Asian Consumer Intellegence

Nissan will add noise to its new electric car, the Leaf, to make it sound like cars in the cult movie Blade Runner. The sound makes the cars safer, so pedestrians can hear them coming, but will also act as a powerful marketing too, making the vehicles instantly recognizable, even if they are out of sight. i.e “That sounds like a socially responsible, trend-forward driver!”
[pinktext IDEA POTENTIAL:] Nissan has taken what was a dull safety problem and turned it into a fascinating opportunity to brand the leaf as a futuristic vehicle that will garner interest from anyone it passes. A true lesson in sensory marketing.
Nissan Leaf, due for release in Japan/US/Europe in 2010. http://www.nissan-zeroemission.com

Continuing in the trend of marketing to the lucrative silver market, department stores in Japan have begun carrying designer canes and walking sticks, designed not only for function, but with an eye toward fashion.
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2008 saw the release of a number of popular cosmetics lines targetting women in the 50-60 range. A craze for foods with high collagen content believed to have beautifying effects began in 2007, and in 2008 a number of collagen-based cosmetics went on the market.
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An unfortunate stereotype holds that Japanese fathers are workaholics with no time for their children or outside interests and no fashion sense. That is all changing if a slew of popular magazines have anything to do with it. A number of recent “dad mags” offer advice to 40+ fathers on how to be fashionable, cool, [...]
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Here is the true face of modern Japan, the most aged society in the world. In Sugamo, far from the streets of futuristic Shibuya is Jizo Dori, a shopping area popular with the elderly and in its own way, a glimpse of Japan’s future.
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