Title | 1 SPOON INNOVATION |
Brand | TORIDOLL HOLDINGS CORPORATION |
Product / Service | MARUGAME UDON |
Category | B10. Brand Voice & Strategic Storytelling |
Entrant | DENTSU ISOBAR Tokyo, JAPAN |
Idea Creation | TORIDOLL HOLDINGS CORPORATION Tokyo, JAPAN |
Idea Creation 2 | DENTSU ISOBAR Tokyo, JAPAN |
Idea Creation 3 | TRIBAL MEDIA HOUSE Tokyo, JAPAN |
PR | SIGNAL Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production | TRIBAL MEDIA HOUSE Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production 2 | SPICE GROUP Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production 3 | SIGNAL Tokyo, JAPAN |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Katsuaki Nagumo | TORIDOLL Holdings Corporation | Executive Producer |
Maki Daido | TORIDOLL Holdings Corporation | Creative Planner |
Satoshi Yoshida | TORIDOLL Holdings Corporation | Creative Planner |
Ryosuke Kamiya | TORIDOLL Holdings Corporation | Growth Planner |
Makiko Sakurada | TORIDOLL Holdings Corporation | Communication Planner |
Shinsuke Naito | TORIDOLL Holdings Corporation | Strategic Planner |
Takafumi Aihara | Dentsu Isobar | Creative Director |
Yuki Nishihata | Dentsu Isobar | Copy Writer |
Michiyo Tsumura | Dentsu Isobar | Strategic Planner |
Atsushi Yoshioka | Dentsu Isobar | Agency Producer |
Masakazu Hinoishi | Dentsu Isobar | Agency Producer |
Tomoaki Yuasa | Dentsu Isobar | Account Executive |
Yusuke Kubo | Tribal Media House | Senior Communication Designer |
Katsunori Hara | Tribal Media House | Communication Designer |
Shinya Taneichi | Tribal Media House | Creative Producer |
Shinobu Kakizaki | SPICE | Art Director |
Yuka Shimada | SPICE | Designer |
Yumiko Yamamoto | SPICE | Web Designer |
Miku Masuda | SPICE | Web Designer |
Shuhei Suzuki | SIGNAL | PR Director |
Mizuha Matsuka | SIGNAL | Media Promoter |
Shinnnosuke Furukawa | SIGNAL | Media Promoter |
Kento Kurahashi | Dentsu Isobar | Account Executive |
Takeshi Bamba | Dentsu Isobar | Agency Producer |
1spoon Innovation is a service design-focused Brand campaign, and essentially an appreciation towards the Japanese food culture, through a collaboration between the soul food ‘udon’ and the beloved food brand known for its savory staple seasonings dedicated to rice. In-store promotions were held in about 800 stores in Japan for a month. Marugame Udon customers who would normally order a set menu and do not eat udon frequently also joined the Momoya Topping Festival, trying and enjoying all the personalized recipes. As a result, the variations in the menu expanded, increasing the average spend per customer.
How to wow while preserving tradition? Japanese traditional soul food, udon. Since it has been loved for hundreds of years from the Samurai times, it has established a solid position as a traditional food and is no longer a food culture that provides freshness or surprise. Marugame Udon is a brand with a bold mission and responsibility to maintain traditional udon-making methods. At the same time, it strongly believes in expanding the possibilities to diversify the way udon is served and enjoyed, in order to conquer the Japanese food scene.
Tradition x Tradition = Innovation Marugame Udon's new endeavor combines two traditional Japanese foods. Rice as a staple food deeply rooted in the culture and udon noodles, another big player in the local cuisine to innovate their flavours and create new ways to enjoy them.
For the Japanese, rice is a fundamental staple, eaten 365 days a year. To add some variety eating it every day, a variety of condiments to enhance its taste have been developed. Meanwhile, soul food udon is popularly eaten by enjoying the simple flavors of the soup and the toppings placed on it. Marugame Udon collaborated with Momoya, a centenary brand that has produced seasonings dedicated to rice, making it a savory staple in every Japanese household. By combining it with the taste of udon, we had the ability to infinitely expand udon’s flavors and create a new way to appreciate this dish.
In-store promotions were held in about 800 stores in Japan for a month. Momoya’s seasonings dedicated to rice, are beloved Japanese flavors and were presented as udon toppings. We designed the campaign to spark one‘s imagination of what makes “tasty”, allowing customers to explore the infinite possibilities of flavors. Inspired by a spoonful, a variety of unique combinations were produced, including udon with multiple toppings titled “Fuji Mountain of Tempura”, and the “Whirlpool of Umami Udon ft. a pinch of sea salt air” with dried seaweed. Another example of an unexpected combination was the “Refreshing Curry Udon”, an experimental piece that added Japanese sour plum to curry, which gave it a fresh aftertaste. Many customers participated in the one-spoon recipe invention phenomenon, sharing their masterpiece via social media.
The launch of these original one-spoon udon toppings led to creativity and imagination of customers to run wild, generating approximately 60,000 recipes of their own. Marugame Udon customers who would normally order a set menu and those who do not eat udon frequently also joined the Momoya Topping Festival, trying and enjoying all the personalized recipes. This was revolutionary in comparison to previous campaigns focused on offering discounts, or post-purchase promotions and toppings. At $0.3 per spoon, this effort impacted not only sales but also marketing. Customers posted their own recipes on Twitter, turning it into a library that generated over 30 Million impressions and ranked 2nd on Twitter Japan’s Top 25 trends ranking. By combining the two, and taking an approach that produced a range of high quality udon variations, we encouraged not only sales for Marugame, but also an evolution of traditional food within itself.