Tokyo life starting with painting

What exactly does it take to make a mascot popular?

In the eyes of Japanese industry insiders in 2004, it was nothing more than a way of spending money for publicity.

Taking the initiative to create hot spots for hot spot marketing is a very novel and bold idea.

It was so bold that many members of the marketing team did not expect that there was such a skill. Likewise, they were somewhat uneasy about the prospect of such bold marketing.

Although most of Osaka's city marketing last time received positive reviews in the eyes of citizens, in the eyes of some extremely idle social critics, Kumamoto Prefecture's method is deviant, and many people posted publicity articles - Kumamon's propaganda seriously disturbed the public. , and also a waste of human resources. To use a Japanese word to summarize it, it is 'heretic' (meaning evil way).

Originally, they thought that was the limit, but they didn't expect that Higashinoji had a bigger plan this time. Not only did they have to contact the Metropolitan Police Department immediately after the abacus was realized,

I wonder if the social evaluation will eventually be as stable as it was in Osaka City last time?

But if they want to think about it, Higashinoji will naturally not care about their thoughts.

Shen Muqiren invited him here because he wanted him to rule as a dictator, and everyone in the marketing team would just follow him, and they wouldn't have to think about the rest.

In addition, Higashinoji is very confident in this Kumamon marketing. This is the marketing strategy used by Kumamon in the previous life. In addition, Higashinoji has added some details and added some New Year elements, such as finding Kumamoto Prefecture. Kumamon's blushers hidden throughout the prefecture can be exchanged for 'New Year's Money' bonuses on the Kumamoto Prefecture's official website - which will be distributed by Kumamon himself.

In the previous life, Kumamoto Prefecture relied on this marketing method to save hundreds of millions of yen in publicity expenses, and this was also the way to promote ‘tap water’.

The so-called "tap water" means that a certain product or movie or topic is interesting and interesting, and people will spontaneously recommend it to their friends without asking for anything in return.

If this step is achieved, the meaning of Kumamon's blush will be known to many Japanese islanders - oh, it turns out that the color of Kumamon's blush represents tomatoes, horse meat, watermelon and other specialties of Kumamoto Prefecture.

This will subtly deepen their impression of Kumamoto Prefecture, which is the most important part of Kumamoto's publicity.

When this marketing is over, the Shinkansen will be opened to traffic later. Kumamon and the Shinkansen will be linked to publicity activities. After Higashinoji’s marketing methods have deepened the image of Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture has Kumamon Bear, which is equivalent to having a person. Signboard to attract customers. There are no counties in Kyushu that are particularly famous to the outside world, so this will inevitably bring many tourists to Kumamoto Prefecture.

It's like everyone was originally a dwarf, but suddenly, there was a tall man among the group of dwarfs. The contrast is very significant.

Two days later, the Kumamoto Prefecture team finally got everything ready, and a huge publicity campaign unknown to outsiders began.

Akashi Ryuji is a male writer for the Tokyo magazine "Trends".

"Current Trends" is a fashion magazine that specializes in explaining the current fashion trends for Japanese girls, including makeup and beauty, popular colors, clothing designs, and some cute or popular gadgets, etc.

"There isn't much good material about Kumamon today."

Akashi Ryuji flipped through the relevant news about Kumamoto Prefecture and looked at the TV channels again, feeling inexplicably sighing in his heart.

In the past few months, there was overwhelming news about Kumamon. At that time, I don’t know how many media reported on Kumamon.

It should be said that I didn't seize the opportunity.

After the Kumamoto Prefecture marketing team arrived, there were no interesting marketing methods like Osaka City. The popularity of Kumamon, which returned to traditional publicity methods, did not increase further. Even Kumamoto Prefecture has not made any big moves recently.

This actually made Akashi Ryuji feel a little regretful.

If Kumamon could continue to be popular, he wouldn't have to waste so much time writing other articles - he could just ride on Kumamon's popularity.

He's done this before.

When the topic of Kumamon was hot, he wrote many articles, praising Kumamon’s design concept and touting it as the most popular mascot nowadays.

But now we can only say that Kumamon’s marketing talents are exhausted.

He sighed and was about to turn off the TV and go back to the study to think about the manuscript.

But before he could do anything, an urgent news item suddenly popped up on the TV.

“The governor of Kumamoto Prefecture announces Kumamon as Japan’s first prefectural sales director.”

On the TV screen, the chubby Kumamon was sitting pretentiously at his desk, with a business manager's nameplate erected in front of him.

Moreover, according to serious reports by TV reporters, Kumamon has completed all legal procedures, and his role as sales manager is legal and reasonable.

This is a big deal, Akashi Ryuuji has never heard of it anyway.

Kumamoto Prefecture is the only place in Japan that has a mascot with a formal administrative position.

And according to TV reports, the position of the sales director has power second only to the governor and deputy governor of Kumamoto Prefecture.

what does that mean?

You must know that in Japan, the administrative level of a county is equivalent to a province in the Chinese dynasty, which means that the status of Kumamon, a mascot, is lower than that of high-ranking officials!

This is definitely a position of high authority!

The governor of Kumamoto Prefecture also announced the news with a serious face, and no one seemed to be joking at all.

Akashi Ryuji's first reaction was: Is the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture crazy, to do such a thing?

But as a magazine writer, he quickly realized that this was actually a false position. Although Kumamon held a high position of power, he was just a mascot and could not really exercise these powers.

In other words, Kumamoto Prefecture used a false position to make news.

Is the gimmick of ‘Japan’s first sales manager’ enough? Is the gimmick of "power second only to the county governor and deputy governor" enough?

That's enough!

You must know that Akashi Ryuji, as an article writer who has a clear understanding of these things, was a little confused when he heard the news. What if those people who were idle at home during the New Year heard the news?

That's like dropping a big bomb into a stagnant water!

There will be positive reviews from the new generation of young people who are trendy, but there will also be negative reviews from the old generation that are conservative. But whether it is a positive review or a negative review, as long as it can cause a sensation, it is a good mascot management method!

Which genius marketing member came up with this method? This "serious and funny" trendy publicity method has the same flavor as the previous publicity in Osaka City.

Who came up with this method?

Akashi Ryuji has a good sense of news topics. He immediately did not hesitate. Looking at the bloated and mischievous Kumamon on TV, he called his friends in Kumamoto Prefecture.

He must take advantage of this heat! And it has to be done beautifully!

And at the same time.

Nagasawa, a local female high school student in Kumamoto Prefecture, who was idle at home, was very excited to call her best friend on the phone: "Thief! Did you see it?! The fat black man has become the sales manager of Kumamoto! I heard that his status is second only to the prefecture. Governor!” (Hei Fatty is the nickname given to Kumamon by Kumamon fans)

County Governor! That is the largest chief executive in a county! Is my own Kumamon already so powerful?

As a long-time fan of Kumamon, Nagasawa's room is filled with Kumamon peripherals. The curtains, keychains, table mats, and sheets are all filled with Kumamon's cute and naughty appearance.

The recent downturn in Kumamon's popularity also makes Nagasawa a little sad.

But this time the proactive measures taken by the Kumamoto Prefectural Government gave her full confidence in Kumamon again.

On the other side, Nagasawa's father couldn't help but shake his head as he watched his daughter calling friends everywhere to announce the good news.

He didn't understand what young people were doing, but a mascot wanted to be an administrative official?

Isn't this nonsense?

The Kumamoto Prefectural Government really has no Showa character at all!

No, no! I have to find a few other old friends and complain properly.

Who are the county councilors now? Is this kind of thing allowed?

Similar to this, the collision of old and new ideas started a wave of enthusiasm.

Not only Kumamoto Prefecture, but also other prefectures, Tokyo, the economic heart of Japan, and Osaka City last year——

The topic of Kumamon becoming the sales manager has generated both positive and negative comments.

Most of the people who made positive comments were young people who liked this novel and trendy news. There were also many Japanese young people who directly shouted the slogan "Showa men have long been out of date, now is the Heisei era". I hope Kumamoto If the county can bring them more surprises, they will fully support it.

Most of the negative comments came from social critics and some middle-aged and elderly people with more conservative ideas. This group of people felt that Kumamoto Prefecture's doing such a thing was simply nonsense! It is unheard of since ancient times for a mascot to serve as a minister! What do those Heisei brats know? We eat more salt than they eat rice! If Japan wants to develop rapidly, it must listen to us!

discuss aggressively!

Positive and negative!

The news became more and more popular. First, some social commentators were killed. Many people sent letters to Kumamoto Prefecture. Later, even the Japanese cabinet was somewhat alarmed and called the Kumamon government to inquire about the specific situation.

After all, this is a county matter, and even they cannot ignore it easily.

Even Higashinoji didn't expect that his promotion method for appetizers would actually cause such a reaction from the society.

You must know that Kumamon's propaganda method at that time only aroused nationwide enthusiasm and did not alarm the cabinet.

But he just thought about it carefully and combined with the current situation of society, he roughly understood the reason.

It is now 2004, and most prefectural governments in Japan still give the impression of being serious and traditional from the Showa period.

At this time, a "serious and funny" Kumamoto Prefectural Government suddenly popped up, which gave people the feeling of "Why is your style of painting different in the whole of Japan?"

This impression is extremely contrasting, and many people cannot accept it.

Just like the reason why "Winner is Right" became popular

Although the plot of Higashino Tsukasa's "The Winner is Right" is exciting, this is not the main reason why it caused controversy. The new trendy ideas in the work from 2013 are the most important reasons for the controversy.

"Captain Higashino, what should we do next?" A young man named Obata from the marketing team came up and asked.

This young man has a rather clever character, and Higashinoji directly orders him to do many things.

But now their entire marketing team is under a lot of pressure.

Although there are many people supporting it, there are also many people who are staring at them and 'firing'.

The grand occasion of having all the eyes of society gathered together really made many members feel their blood pressure soar. Even Obata was scolded by his father and asked him what the hell he was marketing.

"Just follow the original process for promotion." Higashino answered without thinking.

We have already reached this point, so there is no such thing as giving up.

"But" Obata hesitated.

"Nothing is impossible." Higashinoji still looked calm: "This is exactly the situation we want. There are both positive and negative reviews. We must make use of this topicality to make the next Kumamon even more popular."

Obata couldn't help but glance at Higashinoji.

He felt that he had indeed made a mistake.

When Higashinoji first joined the marketing team as the team leader two days ago, he thought he was the kind of boss who was easy to talk to. But what he didn't expect was that although Higashinoji was easy to talk to, it was only under the premise of not touching Higashinoji's plan. ——

What if you have a bad idea and want to disturb Higashinoji's planned plan? Then he will be strong when he needs to be strong, and he will fall out when he needs to, and he will never say a word.

More than one person has expressed opinions on Higashinoji, wanting him to change his methods to milder and more traditional propaganda, but all of them are useless. Higashinoji will smile and use very polite words to block what you want to say.

If you continue to make strong suggestions, Tonoji will remind you mercilessly. If you are reminded three times, you will leave the marketing team directly.

It almost feels like life or death is determined by one word.

This is really courageous.

Their work is inherently simple, but the most difficult part is when Higashino considers the marketing plan, so even if he kicks out a few people, he immediately transfers people from other departments.

As the team leader, Higashinoji is very courageous and has a cold attitude. As a result, Obata clearly feels that the entire marketing team is being led by Higashinoji.

Is this the so-called leader's momentum? Really awesome.

But it seems that my father still needs to deal with it properly.

Obata rubbed his head and decided to follow Higashinoji.

Maybe Kumamon’s marketing was really successful in the end?

With this thought in mind, he returned to his desk and started working.

do my best! For Japan’s No. 1 mascot!

With the hard work of the marketing team, Kumamon's plans for finding blushers are getting better and better, and many places are already ready, just waiting for the popularity to continue to ferment to a higher level.

About three days later, Kumamon’s main marketing method quietly began

Thanks to Black Cat Deer, That Touch of Obsession, Book Friends 20190528130923445, Binglinghantian, Tea Rice Narcissus, Illusory Original Sin, Book Friends 20170301195325931 for their rewards! Thank you so much