SEKIMILK is a regional milk producer in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan. It produces fresh, wholesome milk for a variety of kinds of stores in the area, as well as schools. In the elementary schools, where milk plays an important role in providing for the children's everyday nutrition, the schools and SEKIMILK were noticing that a large percentage of the kids weren't finishing their daily bottles. So, the school system in the area, concerned about the kids' daily nutrition intake, asked SEKIMILK what they could do to have them finish their milk. The budget was minimal at best, and the coverage would be across the Prefecture affecting some 40 schools.

In the case of schools in Gifu Prefecture, SEKIMILK is a strong and trusted brand for the target audience, which is the elementary schools and their students. And knowing the kids the way SEKIMILK does, the idea came about quite naturally.

Leveraging the kids' love for manga—or Japanese comics—the bottles were painted with 4 frames of comics, in white ink, so invisible when the bottles are full. Reading from top to bottom, which is how Japanese is traditionally taught to be read, the manga was revealed to the kids as they drank the milk bottles. In fact, to finish the comic strip, the kids would have to finish the bottle completely, which they gladly did.

In Gifu Prefecture, elementary schools were noticing that 65% of the children weren't drinking all the milk they were served. This led to the schools wanting a way to solve the problem of the kids not getting all the nutrition they needed.

The strategy was to solve this issue by making the act of drinking milk more fun, which is the strongest currency available in influencing 6-10-year olds' behavior.

Knowing that kids love nothing more than Japanese manga led to thinking how to connect the two. Having the manga painted in white ink on the bottle, so manga could be seen as the milk was consumed, was the real epiphany. And it came out of a strategy of "engaging fun".

After conceiving of and selling the idea, the first challenge was finding the right manga artist. And then working with a printing company that could make the printing idea a reality.

The manga artist, Ami Kanzei, was the perfect choice as her background was in creating manga for a variety of surfaces. Her bolder, broader style was just right for the task of the comics printing and adhering to the thick glass bottles.

The ongoing series displayed fun, fresh characters that engaged the kids with simple, entertaining storylines.

The bottle printing took rounds of trial and error until perseverance paid off 6 weeks after the first attempts.

The bottles were supplied to the schools on a weekly basis, with a new story each week, keeping the kids interested and finishing their milk.

News coverage captivated Gifu prefecture, spreading the desire to bring the Milk Manga bottles to all 40 schools.

In Gifu Prefecture, after 15 weeks of distributing the Milk Manga bottles, 95% of the children were finishing all of their milk, enjoying 100% of the milk's nutrients.

In addition, the earned media value from the new coverage the Milk Manga bottles received totaled US$2 million, encouraging more schools, even beyond Gifu Prefecture to speak with SEKIMILK about supplying their schools with the Milk Manga.