Credo of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals:

Creating a world without the need for drugs by improving everyday health

Social circumstance:

Long working hours and low productivity has been problematic issue among Japanese businesspeople, and the number of depression patients has long been increasing, even recognized as a serious social problem.

Brand status:

-The brand sells well during the hot summer season because people sweat and they want to rehydrate, which is major benefit of the beverage.

-As a new, season-free hydrating scene, we focused on the sauna which is appreciated by global top executives to improve their productivity.

The purpose of the brand:

By developing the sauna market and increasing the number of facilities that introduce the Ion Water, improve the productivity and health of Japanese business people and increase the product sales throughout the year.

The idea was to transform a general perception towards sauna in Japan to a thing that cool and productive people do, from its old-fashioned and uncool image which had long been formed. As a hydrating scene that promotes health through hydration, the sauna, appreciated by global top executives around the world for improving their productivity, has come to our mind; however, the general perception towards sauna in Japan was totally opposite as “uncool thing that only middle-aged exhausted men go”. By changing that general uncool perception among younger generation and eventually business people, we challenged to achieve the goal of the brand.

Sauna facilities are important touch points that customers can have the brand experience; however, the number of sauna facilities that introduced the product was quite small. To solve the issue, we developed the certain system and program that turns the voice of the customer into numerical value and visualize it. By implementing the program, sauna facilities could numerically and visually understand voices of their customers and eventually become they can not help introducing the product. Besides, to strengthen the image of “Sauna = Ion Water”, we set the core target to active younger generation. By combining sauna with their preferred scene, we created the whole new Sauna experience. Inducing the interest of younger generation by those activities, we challenged to change the perception towards sauna.

January 2019 -

Launched the experience program on the sauna search community website.

February 2019 - October 2019

Multiple outdoor events combining sauna with camping.

The new sauna experience became a hot topic on social media and gained many shares.

May-June 2019

Sauna Camp at a music festival gained a lot of media exposure.

Cool image spread to younger generations

July-September 2019

supporting a series of TV dramas series that featured sauna as its main theme.

The drama portrayed the story of a business person who uses the sauna for improving his productivity on his work.

September-November 2019

promoted "Improving Productivity with Saunas"; acquired numerous media exposure, mainly on TV news programs.

February 2020

Collaborated with a famous Japanese artist and created the song titled “SAUNA SONG”, which has the theme "People can be saved by sauna".

Acquired numerous media exposure, mainly from media targeted business people.

-After the program, the number of sauna facilities introduced the product has increased 18 times more than before the program, from 61 to 1142.

-The yearly sales of the product from those sauna facilities and related activities is expected to reach 36 million USD

-The amount of money spent per business person to the product for a year increased 1.4 times more than before the program started

-The number of tweets about sauna on February 2020 is twice the number of tweets before the program started

-The common social recognition of drinking the Ion Water when going to sauna” has been formed

All those phenomenon had not been seen before the program started and it clearly indicates the program triggered the current huge sauna boom in Japan.