The previous article Commercializing Products Seasonally Meeting Japanese Customer Needs outlined how companies
in Japan, both Japan domestic companies and multi-nationals operating in Japan,
especially of BtoC, are commercializing products seasonally to meet Japanese
consumers need who always expect “something new”.
Developing and commercializing new products
so frequently in a timely manner requires much investment, budget, people and
time.
Is there any way of developing and
commercializing a new product with virtually zero investment?
Yes, there is.
That can be done by developing a new
product yet now new thus almost zero investment.
1. What
is an example of “the new product yet not new”?
It is the beer in the photo, a very
“clever” way of commercializing a “new” product for consumers which the author
came across recently when she dined out for lunch one weekend.
The photo is of a beer of Kirin, a major Japanese
beer company, a new product that came out for this autumn. The photo is a kind of POP that was placed on
the table of the Italian restaurant where the author dined for lunch.
It says “new product for this autumn”. However, the beer itself is not necessarily new
at all. It is actually their regular
beer, hence “new product yet now new”.
2. What
makes this product “new yet not new?”
To the author, the company managed to
commercialize this product by “marketing 101” to make a difference. This is an example of what a company can do
with almost no additional investment leveraging very basics of marketing.
1) Concept
and positioning
The concept of this product as the author
understands is “Kirin beer provided to customers in autumn, with almost zero
product development cost”.
In the similar way, the author understands
the positioning is “seasonal product sold only in autumn 2014 under a new
naming and new label”.
2) Value
proposition
The author understands the value proposition
is something like “enjoy autumn in the similar way as enjoying beauties of
nature with red and yellow leaves outdoor while enjoying beer indoor”.
3) Naming
With the concept, positioning and value
proposition above, they have named the beer 秋味, whose literal translation is “autumn taste”.
This naming makes consumers think the beer
itself is brand new. It also helps
consumers to “enjoy autumn atmosphere and breeze even if they are indoors as if
they are enjoy autumn outdoors”.
4) Label on the bottle
In order to offer the value visually
aligning with the naming, the label is designed with red and yellow leaves, the
symbol of outdoor autumn.
All beer bottles have labels and their size
is usually the same so the only investment is planning and designing of labels. There is no need for new production line or
equipment.
5) POP
They have created the POP, aligning with
the label. It is of maple leaf shape
with back ground of maple leaves in red and yellow. The naming is also clearly written. And of course, they have also the Kirin CI
logo.
What they included is the copy saying “beer
exclusively sold in autumn”. Campaign
selling a product or for a limited time or doing a bargain for a limited time
is a tactic often used in promotion.
They have adopted this tactic to the fullest although they have not
specified “until when”.
In addition, they have added the price per
glass, which is 700 JPY. Therefore, this
POP acts as an eye-catching menu providing all information covering AIDA
(Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) model.
Planning, designing and making the POPs
require some investment; however, it is far less than mass media advertising
campaigns. Also, this kind of POPs are
often found in fast food and other popular restaurants in Japan so this kind of
promotion is something handled without difficulty in Japan.
3. Would
this marketing tactics work in Japan?
It may well not work in other parts of the
world, but yes, it works in Japan, targeting Japanese consumers. It is because they take it for granted that
for foods and beverages as well as fashions, new products are launched
seasonally.
This marketing tactics is based on what
people in Japan tracditionally enjoy in autumn called Momiji-gari 紅葉狩り. In Japan, autumn is when
people enjoy beauties of nature, or red and yellow leaves in mountains, Japanese
gardens, gardens of temples and shrines and parks. That is why we have many products and
services featuring this tradition in Japan.
