Taking advantage of the current marathon boom and Dole’s sponsorship of the Tokyo Marathon, we developed an all-out pursuit of good luck for the many runners who want to participate in the Tokyo Marathon. For the campaign, a special banana was selected from over 100 varieties of banana, and designated a 'lucky banana' because of its success in winning this honor.Following the example of Japan’s most successful Japanese marathon team, we played a 'lucky song' selected by that team to the bananas while they were ripening. As the saying goes, 'Man turns to the Gods only when in trouble'. By emulating the Japanese custom to visit a shrine to wish for good luck, we developed a 'lucky banana' vending-machine combined with a shrine. Each lucky banana sold has an 'omikuji' (written fortune), giving advice on how to bring good luck.The campaign caught the attention of both the mass-media and social-media, obtaining a PR value of US$2.5m. The atmosphere of bringing good luck with the lucky banana led to customer-purchases that boosted banana-sales by 250%.

We relentlessly pursued good luck.In the process of ripening the bananas, we played a 'lucky song' for them, following the successful example of Japan’s luckiest marathon team.In terminal stations, we set up vending machines for Dole's 'Lucky Banana'. An event was held where people could gete the banana for free if they checked in on SNS. Friends who saw their tweets and comments on SNS bought the special bananas.Also, taking advantage of the Japanese custom to visit a shrine to wish for good luck, the banana vending machines emulated elements of a shrine to sell the bananas. Each banana had an ‘omikuji’ (written fortune) attached, giving advice and wishing luck to purchasers who wished to be selected by lottery for the upcoming Tokyo Marathon.

With communication with runners used as a driver for creating buzz, a total of 60 media, including TV programs and websites covered the campaign, producing a PR value of US$2.5m in earned media, and obtaining 11 times more exposure over cost.

The campaign successfully increased recognition of 'Gokusen', not only among runners, but also among a wide range of consumers, and differentiated the brand from others.

The total shipments of Dole bananas increased 250% over the same period last year. The campaign also contributed to increased display-space in stores.