Creative Marketing

It a country ruled by fads, companies have to get creative to market their products. One thing they do is constantly come out with new flavors or varieties. It’s not uncommon to see the same snacks we have in America suddenly appear in novel shapes or bizarre flavors that don't exist elsewhere. We were particularly enamored with the cheese and sausage flavored Dorito, Cheeto, and pop corn mix. It was one of the best snack mixes we’ve ever had. Sadly, we ate it once and have never seen it again.

Our white whale snack in Japan

And that’s the Catch-22 about all the fad flavors. Sometimes you find a flavor that is amazing, but suddenly it disappears never to be seen again. The successful flavors often become seasonal, so at least you can get them once a year. Every time I go to the grocery store, I’m afraid that the sparkling apple soda that I have come to love will be gone. It’s only a matter of time. Apple is a fall flavor after all.

Another common tactic is giving some free junk with the product. There is a point card for everything in Japan, so if you want to fill out application forms, you can soon be collecting points to earn all manner of junk. Or there is the junk that literally comes attached to drink bottles. The small toys always have straps, so you can connect them to bags or cell phones. It is not uncommon to see compact cellphones with three pounds of toys hanging off of them.

Becky and I got drinks the other day. My Calpis Soda came with a Brahms cell phone figure. Yes, that is Brahms, the composer. There were a number of composers to choose from, but Brahms had the best beard.

Becky’s tea came with a chocolate pretzel bling charm.  She had to slowly narrow it down from amongst the bling cupcake, bling cheesecakes, and bling ice cream cones. She decided to add it to her USB flash drive, which so far has acquired a small Himeji Castle mascot, and a huge, puffy Hyogo Prefecture phoenix mascot. Her goal was to focus on regional mascot charms, but the bling pretzel adds a certain je ne sais quoi.