Why is this work relevant for Direct?

By providing a game to search for long-selling chocolate DARS, new customers can be also acquired. We designed behavior that leads customers to the store and makes them search for the product at the store.

Background

At convenience stores and supermarkets in Japan, there is "fierce competition for being placed in a good position" with more than 10,000 products. Morinaga's long-selling chocolate DARS had lost the competition and had been gradually driven into a worse position. The goal was to increase sales of DARS using a limited budget.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

In colorful Japanese storefronts, a product cannot be picked if it is placed in a bad position. DARS tends to be placed badly because it was a long-selling product. We created a "hide and seek game" that everyone would look for DARS without the effort to stand out.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

If placed in bad positions at convenience stores, DARS cannot stand out. And, naturally, it won’t sell. So, we decided to try a breakthrough. If DARS can't stand out on its own then why not let people find it? We created a strategy to train people’s ability to find DARS. Targeting at all from children to their parents. We have created a "finding game" that can be enjoyed by both family and a single person.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

In November 2020, “the DARS Findability Training Site ” was opened. The site stored 10 types of posters and 6 videos in which DARS packages are hidden in places like stores. From there, we ran retweets campaigns on Twitter several times. The campaign reached many targets and had them visit the site. The site is still open and new images have been added.

List the results (30% of vote)

Nearly 500,000 people have visited the site. Many positive comments about the brand were posted on social media. And the campaign was also featured in important website articles. In Japan. DARS sales, which had been declining, finally grew to 105%.