Snickers in Japan needed to find an authentic way to engage our core 16-24 year old audience – not just with mass media, but with authentic PR-driven content that they could discover naturally. Our campaign idea was the global ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’ idea – which focuses on the mental and social consequences of hunger, and we wanted to build a really compelling Japanese event around that.

In Fall 2012, we created the irreverent and humourous “Apology Grand Prix” event geared to appeal to our younger audience, and used PR to spread word of the event through digital and ATL media.

Our “Apology Grand Prix” was chaired by the notorious Japanese celebrity Yuya Uchida, who was well known for bad behavior and elaborate public apologies. We announced in the press and online that Yuya was looking to find the best public apologizer in Japan. He solicited entries online, and a short list was created for a live apology event. Invitations went out to the mass press and youth-skewed press (both online and offline), and thousands watched the event live in person and online.

Yuya judged them all as person after person bowed in contrition in front of a cluster of microphones, confessing a terrible deed, and saying they just weren't themselves because of hunger. At the end, the best apologizer was crowned by Yuya, and he told everyone that next time, they should just go eat a Snickers.

Coverage across media both online and off was broad, and tracking measures showed an increased sales rate and affinity with our core target. Finally, the PR-event and mass campaign increased annual sales 120% & gained over one million US% PR media exposure.

Our goal in 2012 was to build on the mental insight of our TV campaign, but to do it in a way that we felt would better get the attention of our younger 16-24 audience. Regular mass TV was fine, but we needed to get in front of Japanese teens in the place where they really spend their time – online. Also, we wanted to connect with them authentically – with content that they would naturally be drawn to.

Measurement of Success:

• PR exposure value

• Annual sales increase

• Usage rate & likability amongst younger male(High teen & 20s)

The event and press surrounding the event really connected with our target audience. We also ran a new Yuya TV ad for Snickers in which he was featured.

Business goals:

-Increased annual sales 120%

-Increased usage rate amongst 16-19: 142%, 20-24:148% (campaign Pre/post survey)

Communication goals:

-Increased Likability for Snickers: 120%(campaign Pre/post survey)

-1million US$ PR media exposure

Nationwide TV show: 3 programs

Nationwide Newspaper: 8 papers

Magazine: 1 magazine

Website: 38 websites

-6,000 viewers for Internet live stream broadcasting

-Total estimated SNS followers for event related social : 2,720,000 followers

We created a one-off social comedy event – “The Apology Grand Prix” – and centred it on the Yuya Uchida who was a well-known Japanese outsider. Famous for his shocking behaviour and elaborate public apologies, Yuya announced in the press and online that he was searching for Japan’s best apologizers. He solicited entries online, and a short list was created for a live event. Invitations went out to the mass press and youth-skewed press (both online and offline), and thousands turned out to watch the event live in person and online.

Yuya judged them all as person after person bowed in contrition in front of a cluster of microphones, confessing a terrible deed, and saying they just weren’t themselves because of hunger.

At the end, the best apologizer was crowned by Yuya, and he told everyone that next time, they should just go eat a Snickers.

50 media outlets covered the event, including:

• TV show, has best rating in Sunday morning: Sunday Japon

• Biggest sales tabloid News paper in Japan: Tokyo sports

• Internet news media: Yahoo! News(has biggest viewer), Naver Matome(Biggest news blog) , Owarai Natalie(Biggest news blog amongst teen)

Snickers in Japan was an aging brand. Popular for youth that came of age in the 80’s and 90’s, it had a sporty, active image – fuel on the go for extreme situations. But after years of talking about extreme sports, the brand wasn’t connecting with a younger Japanese generation.

In 2011 we launched a new campaign – “You’re not you when you’re hungry” – which newly focused on the mental and social consequences of hunger. The idea of not-fitting into the group connected well in Japan, and the 2011 TV-only campaign did increase overall sales. But client tracking showed we still weren't connecting with the core 16-24 year old target.

We created an irreverent and humourous event geared to appeal to our younger audience, and then used PR to spread word of the event through digital and ATL media.

Young people in Japan, like young people everywhere, are often cynical about the adults and the world around them. While still young and hopeful for the future, research told us that these children of the ‘lost decade’ (now actually two decades) have increasingly come to be distrustful of the large and conservative institutions of Japanese life. As corporations have stumbled and governments have fallen, the image of the ‘ Salary man’ in a suit apologizing at press conference has come to be one of their common touchstones. This generation has approached the older generation’s failing with humour, often creating memes and online content that celebrates and mocks each failure.

So we decided we could also have some fun with that.