PARCO provided a brand experience that brightened up the country, focusing on its target demographic of young women. The campaign was designed comprehensively not only to generate buzz, but also to encourage store visits and purchases. As a result, it boosted sales and store visits significantly compared to 2023 and increased the brand's positive perception especially on social media.

PARCO, one of Japan's leading department stores, has been creating brand communications that are cutting-edge, yet reverent to Japanese culture for many years. A famous period drama actor, Ken Matsudaira, also known by the nickname "Matsuken," became internationally known as a singer with his smash hit "Matsuken Samba". His performances are a fusion of traditional Japanese plays and modern entertainment, and have become part of Japanese culture, loved by people of all ages and performed at festivals and events. PARCO's campaign featuring Matsuken was unexpected yet relevant, and the playful experience of Matsuken popping up in AR was refreshing and surprising to the Japanese public.

Japan's economy is in a slump. Spirits are down, and so is consumption.

PARCO, one of Japan's leading department stores, needed an idea that would attract customers to its New Year's sale and brighten up the country.

Actor Ken Matsudaira, known as "Matsuken" and loved by men and women of all ages, is famous for his samba dancing in sparkling costumes.

The idea was to attract people to PARCO for the New Year’s sale and brighten up Japan by having Matsuken, who makes everyone smile, pops up in PARCOs across the country. So, we created a 3D model of Matsuken using volumetric capture and photogrammetric techniques to feature him in an integrated campaign consisting of a nationwide AR tour, a TV commercial, AR coasters that summon a 3D Matsuken, shopping bags, posters, and collectibles. The official accounts of each store created a buzz by updating Matsuken's whereabouts every day during the sale.

The strategy was to create a campaign to appeal to PARCO's main target audience: women in their 20s and early 30s.

We made the Matsuken AR Parade, a nationwide AR tour in which 3D Matsuken pops up at 17 PARCO stores across the country for one day at a time, the centerpiece of the campaign, to maximize his presence as a bringer of good luck, and set a super upbeat tone to inspire people to come to PARCO's New Year's sale and shake off the gloomy mood hanging over Japan.

As a buzz on social media is the most important factor in driving action among young people, we designed a playful experience with impact that would make them want to share on platforms like X.

The campaign website was open to the public from December 12, 2023 to January 14, 2024, and the commercial was aired on TV networks nationwide and major social media during the same period. (In consideration of the earthquake that struck Japan on January 1, the commercial was not aired on January 2 and 3.)

The Matsuken AR Parade visited 17 PARCO stores across the country for one day each from January 2 to 14, 2024, during the New Year's sale.

During the same period, four types of AR coasters and collectibles were distributed, and posters and other OOH were displayed in stores.

Due to high sales of merchandise, the pop-up store is still running as of February 1.

100M impressions

500,000 likes

Earned media value 300M JPY (2M USD)

140% sales YoY (Shibuya PARCO), 120% visitors YoY

Positive comments praising the campaign flooded social media after the first run of the TV commercial, and the buzz continued throughout the New Year's sale as the campaign was picked up by various media outlets, including all major TV stations in the country.

The Matsuken AR Parade became a huge hit, especially among young women, and brought PARCO unprecedented success in terms of both buzz and sales.

To promote the New Year's sale, a traditional Japanese event also known as the "first purchase of the year,” we tapped Matsuken, a social media sensation known as a bringer of good luck. We created a campaign that is relevant to the Japanese market by crossing traditional Japanese culture with online culture, insight, and digital technology.