Suntory has been giving away a series of eight mini-goods by product designer Amadana with its Boss Silky Black coffee. Targeting design-smart businessmen in their 30s, the all-black and metal products include a USB memory drive cover, a tape measure, a “multi case” the size of an iPhone, a pen holder, a money clip, a bookmark, a “cord reel” for keeping headphone cords neatly in a suit pocket and a memo stand.

Amadana is a brand of luxury household appliances that have a modernist design aesthetic that has grown from niche to mainstream in a short time. Its product lineup includes everything from coffee makers and music systems to paper shredders and mobile phone handsets.

A quick look online shows the collaboration has spawned more than 70,000 blog posts so far this month, with comments suggesting that consumers actively bought BOSS Silky Black in order to collect the Amadana products.

To find out how Five by Fifty helps its clients innovate in the beverage sector, contact us.

UCC has introduced a limited edition Milk&Coffee collaboration with the latest Evangelion anime film, including six cans featuring six characters from the film.

Evangelion is one of the most popular manga series in Japan, with fans in a wide range of ages. UCC released tie-ups based on Evangelion manga back in 1997 and again in 2007, which were instant hits with fans in their 20s. This is the first collaboration with an Evangelion film.

This time, a new dimension has been added, with a sticker on each can containing a code which fans can enter into a campaign website for the chance to win a rare figurine of a figure from the series.

To find out how Five by Fifty helps its clients innovate in the beverage sector, contact us.

The campaign gives specific examples of when to drink Oranomin C

In a highly segmented and overcrowded marketplace, time-bereft consumers need to be spoon-fed if they are to understand what differentiates one product from another. This collaboration does just that for both Oronamin C energy drink and Navitime.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical organized direct marketing for businesspeople outside train stations in central Tokyo this month, handing out samples along with a detailed 8-page booklet designed like a personal notebook. The company helps consumers plan the product into their daily routine, such as before a business meeting, while waiting for a train, or to recharge during a work break.

The campaign, co-branded with Navitime, a GPS-based mobile maps and listings service. There are similar suggestions for incorporating Navitime into your routine too, such as to get to a meeting on time, planning a journey or looking for a restaurant.

Consumers can use a QR code to access a co-branded mobile website and sign up to receive regular mails on business lifestyle themes like “Work-Life Balance”, as well as a free two-week trial of the Navitime service.

The campaign also saw the drink sponsor this week’s R25 (a popular freepaper for men in their 20s), with a spot on the cover and a multi-page survey on how men handle various business situations.

Although Navitime and Otsuka offer two seemingly different products, they have come together to aggressively try and show comsumers that they empathise with and can support them through the challenges of the day at work.

To find out how Five by Fifty helps its clients innovate in the beverage sector, contact us.

A recent campaign by Suntory matches six malt whiskies with six specially made chocolates.

“The French use the word mariage to mean pairing,” explains chef and author Clotilde Dusoulier. “It is used in the case of food and wine (mariages mets et vins), and also between two ingredients (le chocolat se marie bien avec les fruits rouges – “chocolate goes well with red berries)”. In the past two years mariage has appeared in the Japanese lexicon, refering to alcohol match with a complementary sweet, most often chocolate.

Corona beer is now comes with a gift piece of chocolate.

For its current “Malt and Chocolate” campaign, whiskey maker Suntory collaborated with famed chocolatiers in Tokyo to pair six malt whiskeys with six chocolates. Glenfiddich, which Suntory imports to Japan, has been matched with a citrus chocolate, and Suntory’s own 12-year Hakushu is paired with green tea chocolate. The chocolates are not sold with the whiskeys, and are only available at the chocolatiers that produce them, so mariage fans would have to travel to six different locations to sample the full range.

Continuing the mariage trend, Nippon Beer, which imports Corona beer to Japan, is now attaching a piece of bitter, 79% cacao chocolate to Corona bottles available at convenience stores and liquor stores.

In the video game Like a Dragon 3, characters eat ramen to gain strength.

Instant noodle manufacturer Ace Cook is promoting its new product through as tie up with the popular Sega video game “Like a Dragon 3″ (sold in North America as “Yakuza 3″). In the video game, players eat ramen noodles to gain strength before battling opponents.  Ace Cook’s new product is named after a fictitious ramen restaurant that appears in the game. Although the shop does not actually exist, a special section on the Ace Cook website features a map, menu, and reviews.

Lotte and Suntory have collaborated to release a chocolate bar flavored with premium 12 year old single malt Suntory whiskey from Yamazaki Prefecture. In time for Valentine’s Day, a gift set including a bar of the chocolate and a miniature bottle of Yamazaki 12 Year, is being released for a limited time.

Learn more:
Other Lotte Products
Other Suntory Products
Suntory Official Site (Japanese)

This manga character was designed to market laundry detergent.

Household goods manufacturer Lion is using a fictional comic book character to advertise its Acron laundry detergent, which has two new scents, deodorant green and floral bouquet. The character developed especially for the product by Yukari Ichijou, one of the most famous artists manga for young woman. The gorgeous character’s name is “Yoshiko Sentaku,” whose last name means “laundry.”  Yoshiko’s 32 years old, single, lives in Tokyo, and dreams of one day having a fully automatic washing machine. The campaign is targeting women in their 20s and 30s.

Learn more:
Other Lion products
Lion official site
Yoshiko Sentaku product page (Japanese)

A phone designed in collaboration with fashion magazine Glamorous.

Japanese mobile phone provider SoftBank has announced a new handset model designed in collaboration with Glamorous, a fashion magazine for stylish women in their 20s. Advance reservations are being accepted for the new model, which will go on sale September 6, to coincide with the publication of the October issue of the magazine.

A phone designed in collaboration with fashion retailer Ash & Diamonds.

This is not the first fashion tie-up for SoftBank, the third largest mobile provider in Japan, which has been making efforts to win more female users. Autumn, 2007, saw the launch of a limited edition model made in collaboration with fashion boutique Ash & Diamonds, which specializes in chic and sexy fashions for women in their 20s. Another model, the Dolly Girl, is a creation of American fashion designer Anna Sui, who enjoys great popularity in Japan.

A phone designed by Anna Sui for SoftBank.

Learn more:
Other SoftBank products
SoftBank Mobile official site (Japanese)

Coca Cola has collaborated with the Tokyo Girls Collection fashion show to promote its green tea.

The 7th edition of Tokyo Girls Collection held September 6th featured a promotional show for Sokenbicha, a green tea drink sold in Japan by Coca-Cola. The ten-minute promotional show was part of the full-day fashion event, which featured runway shows, live entertainment, and a “Beauty Park” make-over event space. The show featured well-known Japanese models such as Yumiko Hara carrying bottles of the drink down the runway, and gave a sneak peek ofof new ads designed in collaboration with models and designers presenting in the fashion show.

Sokenbicha is zero-calorie, sugar-free, and is made with a blend of 12 varieties of tea leaves. The name of the tea combines the characters for “relaxation,” “health,” “beauty” and “tea,” and is marketed with advertising copy such as “turn your heart and body beautiful from the inside out.”