Solution
Historically, Uno had primarily advertised on television and digital. To expand its brand awareness, we sought a way to connect with our target audience in an unexpected way that would get people talking. Research has found that food, and in particular ramen, is very popular with our audience with more than 65% of Japanese men saying they eat ramen at least once a week. Ramen is very popular on menus in Japan, and also a very popular subject on social media with its fans posting and sharing images of it.
How could we link ramen and skincare? We connected our message about oily skin with something that comes with every bowl of ramen – a strip of seaweed. We printed ten different “Skin Care Principles for Men” messages on patches of seaweed garnishing bowls of ramen. Each piece of advice about proper skincare added an unexpected element to the already Instagrammable dish.
To amplify our message, Uno partnered with the Ippudo Ramen restaurant chain as it was especially popular with young men in Japan and Ippudo’s stylish and simple décor complemented Uno’s brand image.
Combining self-help messaging with foodie photos proved a potent match for social media, with a reach of up to 450,000 on Twitter and a successful social networking service impact—a tough-to-reach segment via mass advertising that responded particularly well to this campaign.
