First of all, we called the product KOBE KITCHEN. The name itself confused people. We produced a movie, KOBE KITCHEN prior to the launch of the new product. Then we promoted the movie by releasing a film trailer and posters. At the same time, we created a virtual restaurant also named KOBE KITCHEN. This immediately stirred keen curiosity with viewers and even a bit of controversy. We then waited until precisely the right moment when peoples’ curiosity had reached its peak to announce that KOBE KITCHEN wasn’t a movie or restaurant, but a Japanese instant curry.

After the announcement, swarms of comments were posted on blogs, twitter accounts, and all the social network sites saying how deceived everyone was. It proved KOBE KITCHEN changed consumers’ perception of retort curry. The impression was that KOBE KITCHEN seems to be freshly cooked curry from a traditional Japanese restaurant. The campaign successfully reached 62.5% purchase intention rate after only 15 days of its launching and set a new sales record amounting to 4 times of its competitor brand sales.