Energizer had low brand awareness in Japan, and the pandemic disruptions made it clear that Energizer needed to innovate to engage with consumers and build brand affinity, regardless of the status of on-ground/in-store activity. During the spring of 2020, Energizer had to relook at the way it communicated with consumers, and had to innovate to be more relevant.

As Japan is prone to natural disasters, disaster-proofing is a crucial drill, which results in a surge of shopping activity in the middle of the year with people spending on emergency essentials. This was a clear opportunity for Energizer Lights, but there was the added challenge of the effects and disruptions of the Coronavirus, and considering the brand’s low marketing efforts in the country, Energizer Japan had to find an innovative way to penetrate the market, engage and communicate with people, and build brand affinity.

Battery brands talk about batteries first; however, we shifted focus to our portable lights, and developed a digital entertainment platform to increase engagement. These products and the light beams they generate became tools and weapons to fight the darkness, and be prepared to face possible disasters by winning "Bousai" kits.

We flipped our usual way of communication, by moving away from promoting batteries, to launching our portable lights to have a voice in the "national disaster preparedness month", and increase brand awareness.

This allowed us to contextualize and visualize our products better in these situations, including placing them as survival tools for conquering the dark in an html-manga series.

We moved away from our traditional retail-focused communication to digital channels to guarantee consumer engagement regardless of covid restrictions, and used a beautifully dynamic Manga medium to tell stories because of its pop-culture significance, low cost and wide readership.

There's an existential issue for Japan, which is surviving natural disasters. It's a constant threat that affects the Japanese's daily lives of being prepared in case disaster happens.

The idea of always being at the ready is reinforced every year, in a "disaster preparedness month", especially for those who haven't experienced one before.

By positioning our portable lights as tools to fight off the darkness in the Manga series, we placed Energizer as part of the preparedness drive.

This was achieved through the adventures of Mr. Energizer and friends highlighting the different products and their features in various worst-case scenarios, which both educated and engaged masses all around.

We removed focus from our batteries, and during the “preparedness month”, we launched our portable lights in Japan as tools to get ready for future disasters.

"Let there be Light" is an original branded html-animated Manga series. The story unfolds as an unknown monster attacks Japan, and is battled by a group of friends of Mr Energizer when they discover that the monster can't stand the light.

Each issue features different Energizer Portable Lights as tools to fight the dark, while highlighting the importance of "Bousai" kits (disaster preparedness kits) in being prepared. Readers could win limited edition "Bousai" kits by finding and clicking on hidden badges in the manga issues, and then registering online.

The series went live on its own Energizer website, using a classic adventure-style of manga illustrations, all of which were digitally illustrated in traditional 2D.

Cold colors (blues, purples, violets, blue-greens) and dark colors were the dominant ones in most of the adventure, to allow the occasional yellow colors of the light to be more striking. Some warm colors, like red and orange, would occasionally appear on our main characters to highlight them even more.

To drive viewers to the online series, we animated short sequences of the manga into "anime" trailers. Using these trailers, and other pieces of content, we invited readers to continue the story with every new issue, with a chance to win and engage with the brand each time.

We also extended the campaign into retail, using display branding to highlight the brand, while directing shoppers to the online experience and rewards.

The campaign for over a year, and saw an uptick in performance and results, that were sustained through out. The series began development in May 2020, and went live in September, with monthly issues until end of 2021.

The increase in awareness, engagement and branding impacted overall sales.

We achieved

30K+ recurring readers

4.4 million social media reach

47% increase in market sales

reaching the top 5 brands in the category

and 50% drop in cost to sales ratio

We gained 1,359 new touchpoints

due to increase in retailer confidence

We even ran out of Bousai Kit rewards.

And a second series is on its way.