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

Internet search data shows value-hunting Japanese will go to great lengths to find a smart service at the right price.
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As Japan’s experience in the 1990s shows, prolonged periods of slow economic growth make consumers rethink their spending priorities. They also force businesses to innovate.
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The French use the word mariage to mean pairing food and wine or two ingredients. In the past two years mariage has appeared in the Japanese lexicon, refering to alcohol match with a complementary sweet, most often chocolate.
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For a long time we have known that Japanese in their 20s have less interest in traveling abroad than previous generations. But now that so many other formerly rich countries are going through Japan-style economic slums of their own, is this a pattern that we will see repeated worldwide?
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P&G Japan has released a premium diaper, in the hopes that as the Japanese are having fewer children, they are willing to spend more on each child.
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Lotte and Suntory have collaborated to release a chocolate bar flavored with premium 12 year old single malt Suntory whiskey from Yamazaki Prefecture.
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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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We have entered a new economic era. A period when the adage ‘more is good’ no longer resonates and in which conspicuous consumption is starting to be viewed as repulsive amid the world’s harsh new realities.
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