REVIVAL OF MOSQUITO - KINKAN

TitleREVIVAL OF MOSQUITO - KINKAN
BrandKINKAN
Product / ServiceKINKAN NOIR
CategoryG08. Market Disruption
EntrantTOKYU AGENCY INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation TOKYU AGENCY INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
PR MATERIAL Tokyo, JAPAN
Production HARAJUKU SUN-AD CO. Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 2 RIGHTS APARTMENT Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Hayato Okitsu Tokyu Agency Inc. Integrated Planner
Yuto Tsukiashi Tokyu Agency Inc. Integrated Planner
Masato Ugajin inc. Art Director
Satoshi Kuramochi Tokyu Agency Inc. Media Planner
Kyotaro Asato Tokyu Agency inc. PR Planner
Hidejiro Saiki Tokyu Agency Inc. Account Executive
Kazumi Kurose Tokyu Agency Inc. PR Director
Anzu Tanaka Harajuku Sun-Ad Co., LTD Producer
Ryosuke Nasu Rights Apartment Inc. Producer
An Ishiyama Rights Apartment Inc. Assistant Producer
Kenichi Muramatsu 55 Co.,Ltd. Photographer
Takeshi Fukunaga VITA INC. Retoucher
Miki Ogiso inc. Designer
Shinya Watanabe Koa Hole inc. Stylist
Toru Sakanishi signo Hair Make
Maki Kubota OFFICE M2 Casting

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

As COVID-19 spread, concerts were canceled on the day of the event and many other such changes were made. Therefore, we decided on a plan that follows the public sentiment that the decision to cancel corporate promotions is a heroic act. Our aim was to earn the sympathy of many people by revealing our company’s true intentions and plans behind our wise decision to cancel the pop-up shop. Furthermore, we focused on the insight that people have a strong desire to experience things that are going to be gone soon and are only available now.

Background

Kinkan, the Japanese bug bite medicine with a long history, has an old-fashioned image, and few young people use it. Now its old-fashioned design has been renewed in order to attract younger customers. Kinkan Noir was rebranded as a cool and luxurious bug bite medicine like never before. In May 2020, we planned to open Salon de Kinkan Noir, our first pop-up shop in Shibuya since our founding. This shop was intended to allow customers to experience the world of the new product, but the plan had to be canceled suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because our budget had nearly been exhausted already, it was not possible to take on more costs. Moreover, it became necessary to get customers to buy this new bug bite medicine through online communication, now that they do not have to worry about getting bitten by mosquitoes because they do not leave the house.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Taking advantage of this situation, we decided to launch a new project. Opening a pop-up shop in Shibuya has been a dream since our founding. Therefore, we launched the website “Kinkan’s Shibuya Dream”, which fully revealed all of our plans related to this abandoned dream. It conveys the sadly unfulfilled dreams of our advertising staff, and introduces the new product along with company secret documents for development concepts. The website also features marketing materials aimed at logistics contacts. It also features and makes freely usable the full view and image of the pop-up shops and poster graphics that had already been created. We also conducted a campaign to give away novelties that had already been made as presents, including original mosquito earrings like no other in the world, and macaroons designed with a mosquito logo.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

As COVID-19 spread, concerts were canceled on the day of the event and many other such changes were made. Therefore, we decided on a plan that follows the public sentiment that the decision to cancel corporate promotions is a heroic act. Our aim was to earn the sympathy of many people by revealing our company’s true intentions and plans behind our wise decision to cancel the pop-up shop. Furthermore, we focused on the insight that people have a strong desire to experience things that are going to be gone soon and are only available now. We made a plan to arouse a desire in people to attend an event that has not actually been held, so that they would say “I would go to an event that is this well produced,” or “I hope you try to hold the event again next year”.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Taking advantage of this situation, we decided to launch a new project. Opening a pop-up shop in Shibuya has been a dream since our founding. Therefore, we launched the website “Kinkan’s Shibuya Dream”, which fully revealed all of our plans related to this abandoned dream. It conveys the sadly unfulfilled dreams of our advertising staff, and introduces the new product along with company secret documents for development concepts. The website also features marketing materials aimed at logistics contacts. It also features and makes freely usable the full view and image of the pop-up shops and poster graphics that had already been created. We also conducted a campaign to give away novelties that had already been made as presents, including original mosquito earrings like no other in the world, and macaroons designed with a mosquito logo.

List the results (30% of vote)

This project aimed at addressing COVID-19, humanity’s common enemy, attracted sympathy from many people and spread broadly in both conventional and social media. Likability of the Kinkan brand increased thanks to people’s sympathy and empathy for the new dream we have presented, and we also succeeded in creating an experience for customers that simulated what it would really be like to visit a pop-up shop. Many users actually purchased the product and posted them on Instagram as fashionable photos, which led to it not only becoming a hot topic of discussion, but actual getting purchased. While we were desperate to make sales at one point, this project resulted in a rebranding promotion that drove explosive sales of the new product Kinkan Noir, so that our inventory of 200,000 units sold out faster than ever since the founding of the company.

Please tell us how disruption in your market place inspired the work

Kinkan, the Japanese bug bite medicine with a long history, has an old-fashioned image, and few young people use it. Now its old-fashioned design has been renewed in order to attract younger customers. Kinkan Noir was rebranded as a cool and luxurious bug bite medicine like never before. In May 2020, we planned to open Salon de Kinkan Noir, our first pop-up shop in Shibuya since our founding. This shop was intended to allow customers to experience the world of the new product, but the plan had to be canceled suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because our budget had nearly been exhausted already, it was not possible to take on more costs. Moreover, it became necessary to get customers to buy this new bug bite medicine through online communication, now that they do not have to worry about getting bitten by mosquitoes because they do not leave the house.

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