Develop it, keep it up, and use it!

Advertising character strategy for brand communications

The role of advertising characters is not just to give a momentary image of the brand, but to take the user right into the core of the brand. For companies, communications with the consumer is becoming more complicated by the day. There are so many advertising media out there now, and the lack of confidence that consumers feel towards corporations has reached levels that were never seen before as a result of a succession of corporate scandals. Against this background, there is growing interest in the use of characters as communications tools. We investigate thoroughly, using a large number of actual examples, the know-how necessary to create, develop, keep up, and use characters.

(Kazuya Shimokawa, Kenichiro Ota, Hiroshi Maruo)

Part 1 - Characters that represent new services

Character strategy for electronic money

JR East’s Suica, Pasmo and the like

Creator groups that support corporate character strategies

DLE, “Taka no Tsume (Kite’s Claw)” Secret Society etc.

Part 2 - Characters that are fully integrated with brands

Who was Peko-chan to start with?

Fujiya’s Peko-chan

Growing from little imp of the candy store to popular figure

Akagi Nyugyo’s Garigari-kun

Air-conditioning mascot

Daikin Industries’ Pichon-kun

Part 3

Osaka’s Symbol

The “eat ‘till you drop” doll

How a local character close to people’s hearts turned into a festival

Oita’s Nashika

Local national universities are trying to draw in applicants by using characters

Kagawa University, Kyoto University of Education, Hyogo University of Teacher Education

Part 4- A survey of the merits of characters as seen from trademarks

SPECIAL FEATURE 2

The New Wave in Internet Advertising and Sales Promotion

An explanation in 7 points including viral videos, blog parts and design QR

Telling a Story without Being Asked: Akiko Takehara

Mix and measure bowls make one out of two

Brand Improvement Committee #3

Kirin Brewery’s “Ryoshitsu Sozai”

Red is the strongest after all, and its perpetual rival is blue

Design Marketing

Focusing on Japanese style today by generation, gender and earning power

Men aged 56 to 60 with household earnings of between 6 and 10 million yen

The changing shape of product user information - Part 3

The writing skills that are wanted for electronics manuals

Design Innovation Strategy No.3

Brand innovation and non-wristwatches in the watch industry

“Juicy Fruit Attracts People without Words”

In pursuit of an inclusive zone