The number of visitors to Ise Shima area, one of the major tourist spots in Japan, has been decreasing to about a half in this past two decades. In response to this situation, our client, Kintetsu Corporation, the local railway and tourism company, requested that we try to encourage tourists to visit this area.

The first thing that we did is to clarify the value of Ise Shima and its brand positioning. After some research, we defined Ise Shima as “the best place to express gratitude.” The definition came from the original purpose of Japanese people to worship Ise Jinguu, a famous site in Ise Shima considered as the most revered shrine in Japan, which was to appreciate their lives.

We proposed a new purpose of making a trip to Ise Shima, to express gratitude to someone special, by reviving this traditional mindset in our times. At the same time, we focused on branding Ise Shima as a place where people can express their gratitude romantically. Our campaign matched the potential needs of Japanese people, who recognized the importance of family and surrounding people after the great earthquake.

The campaign has been successful in inviting more tourists to Ise Shima. For instance, the number of visitors to Ise Jinguu was marked at a record high of 14.2 million. We believe that the campaign meets the elements of the PR section in that we succeeded in inspiring people to visit Ise Shima with a new purpose, which is to say “thank you.”

We set out 'gratitude' as a theme of this campaign, in regards of the traditional Japanese mindset to worship Ise Jinguu, the central place of Ise Shima which is considered to be the most revered shrine in Japan. 1,300 years ago, the purpose of pilgrims to come afar to Ise Jinguu was to appreciate their lives. By reviving this original purpose in our times, we proposed a new value of Ise Shima to the society. The theme 'expressing gratitude' was timely for many Japanese people who recognized the importance of someone who supports him or her after the great earthquake.

The campaign has been successful in inviting more tourists to Ise Shima. Many hotels in Ise Shima marked the increase in guests up to 150% from the previous year. The sales of tourism and leisure section of Kintetsu also increased 230% from the previous year. Moreover, the number of visitors to Ise Jinguu marked a record high of 14.2 million, which is in calculation, one in every ten Japanese people have visited the shrine.