To rejuvenate the Nescafe brand in Japan by attracting and securing an active consumer franchise with males 18-24 using a ready-to-drink product introduction as the communications platform. A new product was to be launched on Aug 27 2001, Monday, called "The X-Day". The self-defined mission of the media team was to create an unexpected media event to maximize awareness on the X-Day (Aug 27, Monday) and intercept an elusive target (males 18-24) effectively and execute the plan precisely. The media team employed mass-reach media and created new "ambient media" to build an unexpected network of complimentary messaging to surround the target throughout the day. A weekend "Godzilla-style" TV Blitz was executed just prior to X-Day to provoke the target (100% coverage among living males 18-24) and to build the unexpected campaign drama.Beyond the expected media, the media team also determined that because the target spent most of their time out of home, a new "ambient media" must be created to intercept the target on the street with humorous, unexpected messaging to give energy and dimension to the campaign. The team was guided by one simple truth - "Everything communicates, but the consumer decides what is cool". Apart from this truth, there were no other precedents in the Japan market to build from - every ambient idea was negotiated with the Media and production houses from scratch. The media team led every stage of activity from consumer insights, big idea, strategy development, schedule planning, to unprecedented negotiations with the Media, to project implementation and post-evaluation. The Nescafe "N" team, both agency and client, accepted a significant business risk by using an unprecedented media strategy, in which ambient media was employed as a primary communications channel. We believe our idea, and others that resonate with it, should be a winner because we all took a risk to make advertising more fun, more relevant and more effective - and this is the type of thinking and action that we should all be taking to restore confidence and generate new found excitement and respect for our industry.

The media team led every stage of activity from consumer insights, big idea, strategy development, schedule planning, to unprecedented negotiations with the Media, to project implementation and post-evaluation.