To enhance brand engagement in Japan, we partnered with Kenshi Yonezu, one of Japan’s hottest music artists having over 4 billion views and over 6 million subscribers on YouTube, more than any other Japanese musician.

We welcomed him as a creative partner as well as a campaign partner. He played many roles in production: not only did he write the th song, but he also provided ideas for the film, designed the main character, and starred in the film. It made our partnership more authentic and exciting to our audience, including his fandom.

With its PlayStation®?5 launch in 2020, PlayStation introduced its first global tagline, “Play Has No Limits.” The tagline sums up PlayStation’s DNA of pushing the boundary of play and expanding the world of games. As the global campaign was relatively unknown in Japan, our mission was to familiarize the local market with the new tagline and our DNA to enhance brand engagement.

We partnered with a Japanese artist who shares an affinity with the PlayStation DNA.

Kenshi Yonezu is one of Japan’s hottest artists, having over 4 billion views and over 6 million subscribers on YouTube, more than any other Japanese musician. Playful and experimental, his alternative yet universal lyrics and tracks push the boundary of the music scene in Japan. He’s also a gamer who’s loved PlayStation from childhood and has once stated that PlayStation games significantly influenced his imagination and creative process.

To celebrate our shared spirit of play, we launched PlayStation’s branded film and Yonezu’s music video, featuring his song “POP SONG” written for PlayStation and an original character designed and portrayed by Kenshi Yonezu himself. The film follows the character who pushes the boundaries by wielding a playful mind rather than weapons, acting out the spirit of Play Has No Limits.

To establish an entertaining partnership between the brand and the artist, we focused on two things.

First, we welcomed Kenshi Yonezu as a creative partner as well as a campaign partner. He played many roles in production: not only did he write the theme song, but he also provided ideas for the film, designed the main character, and starred in the film. Kenshi Yonezu's love of games and deep commitment to our production rooted the campaign not only in the PlayStation brand but in his brand as well, making our partnership more authentic and exciting to our audience, including his fandom.

Second, we went beyond product placement to "idea placement," that is, the integration of the brand spirit. In addition to our branded film, we launched an extended version as a music video uploaded to his channel, integrating the PlayStation DNA into one of Japan's most viewed music videos.

We created a film about a character who pushes the boundaries and opens up a new world by wielding a playful mind rather than weapons. The story is set in a world resembling a fantasy game. A quirky avatar, played by Kenshi Yonezu, breaks through the wall of soldiers surrounding him with unpredictable and humorous antics. Finally, he knocks down the fortress gate, finding a way to an open world of undiscovered games where giant monsters roam and spaceships zoom overhead. It’s the world of PlayStation.

Our campaign was not limited to film. We took over the billboard on the SHIBUYA 109 building, located in Japan’s equivalent of Times Square. The campaign also made the cover of a lifestyle magazine and was introduced in a feature story on how PlayStation transcends cultures. Going beyond various media formats, we shared the message that Play Has No Limits.

- 55M total views including branded ads and music video

- 10M views of music video in a week on Youtube

- #1 Trending in Japan on Youtube

- #1 Weekly Download Song at Billboard JAPAN

- #1 Weekly Digital Single at Oricon

- 850% preference in Japan compared to our global ad