Direct Mail Example Japan

Well, today I would like to show you a quite common example and format of Direct Mail in Japan:


It's an A4-sized double sided card; an invitation to a car dealer fair.

For non-Japanese it might look a bit crowded. The focus is on as many choices as possible (e.g. different car offers), rather than focusing on one clear message for one car model.

The main selling points are: eye-catching, because bigger than standard post; a lot of information for comparatively cheap printing costs.

The front page of the mailing shows offers, which are not directly related to the product or brand:
1. People who will bring the coupon from this card to the dealers fair will receive one bread for free
2. The first 70 clients at the fair will receive a caricature
3. Clients can meet the company’s' calendar girls at the fair
4. At the dealers fair lottery scratch tickets are given to individuals, who order a new or used car, or register for inspection or maintenance.

The backside of the mailing shows different car offers and the invitation to order their catalogue.

Once again, this is one common format of DM in Japan, but of course formats and content depend on the target group and many other factors.

Best,
Edda

Black cats as a corporate brand/symbol!?

Today I want to focus on the brand of Yamato Holdings, one of YDM's mother companies. Their corporate brand or symbol is very unique and has a very high recognition value.

It's a black cat, carrying it's kitten.

This corporate brand comes from Yamato's philosophy and attitude to its clients. The handling of parcels has to be as careful as if a parent cat is nipping its kitten to carry it.

This logo has been determined in 1957, but Yamato already founded it in 1919.

Mobile Marketing Japan

I found an interesting article about mobile marketing in Japan, which I want to share with you:

http://mobithinking.com/guide-mobile-Web-Japan

Isn't it amazing how sophisticated this market segment in Japan is?

Regards,

Edda

It's Coffee Time!

Did you know that with 3.3 kg per capita / year, the total coffee consumption in Japan ranks no. 3 in the world (after US and GE), representing a strong, competitive market?

According to All Japan Coffee Association fresh coffee beans were mainly imported in 2009 from Brazil, Columbia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Japanese consume a large variety of products (43% instant, 30% regular) and mainly enjoy their coffee at home.
The target group ages 40-59 consume 30% more than average and is highly attractive.

Popular are also "ready to drink coffee", e.g. liquid coffee in a tin which can be purchased at any convenient store or vending machine (available warm):



Have a good week,

Edda

Naka Tsuri Advertisement

Every one of us is familiar with advertisement on public transportation, such as huge images printed on the side of buses. Some countries are famous for their advertisements on taxi roofs, whereas Japan has it's uniqueness in advertisement in trains/subways.
In Japan this form of advertisement is called naka(inside) tsuri(hang) koukoku(advertisement).

In Tokyo millions of people are using trains/subways every day, so the reach of the advertisement is enormous.

Here are some numbers of the busiest stations in greater Tokyo (from Wikipedia):

Passengers carried daily (2007):

Shinjuku Station- 3.64 million (Registered with Guinness World Records)
Ikebukuro Station- 2.71 million
Shibuya Station- 2.18 million
Yokohama Station- 2.09 million
Tokyo Station- 1.12 million
Shinagawa Station- 0.91 million
Takadanobaba Station- 0.90 million
Shimbashi Station- 0.85 million

Naka tsuri advertisement is often used for promotion such as weekly magazines, concerts or brand new beverages. Most popular are the posters hanging in the middle of the train, with the two following available sizes: B3 size (single), 51.5 cm x 36.4 cm, or double size (wide), 103 cm x 36.4 cm.

Considering the huge amount of people using public transportation every day, naka tsuri advertisement and also advertisement at major stations are very popular in Tokyo.

Here some examples:

Advertisement for beer festival

Advertisement for green tea




Christmas campaign of Starbucks


Have a great week,

Edda

Direct Marketing Monitor International

The Direct Marketing Monitor International (DMMI) is a survey of the Direct Marketing climate in 30 countries, based on interviews of 18,500 private consumers worldwide. The study provides up-to-date economic data, information regarding the acceptance and use of dialogue marketing as well as consumer, industry and mail-order trends worth knowing.

The six core issues/questions are:
1. In which countries are mailings the most widespread?
2. Which countries are most receptive to mailings?
3. Which consumers are particularly interested in mailings?
4. What do consumers find appealing about mailings?
5. How high are penetration levels for mailings compared to other advertising media?
6. Which products and thematic areas get the best responses from consumers?

Here are some findings about the Japanese market from 2008:


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Best,

Edda

PS: You can also order a free copy of the international marketing facts 2008(CD and/or printed version) here. The side is in German only, please contact me for assistance.

QR-Codes

QR-Codes (QR= Quick Response) is a specific matrix code, readable by camera phones. Founded 1994 in Japan, the code usually consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background.

For marketing it's a very easy and cheap way to to link offline marketing campaigns to online. Consumers just have to take a picture of the code and will then be transfered to the specific page of the advertiser. These QR-Codes are great to integrate in Direct Mail campaigns.

In Japan QR-Codes are very popular, whereas in many other parts of the world they are hardly used.

These days technology is so sophisticated, so designers are able to develope creative, colored QR-Codes.
I found some great examples on this webpage; here already some impressions:




Louis Vuitton


Marc Jacobs





Glico Dororich


Once again here the Link.

Enjoy,


Edda