By Mark Schilling
Print
Film advertising in Japan used to follow a standard pattern, especially for releases by the major distributors. Just prior to the Saturday release date, the distribs would run display ads,
some one full page, in the national dailies, including the Yomiuri, Asahi, Mainichi and Sankei. (The total circulation of Japan's 105 newspapers is 70.3 million copies, compared with 55.2 million for the United States).
The newspaper display ads in particular had a ritualistic, obligatory quality reminiscent of wedding
announcements. To run a small one -- or none at all -- might signal a lack of, not just support, but respect.
Distributors still run these ads, as a face-saving gesture if nothing else, but ad strategies have changed in recent years, as markets fragment, delivery systems diversify and advertising costs rise.
To promote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, released in Japan on September 10, Warner Bros. made use of newspaper ads, but "free media was highly important in getting the message out," says Warner publicist Satoru Otani. In other words, instead of simply buying expensive ads in
traditional media, Warner used star Johnny Depp's pre-release publicity trip to Japan to generate wide -- and free -- media coverage.
The aim: Generate word of mouth among, not just kids and their parents, but teens and young adults who may never pick up a newspaper, but are umbilically attached to their mobiles. The result: six weeks at the top of the Japanese nine-major-cities box office chart and 3.4 million admissions after 40 days on release.
Television
Television is by far the most important advertising medium in Japan, with a huge, devoted audience. The number of televisions households is 46.3 million and average viewing time is 4 hours and 29 minutes daily -- the highest in the world. Also by March 2004 24.7 million households had cable and another 12.0 million subscribed to pubcaster NHK's broadcast satellite service. But primetime ads are also expensive -- $8,823 for a 15-second spot -- making them a hard buy for all but the biggest films.
One was Takashi Yamazaki's Always -- Sunset on Third Street, a nostalgic drama set in Tokyo circa 1958 -- stunningly recreated with computer graphics. Without a big Hollywood star to
generate reams of free media coverage and with the core target audience being graying Baby Boomers, Toho made more extensive use of print and TV ads, with an emphasis on the latter. "The visuals are what sells this film," commented Toho publicist Atsuo Ogaki, "so we ran a lot of TV ads on the national networks in primetime, particularly on NTV, our production partner."
Internet
By the end of 2004 79.5 million Japanese above the age of six -- 62.3% of the population -- were using the Internet. while the household diffusion rate was 86.8%. Also, by March of last year, mobile phone contracts numbered 81.52 million, with 69.73 million including Internet connections.Dentsu Communication Institute has estimated that Internet ad revenues will grow from Y181 billion ($1.5 billion) in 2004 to Y556 billion ($4.6 billion) in 2009.
Japanese film companies make extensive use of the Internet for advertising and promotion. In addition to distrbutor Toho's site for Always, the Nihon Television Network, an Always production partner, flogs the film on its hihgly trafficked mobile net site, while director Yamazaki and his staff launched a blog with the assistance of another partner, the Robot production house, where Yamazaki honed his CG skills.
Outdoors
The biggest single venue for outdoor ads is Japan's vast rail system, which extends to nearly every town of any size in the country. Japan Railways, formerly the national railway, runs 26,000 trains daily -- nearly all of which carry ads. Japanese distributors have plastered stations and trains with poster and flyers for decades, particularly commuter trains that, in the morning rush, are crammed like sardine cans with potential customers.
To catch the attention of commuting Boomer businessmen, who were a prime target of Always, Toho also placed posters on the back of kiosks on platforms and in stations "where businessmen would be most likely to see them," commented Ogaki.
Creative
Japanese distributors do not always shine in the creativity department -- cookie cutter ad campaigns are all too common. Nonetheless the intense pressure to stand out from the nearly 700 releases a year occasionally results in out-of-the-box thinking. One recent imaginative ploy to attract eyeballs, including those of the media, was to light Tokyo Tower -- a key symbol of the film Always -- only
half way on the night of the Japan premiere, to remind viewers of its still unfinished state in 1958 --
the year the film's story unfolded.
What does it all cost? Ad spend on a major Hollywood films may reach as high as Y1.0 billion ($8.4
million), on a major Japanese film, Y500 million ($4. 2 million). Released nationwide on November 11,
Always was near the upper end of the ad spend scale, but its smash success -- three straight weeks atop the box office charts, with earnings expected to push the Y3.0 billion ($25 million) mark -- means that Toho and its partners got their money's worth. But Japan is still Asia's most expensive -- and crowded -- ad market and distributors have to be nimble to keep their costs in bounds and
their message from getting lost in the crush. The solution: Make Johnny Depp your flack -- or shine a big light on a national landmark.
Ad rates (Source: U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, U.S. Department of
State)
Yomiuri Shimbun
1 cm of a horizontal column in national morning edition: Y179,300 ($1,506).
Sports Nippon (leading daily sport paper with extensive entertainment
coverage):
One horizontal column in national (Tokyo and Osaka) edition: Y648,000
($5,445)
Croissant (leading bimonthly women's magazine):
1 page B & W: Y1,400,000 ($11,764)
1 page color: Y2,100,000 ($17,647)
Shukan Spa! (leading weekly men's magazine):
1 page B & W: Y900,000 ($7,563)
1 page color: Y1,400,000 ($11,764)
Tokyo Walker (weekly entertainment magazine):
1/4 page B & W: Y450,000 ($3,781)
1 page color: Y1,650,000 ($13,865)
Mainichi Interactive (Internet site operated by the Mainichi Newspaper
Company with 2.8 million PV/day)
Top page text ad: Y450,000/week ($3,781)
Yahoo! JAPAN (260 million PV/day)
Pilot Sheet banner: Y2,000,000 ($16,806)/ week and up
Nihon TV (National TV network)
15 second spot in A category (prime) time: Y1,050,000 ($8,823)
JR Yamanote-line (circular line in Tokyo city area)
2,530 copies of small size posters hanging in the trains for 2 days:
Y1,809,000 ($15,202)
