Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Our campaign is relevant to this category because it was specifically designed to activate the brand experience in a historically weak market segment, and was successful in doing so. The brand's signature product, Pocky sticks, is a confectionary that has been Japan’s top-selling chocolate snack for decades. But much of product's success is based on its appeal to teens and adolescents, for whom the social interaction of sharing snacks offers a low-stress way to bond with their peers. Our challenge was to reinterpret this brand experience, and activate it for young adults, where sales were weakest.

Background

The “easy shareability” of Pocky sticks has long made them a favorite of Japanese teens and adolescents, who are often shy, and for whom the interaction of sharing snacks offers a low-stress path to social engagement. In its print advertising and television commercials, the brand had historically focused on this aspect by featuring scenes of heartwarming teenage social bonding experiences with peers and parents. But this messaging was not effective in reaching young, unmarried adults. So our brief was to make the product attractive to this older cohort, and to do it in a way that would not require the use of an expensive above-the-line media campaign.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Our creative idea was to reimagine Pocky sticks, which are traditionally packaged and sold at supermarkets and convenience stores, and reposition them as a fashionable gift item for social media-conscious young adults. To support the repositioning effort we designed a new packaging system for use exclusively at upscale shops and sales outlets. The goal of this approach was to increase the brand's relevance to young adults by giving them a way to show off their design sense by creating personalized gift assortments, and to earn “likes” on social media by posting images of the gifts they created.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our strategy was to design a new packaging system exclusively for use at upscale shops and sales outlets where the product had never previously been sold. We deliberately chose not to use the type of high-gloss “glamour-shot” product images that are typically featured on confectionary items sold at supermarkets and convenience stores. Instead, we appealed to the more sophisticated design sense of adult consumers by creating matte-finish packages decorated with stylish and iconic graphic artwork. We also designed multi-package gift boxes in a variety of sizes and colors, and used a branded microsite and newspaper inserts to suggest innovative ways to create mix-and-match assortments of flavors and package colors. The goal of our strategy was to increase the brand's relevance to young adults by giving them a way to show off their design sense and creativity, and to earn “likes” on social media for their photogenic gift assortments.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

To appeal to the sophisticated design sense of adult consumers, we deliberately chose not to use the photorealistic product images that are typically featured on confectionary packaging. Instead, we created matte-finish packages decorated with stylish and iconic graphic artwork in different colors for each of the seven flavors offered. We also designed multi-package gift boxes in a variety of sizes and colors, and created a branded microsite and newspaper inserts to suggest innovative ways to create mix-and-match gift assortments. In addition, we created posters for in-store use, and a series of movies that were displayed at the point of sale, on the branded website, and disseminated on social media.

List the results (30% of vote)

With simple package design and effective use of social media we raised the brand's profile and increased sales in what had previously been the product’s weakest target segment (adults aged 20–39). In addition, by designing new gift boxes and promoting the product as a fashionable gift item, we were able to expand into new sales channels that offered much higher unit sales per customer than supermarkets and convenience stores. What’s more, we were able to achieve these results economically, without using any above-the-line advertising.