Alcohol brand marketing in Japan has traditionally utilised ads with eye catching prints and TV ads. However, recently there’s a trend that the younger Japanese generation no longer owns TVs. Instead, they watch online TV programmes on their portable devices such as smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Therefore, brands are required to be more active on social media platforms to reach a wider audience, increase brand awareness, and to attract new consumers. Being on social media also gives brands the ability to reach out to consumers with up-to-date information in the modern fast-paced world. Here are 5 social media campaigns by alcohol brands in Japan:
1. #俺鉄 campaign – The Malt’s
全国で🌸桜🌸の開花が進んでいますね！桜の写真でラッピング車両をつくってみるのはいかが？ #俺鉄 アプリで好きな画像からラッピング車両をつくろう♪https://t.co/As16qaMKmb pic.twitter.com/w3ldeJaDrC
— サントリー ザ・モルツ (@The_MALTS_UMAMI) April 4, 2017
The Malt’s, a beer brand by Suntory, ran a social media campaign called #俺鉄 (ore-tetsu, meaning my favourite train). This campaign was aimed towards men as ‘ore’ is a masculine Japanese word. The concept of the campaign was to give an idea of drinking The Malt’s beer with digital otsumami (Japanese word for complementing snacks or tapas). They launched a website and an app for consumers to digitally design and run their created trains. Tweets by The Malt’s didn’t emphasize the beer product itself, but it provided engagement with images of trains. This entertaining and creative strategy was interesting to consumers, and the brand envisioned people to enjoy The Malt’s beer while designing and watching their own digital trains.
2. #もぎたてで飯が旨い – Asahi Mogitate
チーズとの相性が96.7点の #もぎたてぶどう のおつまみに、と思いついたアイディア。それが「チーズレンコン」！
作り方は簡単！
１．レンコンを輪切り、アク抜き
２．フライパンで両面焼き
３．ピザ用チーズを乗せてチーズがパリパリになるまで焼くこれだけ！お試しを！#もぎたてで飯が旨い pic.twitter.com/Bd8pIj1y3y
— アサヒビール ASAHIBEER (@asahibeer_jp) July 28, 2018
Asahi Mogitate is a brand of kan-chuhai, a kind of Japanese cocktail in a can. There are several flavours available such as lemon, grapes, and orange. The brand launched a campaign that resulted in an increased number of followers of the Asahi Twitter account. Asahi Mogitate selected 100 participants who followed the Asahi Beer Twitter account and shared their comments on Mogitate pictured together with their meals via Twitter. These comments were posted with the hashtag, #もぎたてで飯が旨い, meaning good meals with Mogitate, they also awarded the winners with 6 Mogitate canned drinks.
3. #澪森永乳業マリアージュ選手権 – Shirakabegura Mio
私は「PARMチョコレート」でマリアージュ！
甘さと日本酒が合いそう https://t.co/yDhLH3fAad #澪森永乳業マリアージュ選手権 #もぐナビ pic.twitter.com/MSpy7yIPds— セラミック (@goldsera) May 20, 2018
Mio is a sparkling sake brand that came into the market in 2011 and became very popular several years ago.. They have added a new type of sparkling sake called, Mio Dry. The brand ran a collaboration campaign on Twitter with Morinaga Nyugyo, a major ice cream brand in Japan, up until 20th of May 2018. For the campaign, Twitter users had to visit the campaign website and select one ice cream by Morinaga that they thought would be the best match to eat with Mio or Mio Dry. They were also asked to share why they thought it was the best combination. 100 participants were selected to win 500 Yen worth of Amazon vouchers. Mio also offered free LINE stickers (stamps) until 2nd of July 2018. However, we wondered why Shirakabegura Mio ran the twitter campaign even though they don’t have their own Twitter account. Was this a preview for Mio’s Twitter account launch?
4. @Uncle_torys – Suntory Torys
スイカを割るのは難しいナ。
トリスをソーダで割るのは得意なんだけどナ。#スイカ割り pic.twitter.com/THMRPU1JDS— アンクルトリス (@uncle_torys) July 31, 2018
Suntory Torys has not been running any social media campaigns, but the brand uses Twitter in a unique way that’s worth mentioning! Torys is a whisky brand in Japan from Suntory and has a brand anime character named Uncle Torys. He was borned in 1958 and is active on Twitter to promote the whisky. Apparently, he is an enthusiast of writing Haiku, or Japanese poetry, on Twitter. Keep an eye on his Twitter account – he might come up with some fun campaign in the near future!
5. #ギュギュッと絞ったサングリア
ギュギュッと絞ったサングリア🍷が300mlで登場❤️プレイライフにもプラン化されています😊
パッケージも可愛くて1人でも飲めちゃう🍸✨お料理にも合いそう‼︎https://t.co/dRR8M1aWwT#ギュギュ缶 #飲みきりサイズ #ひとりごはん pic.twitter.com/Mn8fVGbf0x— miku hirata♥️ (@mikuhirata) May 24, 2017
As you all know, Sangria is a Spanish wine and typically favored during the summer time in Japan. Kirin started selling Sangria in 2015 offering six flavours of Sangria. ギュギュッと絞ったサングリア (gyugyu to sibotta Sangria), the product name translates to ‘well squeezed sangria.’ The brand website displays a collection of images of the products posted by people on social media. This site has similar attributes to Burberry’s ‘Art of the Trench’ marketing that is known for its heavy reliance on imagery, with content co-created between the brand and their consumers.
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