NOET PHOTO VISUALS Photographer
Kan Wakai VISIONARY VANGUARD Photographer
Saya Morita Re:KICHIN Foodstylist
Chiaki Ishihara ADK Creative One Inc. Designer

Why is this work relevant for Media?

Our media idea was to turn the Yamanote Line that loops around Tokyo into a grand sushi conveyor. This was also the first time in Japan that promotional material involved a combination of advertising on train exteriors and platform gates.

Background

Despite being Japan's top kaiten-zushi chain, Sushiro only has four stores in central Tokyo, and even these are not well known. Seeking to boost sales and make serious inroads in the capital, Sushiro urgently needed to raise its presence in Tokyo. This campaign aimed to stimulate appetites for sushi and leave a lasting impression on Tokyo residents, firmly linking Sushiro with kaiten-zushi.

Describe the creative idea/insights (30% of vote)

By turning the Yamanote Line, which every Tokyoite has ridden, into a simulated experience of kaiten-zushi, which every Japanese person has eaten, we were able to whet the innate Japanese appetite for sushi.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our target was commuters using the Yamanote Line, numbering approximately 60 million over one month. In particular, by offering a simulated kaiten-zushi experience at times when commuters would be hungry (morning and evening), we were able to stimulate the target's appetites and leave a lasting impression that firmly linked Sushiro with kaiten-zushi. The combination of advertising on train exteriors and platform gates was a first in Japan.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Platform gate advertising was displayed between 16 May and 12 June 2019, at all 22 stations on the Yamanote Line (30 ads per station). Advertising on train exteriors was displayed from 26 May (partial implementation from 19 May) until 8 June, on trains with 10-carriage formations. Almost all Yamanote Line stations became sushi counters, with approximately a quarter of operating trains serving as Sushiro conveyor belts

List the results (30% of vote)

Follow-up surveys revealed a high advertising reach of 60%, of which 15% also indicated that they had visited Sushiro. Stores in Tokyo recorded an extraordinary 11% increase in sales compared to the previous year. SNS posts exceeded 150,000. In addition, applications for new stores roughly tripled after the start of the campaign, with a new Akihabara branch now set to open in 2019.