AWARDS :

SILVER

SUB CATEGORY :

BEST USE OF BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT & CONTENT

COMPANY ENTERING :

DENTSU INC., TOKYO

ENTRY TITLE :

PLAY THE PINGPONG

BRAND :

TABLE TENNIS

ADVERTISER :

TV-TOKYO

AGENCY :

DENTSU INC., TOKYO

CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

JUNTA YOSHIKAWA

COPYWRITER :

ERITO YAMADA

ART DIRECTOR :

ASAKO TAKI

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR :

TOSHIYUKI HASHIMOTO

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE :

SYUNPEI NISHIZAWA

AGENCY PRODUCER :

HISASHI TANAKA

FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :

WEEK'S INC., TOKYO

DIRECTOR :

KEISUKE HAKOMORI

CINEMATOGRAPHER :

YUSUKE SUGA

GAFFER :

KAZUNARI WATABNABE

FILM PRODUCER :

TAIKI SHIBAHARA

PRODUCTION MANAGER 2 :

NORIYUKI KATO

POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY :

CAPRA INC, TOKYO/MCRAY CORPORATION, TOKYO

EDITOR :

TOMOHIRO NISHIJIMA/MASAHIRO KATO

FLAME ARTIST :

MASAHIRO KATO

SOUND DESIGN ARRANGEMENT :

MASARU SHINAGAWA

SOUND EFFECTS :

AKIHITO NARITA

SPECIAL EFFECTS COMPANY :

AIRCORD INC., TOKYO

SOUND DESIGNER :

DAISHI DANCE

MUSIC COMPOSER :

DAISHI DANCE

MUSIC ARRANGER :

TOMOKI SETO

THE BRIEF :

AFTER TOKYO WAS CHOSEN AS THE HOST CITY FOR THE 2020 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES, INTEREST IN SPORTS HAS RISING IN JAPAN. HOWEVER, FOR THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS IN PARTICULAR, THE SPORT OF TABLE TENNIS SUFFERS FROM LOW POPULARITY. OUR GOAL WAS TO UTILIZE THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE UPCOMING OLYMPICS AND DRAW THE ATTENTION OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO TABLE TENNIS. IN JAPAN, THE POPULARITY OF TABLE TENNIS IS REMARKABLY LOW. PARTICULARLY, YOUNG PEOPLE ARE PRONE TO THINK THAT TABLE TENNIS IS BORING. DUE TO THIS, COMMUNICATION THAT LEFT A STRONG IMPRESSION WAS NECESSARY TO MAKE THEM GIVE TABLE TENNIS A CHANCE.

THE STRATEGY :

IN JAPAN, MAJOR SPORTS SUCH AS BASEBALL AND SOCCER ARE BROADCAST ON ALL CHANNELS, BUT TABLE TENNIS IS ONLY BROADCAST ON TV TOKYO. IN THIS SITUATION, TV TOKYO NEEDED TO INCREASE THE POPULARITY OF TABLE TENNIS BY TAKING MEASURES THAT CAUSED THOSE WHO HAD NEVER HAD AN INTEREST IN TABLE TENNIS TO GIVE THE SPORT A CHANCE. FOR THIS PROJECT, WE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE RHYTHMIC QUALITY OF TENNIS TABLE’S RALLIES AND JOINED IT WITH THE ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC SCENE THAT YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SO CRAZY ABOUT, TO CREATE A VIDEO FULL OF IMPACT.

THE EXECUTION :

WE CREATED THE WORLD’S FIRST “TABLE TENNIS MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.” THE TABLE WAS TURNED INTO AN INSTRUMENT USING PROJECT MAPPING WITH SAMPLING PADS PLACED ON THE TABLE. AN INFRARED SENSOR DETECTED THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE FLYING TABLE TENNIS BALL, AND JUDGED THE MOMENT THE BALL HIT THE TABLE, PRODUCING THE SOUND PROGRAMMED IN THE SYSTEM. COMBINING THE FORCE AND DELICATENESS OF THE JAPANESE NATIONAL TABLE TENNIS TEAM, WE RE-CREATED AN ORIGINAL SONG BY THE POPULAR JAPANESE DJ THROUGHOUT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, THE COMMERCIAL WAS AIRED AND RELEASED AS A WEB MOVIE, QUICKLY BEING FEATURED BY MANY MEDIA OUTLETS.

THE RESULT :

AS SOON AS THE TV COMMERCIAL WAS RELEASED, THE VIDEO WAS COVERED IN 100+ ONLINE NEWS STORIES AND BLOGS IN AND OUT OF JAPAN. COMMENTS CAME IN EVEN FROM THOSE WHO HAD NOT HAD ANY INTERACTION WITH TABLE TENNIS BEFORE SAYING THINGS SUCH AS, “MY IMAGE OF TABLE TENNIS CHANGED” AND “I’LL BE CHEERING FOR THE JAPANESE NATIONAL TEAM AT THE NEXT COMPETITION.” AS A RESULT, VIEWER RATINGS OF THE WORLD TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP INCREASED BY 1.2 TIMES.