1 2
 
 
  • SUB CATEGORY :
    USE OF AUDIO
  • COMPANY ENTERING :
    DENTSU INC., TOKYO
  • TITLE :
    THE AUDIO-BENTO
  • BRAND :
    TABILUMINE
  • ADVERTISER :
    LUMINE
  • AGENCY :
    DENTSU INC., TOKYO
  • EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :
    KOICHIRO TODA
  • CREATIVE DIRECTOR :
    SOICHI ONO
  • ART DIRECTOR :
    SERI TANAKA
  • COPYWRITER :
    MINAMI NAKAZAWA
  • AGENCY PRODUCER :
    KOJI ABE/KEISUKE IIDA/TAIGA OGAWA
  • PRODUCER :
    RYO NAGASAWA/MARIE STEPHANIE IEKURA/MAMI TOZAWA
  • ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE :
    KEIICHIRO ADACHI/JUN MAEDA
  • PLANNER :
    KEISUKE SATO
  • COLLABORATOR :
    TOSHIMITSU YOSHINO
  • MEDIA AGENCY :
    TOKYO FM, TOKYO
  • PLANNER :
    MAYA NAGATA
  • PR AGENCY :
    PLATINUM INC., TOKYO
  • PR DIRECTOR :
    YUYA HAMAMURA
  • PR MANAGER :
    HANA MORIWAKI
  • MEDIA RELATIONS :
    TAKUMI NAKAO
  • SOUND PRODUCTION COMPANY :
    SHA-LA-LA COMPANY, TOKYO
  • SOUND DESIGNER :
    TOYOHIRO SUZUKI
  • SCRIPTWRITER :
    MASATO KITASAKA
  • NARRATOR :
    SAYAKA WATABIKI
  • PRINT PRODUCTION COMPANY :
    CC INC., TOKYO/MARU INC., TOKYO
  • DESIGNER :
    YUIKO FUJITA/KEIGO KOWATA
  • PRODUCER :
    KATSUHIRO NIWA/SHIHO HASEGAWA
  • ENGLISH SCRIPT :
    HOW DO YOU MEET THE NEED FOR TRAVEL WHEN TRAVEL IS RESTRICTED? WE FOUND THE ANSWER IN A BENTO BOX. THE AUDIO-BENTO WHEN MAJOR JAPANESE SHOPPING CENTER LUMINE LAUNCHED ITS TRAVEL EXPERIENCES BRAND RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THEY FOCUSED ON ONE OF THE BIGGEST ATTRACTIONS OF TRAVEL: FOOD. THEY DESIGNED A BENTO PACKED WITH POPULAR MAIN AND SIDE DISHES FROM THE SCENIC REGION OF YAMAGATA. THEN, VIA A QR CODE ON THE BENTO WRAPPER, THEY LINKED THE BENTO TO AN EVOCATIVE TWENTY-MINUTE AUDIO TRAVELOGUE SET IN YAMAGATA. (THE TRAVELOGUE FEATURED LOCALS TALKING COLORFULLY IN THEIR REGIONAL DIALECTS ABOUT THE DISHES IN THE BENTO, AS WELL AS THE REGION’S CLIMATE AND CULTURE.) (THE BENTO WRAPPER SERVED AS A LUNCH MAT FEATURING POETIC DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH DISH, PROVIDING USERS WITH A BEAUTIFUL MAP OF THEIR “TRIP.”) THROUGH EVERY VIVID SOUND AND EVERY DELICIOUS BITE, THE USERS WERE TRANSPORTED TO ANOTHER PLACE FOR A VIRTUAL LUNCHTIME VACATION. DESPITE MINIMAL ADVERTISING, THE BENTOS SOLD OUT EVERY DAY. AS A RESULT, LUMINE’S NEW TRAVEL BRAND WAS ABLE TO QUICKLY ESTABLISH ITSELF AS A PROVIDER OF UNIQUE TRAVEL EXPERIENCES—AN IMAGE THAT HELPED THE BRAND’S SUBSEQUENT REMOTE TOURS ALSO SELL OUT. WE WERE ALSO ABLE TO INTRODUCE A NOVEL AUDIO-CULINARY EXPERIENCE THAT GARNERED GREAT INTEREST FROM REGIONS ACROSS JAPAN, AND THERE ARE ALREADY PLANS FOR A SECOND AUDIO-BENTO. “A BENTO THAT FEELS LIKE AN ACTUAL JOURNEY.” –DAILY SHINJUKU “A SHORT VACATION VIA LUMINE’S NEW BENTO EXPERIENCE.” –CITYLIVING ”I’LL EAT THIS AT HOME AND GO ON A SHORT VACATION.” --@JUN1_1883 “FOR JUST 20 MINUTES, I FELT LIKE I WAS IN YAMAGATA.” –KUMIKOTAKO0935 “I WENT ON A 20-MINUTE TRIP WHILE EATING A BENTO.” --@JOYCOOONOTE “I LOVE THIS WAY OF ’TRAVELING’ TO YAMAGATA.” –LUKE2350410 “THE PERFECT BENTO LUNCH FOR ONE.” –JOSHI TABI JOURNAL A VIRTUAL LUNCHTIME VACATION PRODUCED THROUGH SOUND AND TASTE THE AUDIO-BENTO
  • CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :
    Even as COVID-19 continued to restrict travel, major Japanese shopping center LUMINE developed a new travel experiences brand. Their immediate goal was to provide unique experiences that would be able to meet the travel needs of consumers whose plans had been thwarted by COVID-19. And so, they focused on one of the biggest attractions of travel: food. They designed a bento packed with popular main and side dishes from the scenic region of Yamagata. But they also produced a 20-minute audio travelogue featuring sounds and native dialects recorded in Yamagata, which could be instantly accessed from a smartphone by scanning a QR code on the bento wrapper. The idea was for the user to put on headphones to listen to the travelogue while eating the bento, transporting them to another place through vivid sound and rich flavors for a virtual lunchtime vacation. By selling the bentos in their shopping centers—located in buildings with direct links to major train stations in business districts—LUMINE was able to use owned media to widely promote the bentos with minimal advertising. The product, meanwhile, helped transform lunchtime itself into a medium for travel experiences. As a result, the bentos sold out every day, satiating the hunger for travel among Japanese office workers. LUMINE’s new travel brand quickly established itself as a provider of unique travel experiences, an image that helped its subsequent remote tours also sell out. The idea has become a hit among travel destinations around Japan, and there are already plans for a second Audio-Bento.
  • THE BRIEF :
    Even as COVID-19 continued to make travel difficult around the world, major Japanese shopping center LUMINE developed a new travel experiences brand designed to connect people. Our immediate was goal was to help the brand explore the possibilities of meeting the needs of people wanting to travel when most major travel was restricted. We eventually arrived at a conceptual theory: even if people could not travel, maybe there was a way to “transport” them.
  • THE STRATEGY :
    We focused on a major attraction of travel: food. Targeting office workers who were unable to eat out or go on vacation because of COVID-19 restrictions, we designed a package that combined a bento that could be eaten in the office and an audio travelogue that linked directly to the dishes featured in the bento. We decided to sell the “audio-bentos” in LUMINE’s shopping centers, located in buildings with direct links to major train stations, essentially using owned media to widely promote the bentos with minimal advertising. Our intent was to transform lunchtime itself into a medium for travel experiences.
  • THE EXECUTION :
    We packed the bento with popular main and side dishes from the scenic region of Yamagata. The audio travelogue itself featured sounds recorded in Yamagata and the area’s natives colorfully talking in their regional dialects. Through the use of vivid sound and delicious food that complemented each other, we sought to transport users to another place for a virtual lunchtime vacation—in the process, transforming lunchtime itself into a medium for travel experiences and solidifying the innovative image of LUMINE’s travel experiences brand.
  • THE RESULT :
    Despite a low-key advertising campaign made necessary by COVID-19 restrictions, the bentos sold out every day. As a result, LUMINE’s new travel brand was able to quickly establish itself as a provider of unique travel experiences—an image that helped the brand’s subsequent remote tours also sell out. We were also able to introduce a novel audio-culinary experience that garnered great interest from regions across Japan; there are already plans for a second Audio-Bento.