Asahi BOLS Giveaway‏

BOLS liqueur, "born in Amsterdam in 1575", goes through Asahi in Japan. Asahi is giving away 10 bottles of Raspberry BOLS to Asahi web service members to sign in and click on the giveaway.

http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/enjoy/liquorworld/campaign/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Xylish Inc‏

Meiji has started a promotion for its Xylish brand of xylitol (a sweetener which actually promotes dental health) containing gum by opening a Xylish Inc. website. It is a pseudo company called Xylish Inc. and with a CEO named Fukuyama (福山CEO) and they are now taking suggestions for projects. Registering at the site does not require personal information. The company's goal is to support working people and project suggestions should support that goal. A number of projects will be selected. I assume that the selected projects will be addressed through online collaboration with people who register. Too early now to get a grip on exactly what this will look like. It does seem to be a fairly elaborate promotion though.

http://xylishinc.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

MINISTOP Unagi Orders‏

MINISTOP, the convenience store chain, is taking orders for special unagi (eel) bentos for the day of the ox (土用の丑の日), July 27th this year, which is thought to be the hottest day of the summer. In Japan, it is tradition to eat eel on this day. The unagi from Hiroshima sells at a premium: 1,680 yen, compared with 1,380 yen for the Chinese unagi.

http://www.ministop.co.jp/syohin/reserve/unagi/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

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Luna Mango Vanilla Yogurt‏

Luna claims to be Japan's biggest seller of vanilla yogurt. They just added a mango flavor to that line of products (mango vanilla yogurt).

http://www.nipponluna.co.jp/products/vanilla/mangovani.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Developmental Support Campaign‏

As part of its infant food line, Meiji is promoting its line of developmental foods (first foods) with a giveaway of a variety of toys for infants and young children. Entry is by collecting proof of purchase seals and mailing them in.

http://www.meiji-hohoemi.com/y_cp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Clear Fruit ZERO Promotion‏

Sapporo beer in another promotion with "Happiness +", a women's interest website is giving away cans of its zero alcohol chuhai product Clear Fruit Zero (すっきり果実のZERO). Entry is via web form.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/hppla/campaign/sukkirizero/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Bikkuri Donkey Candle Light Dinner‏

Bikkuri Donkey, a family restaurant chain that specializes in chopped steak as it is called in the US, is holding a promotion where they encourage people to eat more slowly by dimming the lights and lighting candles. The expect to serve 1 million people this way. Nothing is being given away and there are no discounts from what I can see, but I suppose it is a way to give a slightly more upscale image to the evening hours.

FYI, they serve "hanbagu" (ハンバーグ) which means chopped steak or hamburger steak. This is not to be confused with "hanbaga" ハンバーガー which is a hamburger.

http://www.bikkuri-donkey.com/campaign/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Pepsi Salty Watermelon‏

Pepsi is introducing an interesting Pepsi variation for summer - Salty Watermelon. It is a red cola with a taste that fits summertime. It will be available nationwide July 24th.

http://topics.blog.suntory.co.jp/004491.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Don't Look Away Campaign‏

Sapporo is holding a "Don't Look Away" campaign where you watch an internet movie about a devious woman (騙す女) and her husband. You then have to answer difficult questions about what you have just seen and the questions change so that the same set of questions rarely comes up. If you answer the questions correctly, you get a change at 1,122,00 yen (about 13 thousand dollars) or cans of Suntory Golden low calorie happoshu beer (金のオフ) and are encouraged to drink them as a couple.

The web page has questions like, "what is the wife's aim?" (妻の狙いは？) and "what is the husband's fate?"(夫の運命は？). The giveaway amount of money comes from "good couple" or "いいふうふ" which can be read as 1-1-2-2. A well known female actress, Hiromi Nagasaku (永作博美), plays the lead.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/kinnooff/minogasenai/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Beringer Wine Promotion‏

Sapporo is promoting Beringer Rose Wine from California with a giveaway of cooking items and clothes aimed at young females. Winners are determined by scratch off seals on the bottles.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/wine/beringer/girlscp/campaign.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Suntory Sesame Barley Tea for Dad Campaign‏

For Father's Day season, Suntory is holding a giveaway a chance at free samples of its high blood pressure reducing sesame barley tea (胡麻麦茶) to people who answer a simple quiz. This drink carries an authorized health claim, and middle-aged men are an obvious target for marketing. The timing of this promotion also coincides with the season when many people are watching their health extra closely in preparation for company physical check-ups, which are mandatory and focus on life-style disease related indicators such as high blood pressure.

http://www.suntory.co.jp/softdrink/gomamugicha/cp/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt Amino Collagen Campaign‏

Meiji is cross promoting Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt (the best selling yogurt brand in Japan and a FOSHU product) with Meiji Amino Collagen (the best selling collagen supplement in Japan). In this "Beauty and Health" campaign mixing Amino Collagen supplement in with Bulgaria yogurt is promoted as one way to promote both beauty and health. Entry requires submission of a questionnaire and winners receive product coupons.

http://www.meiji.co.jp/health/amicolla/bikenshukan/cmp/120402_bikenshukan/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Eclipse T-shirts‏

To celebrate the annular or golden ring solar eclipse (金環日食), Sapporo is giving away T-shirt with the date and ads for their Barley and Hops happoshu beer (麦とホップ) which by coincidence carries a similar golden ring on its label. Entry involves mailing in proof of purchase marks on 6-packs.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/mugitohop/nissyokutshirt/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Suntory Four Seasons Spa

Suntory is promoting its Oolong Hicha Oriental Blend Tea (烏龍妃茶) by giving away five overnight stays (2 people each) at the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo and passes to the hotel's Yu Spa. The product name and product ingredients come from health foods said to have been consumed by Chinese empresses (中国王妃).

This tea is advertised to contain jujube (ナツメ), lotus leaf (ハスの葉) and Chinese wolfberry (クコ).

http://www.suntory.co.jp/softdrink/oolongtea/biryokucp/?fromid=topics

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Canon Camera Giveaway‏

Sapporo beer is conducting a Canon camera giveaway in conjunction with "Happiness +", a women's interest website and "withPhoto" a women's photo site. Entry requires registration on the "withPhoto" site. Not exactly sure how this promotes Sapporo products though.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/hppla/campaign/withphoto/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Summer Colors Premium‏

Sapporo is offering a Summer Colors Premium beer (夏の彩) which is on sale only at convenience stores and uses Japanese malt, Furano Golden Star hops and Hokkaido rice. Hokkaido is often used to represent ideal seasons and colors in Japan. Summers are cool and colorful in Hokkaido, but hot and humid in much of the rest of Japan.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/product/sapporo/nihonnoirodori_premium/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji RakuRaku Cube Disney Promotion‏

Meiji is promoting RakuRaku Cube infant formula with campaign where people mail in proof of purchases (20 or 35). All entrants receive free product and grand prize winners win 2 days at Disney Resort plus a night at a Disney hotel.

http://www.meiji-hohoemi.com/raku2/campaign/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Hokkaido Premium‏

Sapporo will introduce Hokkaido Premium happoshu beer early next month. The product will use Hokkaido malt and Furano (富良野 also Hokkaido) region hops and is thus said to have a refreshing, umami-containing Hokkaido taste.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/hokkaidopremium/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Asahi World Beer Lectures & Factory Tours‏

Asahi is holding free tours and lectures on beer history and world beers, including tastings, at several of its factories around Japan this coming weekend.

Hoegaarden, Leffe, Bass, Stella Artois and Lowenbrau go through Asahi in Japan.

http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/calendar/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Cassis-i Giveaway‏

Meiji is promoting its Cassis-i supplements (カシス or black currants) with a product giveaway. Cassis berries contain anthocyanins, polyphenols and beta-carotene. The black currents are from New Zealand and are advertised as containing much more anthocyanin goodness than black berries.

http://www.meiji.co.jp/health/cassis-i/cmp/120601_kukkiri/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Asahi Japan Gold‏

Asahi is introducing a new third category beer to help cheer on the Japanese Olympic team. Asahi is an Olympic partner, thus the Olympic mark, and they have incorporated English hops, Kent Golden, for use in this product. This is obviously because the Olympics are being held in London. The gold and the design on this can sure do look nice.

http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/japangold/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Kopan Lupicia Promotion‏

Meiji is holding a promotion with Lupicia (the French tea and tea shop brand) to promote Meiji Kopan bread crisps. Winners receive Kopan, Lupicia tea and jam sets.

Entry is by barcode affixed to a postcard.

http://www.meiji.co.jp/sweets/biscuit/copan/cmp/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Protein Diet Giveaway‏

Meiji is giving away product to promote their Protein Diet line of protein mix meal replacement. Entry is via webform after logging on to the Meiji members club site.

http://www.meiji.co.jp/health/p-plus/dietsupport/proteinpoint/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Lola CoQ10 Giveaway‏

Meiji is giving away product to promote their Lola brand CoQ10 supplements. Entry is by web form after logging onto the company's members page.

http://www.meiji.co.jp/health/lola/cmp/120601_lolacmp/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

iTunes Circle K Sunkus Promotion‏

Many Japanese promotions only seem to make sense once you have bought into the club or marketing scheme that has been created by the retailer. In this case, Circle K Sunkus stores have a Karuwaza Club which allows to user to earn points on purchases, use Rakuten Edy points and get coupons in store items. If you are a member of this club and go to a special Karuwaza Station (which looks similar to a banking machine) located inside the convenience store, you can get Mokupon coupons (which is short for Thursday coupon 木ーポン). These coupons are advertised as being for Thursday discounts on a variety of items, but in this case the coupons are available for a full 3 week period and give the customer a discount on the purchase of iTunes prepaid cards. There really is much more to these Karuwaza Stations and I should explain fully as some point.

http://www.circleksunkus.jp/cs/sale/itunes_card/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Itoyokado Home Delivery‏

Itoyokado (retailer and sister company to 7-Eleven) is offering a home delivery service called Net-Super(market). I assume this is as much about responding to the graying of Japan as it is about convenience. But is really is an interesting service. With Itoyokado's nationwide outlets covering most of Japan, they can respond to orders very quickly. They promise to deliver orders as fast as 4 hours from the time the order is placed and the website will take orders 23 hours a day.

Membership is free and they are currently holding a free delivery campaign (I couldn't readily find how much delivery will cost after the campaign.)

Articles advertised include food, personal and household items.

https://www.iy-net.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Asahi Extra Cold Happy Cheers Campaign‏

Asahi is holding a campaign where there are multiple chances to win sets of Asahi Dry beer. The main way is to follow Asahi on Twitter or Facebook and fill in a web form. You can also collect proof of purchase seals and send them in.

Asahi is also opening a number of Extra Cold Bars for the summer in major cities.

http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/superdry/extracold/cheers/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Kameda French Vacation Giveaway

Kamedo, the confectionary maker, is giving away 5 two person round trip vacations to France (8 days, 6 nights). Entry is by mailing in the answer to a quiz by postcard. The giveaway is to promote a dashi flavored line of rice crackers.

http://www.teshioya.com/campaign/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Pronto June Pastas‏

Pronto, the coffee shop chain, features different pastas each month. This months pastas are meat sauce spaghetti with paprika from the Shinshu (信州, old name for Nagano) region of Japan, chilled spicy cod roe (mentaiko 明太子) fresh pasta salad, and ginger flavored pasta with plum chicken and a plum on top (the plums are from the Kishu 紀州 region of Japan, old name for Wakayama).

http://www.pronto.co.jp/menu/cafe/food.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Daiei Accepts Union Pay Cards

Increasingly retailers across Japan are starting to accept Chinese Union Pay (or Ginren) credit cards. I first started seeing them several years ago, mainly in tourist spots like Akihabara, but now even Daiei accepts these credit cards. That says a lot about the number of Chinese vistors and their buying power.

http://shop.daiei.co.jp/shop/PickupShopView.do?pickid=58

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Asahi Style Free Giveaway‏

Asahi is giving away 2 cans of their Style Free (zero sugar) hoppushu beer for 100 registered members of its online site.

http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/stylefree/cp/120618-120713/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Suntory Gatorade Running Events‏

During the end of June, Suntory is holding daily Fun Race events to promote Gatorade Run sports drink. People who participate in the daily Regular Races earn chances at cases of product. People who run in the weekly One More Run Race 10 km races earn changes at participating in the 7th Annual Shonan Marathon. Entry is via either Twitter or Facebook.

http://gatorade.jp/funrace/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

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Pronto Cured Ham and Wine‏

Proto has been turning itself into a coffee shop during the day and something of a pub in the evening. During the day is competes with shops like Starbucks, but in the evening full menus and assorted alcoholic drinks. This cured ham and red wine special may give you a feel for what they are aiming at.

http://www.pronto.co.jp/menu/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Daiei Heart Point Plus+ Card

With the world's fastest graying population, Japan's retailers are increasingly catering to seniors. Daiei announed at special point card for seniors 60-years-old and older which gives holders 5 times the normal points on the 15th of each month. I assume the Daiei stores will be filled with seniors on this day each month.

http://shop.daiei.co.jp/blog/whatsnew/51505e3ba4d39fe90b624b707835676e.do

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Pronto Wakayama Menu‏

Proto, the coffee shop chain, has a seasonal menu featuring food or ingredients from Wakayama. Among other things, Wakayama is well known in Japan for the relatively large number of pandas held there including several panda births in recent years. Wakayama is probably most famous for the plums grown there (紀州梅 Kishu plum), but they also have a traditional deep sea fishing industry and are thus also known for tuna and sardines. The Wakayama menu includes Kishu plum highball, sakura bincho tuna carpaccio, penne with smoked marlin, plum chicken and cucumber salad with plum dressing, young sardine in garlic sauce and butter, and sakura bincho tuna and avocado tartar.

http://www.pronto.co.jp/menu/bar/food.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Black Label Mug Giveaway‏

Sapporo is giving away personalized mugs to celebrate 35 years of Sapporo Black Label beer. Entry is by proof of purchase and postcard.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/beer/cp_tumbler/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Asahi Slat Giveaway‏

Asahi is celebrating the introduction of a new flavor of their new Slat alcohol brand. This is a mikan sour, meaning that it is made from mikan oranges and shochu distilled liquor. It is advertised as hinyari tsubutsubu (ひんやりつぶつぶ) which means something like "pleasantly cool with pulp". Asahi is giving away product to members of its online web service.

http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/slat/cp/120612-120626/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

KFC Twister Twitter Giveaway‏

KFC gave away 200 Twisters to people who followed and tweeted about the Twister Campaign.

http://twister.kfc.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Edy to Rakuten Edy Campaign‏

Many stores, including Circle K Sunkus convenience stores are participating in the Rakuten Edy Campaign to promote the new name of the digital wallet (or digital money, or prepaid card) service. The company which runs the popular digital wallet service Edy (which stands for euro, dollar, yen) became a subsidiary of Rakuten (楽天) last year. Therefore the name of the company and the service was changed to Rakuten Edy (楽天Edy) this month. Anyone who uses 500 yen or more of this service this month wins chances at up to 10,000 yen in Rakuten Edy points. The total giveaway is 3,000,000 yen in Rakuten Edy points.

http://www.circleksunkus.jp/cs/campaign/rakutenedy/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Youn-a Yukata Event‏

Sapporo is holding an event where entrants (which are limited to females 20 and older) are invited to a yukata (or summer cotton kimono) event with the Korean star Youn-a in Tokyo. The event is to promote imported Korean makkori, thus the tie-in with a Korean model and talent. Interesting idea, but obviously aimed at young females, a category somewhat difficult for beer companies to reach usually.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/oishiimakguli/josikai/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Pronto Frozen Espresso‏

Proto, the coffee shop chain, has added a frozen espresso to its summer menu.

http://www.pronto.co.jp/menu/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Haagen-Dazs Apricot Tart‏

A new flavor for Haagen-Dazs Japan is apricot tart.

http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/apricot_tart/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

McDonald's Olympic Glass Giveaway‏

McDonald's is giving away a commutative Coke-Olympic glass with the purchase of a large value set meal. Three colors for 10 days, and a different three colors for another 10 days.

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/coke_glass/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Yebisu Giveaway‏

Sapporo is giving away seasonal gift sets of its premium brand, Yebisu, exclusively to members of its online club.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/sapporo_enq/0051/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Tully's Qi Wireless Recharging Service

Tully's is offering the use of Qi wireless recharging pads in selected stores. Qi is an international standard for wirelessly recharging electronics, but for the present it is only integrated into a limited number of smart phones (all Japanese brands from what I can tell). To use this with an iPhone, for example, special cover would have to be purchased.

(PDF file)
http://www.tullys.co.jp/u/pdfs/0525a.pdf

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Glico Dairy BifiX Campaign‏

Glico Dairy is holding a giveaway to promote its new BifiX brand bifidobacteria probiotic yogurt line. Proof of purchase is required and JTB travel vouchers are among the prizes.

http://www.glico-dairy.co.jp/cp/probiotics/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Coca Cola Venting Machine Energy Savings‏

The energy used by vending machines became a news item last year when Japan was experiencing blackouts. Coca Cola depends on vending machines as much as or more than any other company in Japan. They responded with energy saving measures such as turning off lights and using lower power bulbs as well as periodic shutdown of the cooling units.

For this summer during the peak energy usage period, they have a new plan and claim that it will result in an energy savings of 15% on 800,000 vending machines nationwide. As can be seen from the chart, during the peak energy usage hours of 13:00 to 16:00, the cooling units on all machines will be shut off. For non-peak hours, the machines will be separated into 6 groups and at all times from 9 am to 10 pm, one of the 6 groups will have its cooling units shut off. (The 15% cut is calculated in comparison with running the cooling units constantly.)

http://www.cocacola.co.jp/info/savingenergy_statement.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

MegMilk Snow Brand 6P Cheese Giveaway‏

Snow Brand is giving away cheese sets to promote new flavors of its 6P (6 piece) cheese product series. These new flavors will only be sold in Hokkaido, so this contest is the only way for people in other areas to try them. The three flavors are scallop (ホタテ), curry soup (スープカレー), and corn (とうきび).

"Tokibi" (とうきび) is an alternate way of saying "tomorokoshi" (とうもろこし) or "corn".

http://www.snow6p.jp/campaign1206/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Suntory (Rolling) Stones Bar

I just came across this in a convenience store last night, even though it is supposed to go on sale today. Very interesting, and great marketing. The packaging, copy and web graphics are very nice. I would love to know what kind of collaboration was behind the planning for this line. Japanese companies typically only target the Japanese market and therefore the copy is difficult comprehend without a knowledge of Japanese and Japanese culture, and when they use English it is often butchered. This campaign could be taken directly to the US without any significant change. I would think the Rolling Stones people had a hand in quality control, but the people at Suntory are also increasingly adept at more international markets.

What I saw and bought was the Rolling Gold drink which is a chuhai like drink, tasting like fruit juice. I see they also have a hoppushu beer, and a highball variety also.

http://www.suntory.co.jp/stonesbar/index.html




Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Starbucks Macha Frappuccino with Chocolate Chip‏s

Starbucks is also adding chocolate chips to its Macha Cream Frappuccino for a limited time.

http://store.starbucks.co.jp/beverage/frappuccino/cream/4524785198647/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.