SUB CATEGORY :

BEST USE OF GAMES

COMPANY ENTERING :

DENTSU INC., TOKYO

ENTRY TITLE :

GLICODE

BRAND :

GLICO

ADVERTISER :

EZAKI GLICO COMPANY, LIMITED

AGENCY :

DENTSU INC., TOKYO/GOOGLE ZOO, TOKYO

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

YASUHARU SASAKI

CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

HIROSHI KOIKE

CREATIVE :

RYUTARO SEKI/KAZUYOSHI OCHI/MOE GOTO/GENE BRUTTY/TIM SEDDON

CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST :

SHINTARO MURAKAMI

ART DIRECTOR :

KENTARO SAGARA/YOSHIHIRO SO

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE :

SHIGENARI KATO/MITSUKI YOSHIDA

CREATIVE STRATEGY :

JOE FRY

AGENCY PRODUCER :

NARU KUDO/YOSUKE SUZUKI/KOJIRO FUKAMI/BRYAN TANAKA

FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :

ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC., TOKYO

DIRECTOR :

MITSUGU MATSUMOTO

CAMERA :

AKIHIRO YOSHIDA

GAFFER :

RYU MATSUMURA

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER :

YASUHIRO KAWASAKI

PROJECT MANAGER :

SHINJI NOMURA

COMPUTER GRAPHICS :

BIRDMAN

CASTING :

KETTLE INC.

SPECIAL EFFECTS COMPANY :

BIRDMAN INC., TOKYO

DIRECTOR :

YOICHI KANAZAWA

CG DESIGNER :

YUTA YAMADA

PROJECT MANAGER :

HARUKA YOKOKAWA

APP DEVELOPER :

YOHEI KAJIWARA/TAKANORI KAWAI/HAYATO KUNO/NAOKI ASO

SOUND PRODUCTION COMPANY :

WONDROUS INC., TOKYO

SOUND DESIGNER :

ONO YUKI

MUSIC COMPOSER :

ONO YUKI

PRINT PRODUCTION COMPANY :

COCONOE INC., OKAYAMA

DESIGNER :

YOSHIHIRO SO/YOSHIMI KANO

MARKUP ENGINEER :

MASAHIKO OKUZAKI/REIKO IGO

SYSTEM ENGINEER :

TAKASHI OKADA

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

AS A COMPANY, GLICO STRIVES TO SUPPORT THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN. BUT WE WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING WITH UTILITY THAT TRULY AIDED A CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT. JAPAN INTENDS TO MAKE PROGRAMMING EDUCATION COMPULSORY BUT AS OF YET IT’S STILL TO BE IMPLEMENTED. THEREFORE, MANY CHILDREN ACROSS THE COUNTRY DON’T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN PROGRAMMING AND HAVE A LOW AWARENESS OF IT. WE PROPOSED A NEW LEARNING METHOD THAT ENCOURAGES CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 5 TO START LEARNING ABOUT CODE. GLICODE IS THE FIRST EVER EDUCATIONAL APP THAT USES ADVANCED IMAGE RECOGNITION TO TURN CANDY INTO CODE TO TEACH KIDS THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROGRAMMING. EVERY PACKET OF POCKY, BISCO AND ALMOND PEAK TURNS INTO A BITE-SIZED PROGRAMMING LESSON IN WHICH KIDS LAY OUT AND ARRANGE THEIR SNACKS, CAPTURE THE SEQUENCE WHICH THEN TURNS INTO CODE TO CONTROL A GAME.
THE APP COVERS THREE BASIC PROGRAMMING PRINCIPLES: "SEQUENCES", "CONDITIONALITY" AND "LOOPS". WE DESIGNED THIS EASY TO UNDERSTAND VISUAL LANGUAGE SO THAT KIDS CAN ARRANGE THEIR SNACKS TO AUTOMATE REPETITIVE INSTRUCTIONS [LOOPS], AND ASSIGN ACTIONS TO SPECIFIC TRIGGERS [CONDITIONS, IF], MAKING GLICODE
A REAL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE WITH ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. TOGETHER WITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ACROSS JAPAN WE’VE CONDUCTED WORKSHOPS AND EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS IN CRAM SCHOOLS TO INCREASE AWARENESS AMONGST CHILDREN AND TEACHERS. STARTER PACKS, INCLUDING MANUALS AND LESSON PLANS WERE DISTRIBUTED NATIONWIDE. SANAE TAKAICHI, JAPAN’S MINISTER FOR INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATIONS SAW THE POTENTIAL OF TURNING CANDY INTO CODE, GIVING GLICODE AN MIC GRANT AND RECOGNIZING IT AS AN OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAM. GLICODE GENERATED ATTENTION BOTH IN AND OUTSIDE OF JAPAN, EARNING PRAISE FROM COMPUTER SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE HOUR OF CODE FOR FOSTERING PROGRAMMING EDUCATION. MORE THAN 200 MEDIA SITES PUBLISHED THE STORY, AND TOGETHER WITH ITS SOCIAL MEDIA REACH, PRODUCED AN ESTIMATED MEDIA VALUE OF OVER 300 MILLION YEN.

THE BRIEF :

THE EZAKI GLICO GROUP SET OUT TO CREATE SOMETHING INNOVATIVE IN JAPAN’S MARKET. BELIEVING IN THEIR CORPORATE PHILOSOPHY "CONTRIBUTE TO CHILD’S HEALTHY GROWTH" THEY COMBINED TECHNOLOGY AND THEIR OWN PRODUCTS TO DEVELOP A SMARTPHONE APPLICATION THAT TEACHES CHILDREN THE BASICS OF PROGRAMMING IN A FUN AND ENGAGING WAY. WE WANTED TO MAKE NEWS. WE WANTED TO MAKE IT INTO SCHOOLS AND TO BE RECOGNIZED AND INTEGRATED INTO JAPAN’S NATIONAL CURRICULUM. BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST WE WANTED THIS TO TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT COMPUTER PROGRAMMING AND GET THEM EXCITED.

THE STRATEGY :

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND PROGRAMMING HAS BECOME COMPULSORY IN CURRICULUMS AROUND THE WORLD AS PEOPLE REALIZE THE POWER AND POTENTIAL THAT CODING UNLOCKS. IN JAPAN HOWEVER, THE GOVERNMENT HAS INTENDED TO MAKE PROGRAMMING EDUCATION COMPULSORY IN SCHOOLS, BUT BECAUSE OF ITS DATED AND TRADITIONAL CURRICULUMS, IT’S STILL YET TO BE IMPLEMENTED. WE PROPOSED A NEW LEARNING METHOD TO TEACH KIDS AS YOUNG AS FIVE THE BASICS OF PROGRAMMING USING PHYSICAL OBJECTS, HELPING CHILDREN LEARN MORE INTUITIVELY. IT JUST SO HAPPENS THESE OBJECTS WERE ALSO THEIR FAVOURITE SNACKS. GLICODE TURNS EVERY PACKET OF POCKY, BISCO AND ALMOND PEAK INTO A BITE-SIZED PROGRAMMING LESSON WHICH CHILDREN COULD TAKE WITH THEM ANYWHERE - HOME OR SCHOOL.

THE EXECUTION :

GLICODE IS THE FIRST EVER EDUCATIONAL APP THAT USES ADVANCED IMAGE RECOGNITION TO TURN CANDY INTO CODE TO TEACH KIDS THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROGRAMMING. WE TURNED GLICO’S MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS, POCKY, ALMOND PEAK AND BISCO INTO A NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE THAT REPRESENTS ONE OF THREE FUNDAMENTALS - SEQUENCES, CONDITIONALITY AND LOOPS. THE USE OF PHYSICAL OBJECTS HELPS YOUNGER CHILDREN LEARN MORE INTUITIVELY. THEY SIMPLY NEED TO LAY OUT CANDY SEQUENCES TO INSTRUCT THE GAME’S CHARACTER HOW TO MOVE. ONCE LAID OUT, CAPTURE THE PHYSICAL SEQUENCE AND THE MOBILE APP AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFORMS IT INTO EXECUTABLE CODE! WE LAUNCHED GLICODE ACROSS JAPAN WORKING WITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS TO GET THESE BITE-SIZED CODING LESSONS INTO CLASSROOMS. WE ALSO DISTRIBUTED STARTER PACKS AND LESSON PLANS TO TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMMING CRAM SCHOOLS AROUND THE COUNTRY AND ARE CONTINUING TO WORK WITH GOOGLE’S HOUR OF CODE INITIATIVE TO CHAMPION COMPUTER SCIENCE AND PROGRAMMING AMONGST CHILDREN AND PARENTS.

THE RESULT :

GLICODE GENERATED A LOT OF ATTENTION BOTH IN AND OUTSIDE OF JAPAN, EARNING PRAISE FROM COMPUTER SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS HOUR OF CODE FOR FOSTERING PROGRAMMING EDUCATION IN SUCH AN INNOVATIVE WAY. MORE THAN 200 LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SITES PUBLISHED THE STORY, AND TOGETHER WITH ITS SOCIAL MEDIA REACH, PRODUCED AN ESTIMATED MEDIA VALUE OF OVER 300 MILLION YEN. JAPAN’S MINISTER FOR INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATIONS EVEN SAW THE POTENTIAL OF TURNING CANDY INTO CODE, GIVING GLICODE AN MIC GRANT AND ADOPTING IT AS AN OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAM. GLICODE REACHED OVER 10,000 DOWNLOADS IN THE FIRST 3 MONTHS AND CONTINUES TO GROW AS MORE AND MORE SCHOOLS ADOPT IT INTO THEIR CURRICULUMS. ACROSS THE HUNDREDS OF INITIAL WORKSHOPS WE CONDUCTED, 95% OF CHILDREN WHO EXPERIENCED THE APPLICATION ANSWERED "IT WAS FUN" AND CONTINUED THE EDUCATIONAL GAME AT HOME. 75% OF PARENTS REPLIED THAT "I THINK GLICODE IS USEFUL FOR CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING EDUCATION."