SUB CATEGORY :

AMBIENT: SMALL SCALE

ENTRANT COMPANY :

VML OGILVY JAPAN, TOKYO

TITLE :

MILK MANGA

BRAND :

SEKI MILK

ADVERTISER :

SEKI MILK

AGENCY :

VML OGILVY JAPAN, TOKYO

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER :

DOUG SCHIFF

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

FUMITAKA TAKANO

ART DIRECTOR :

TOMOHIKO SETOYAMA/WATARU SAITO

COPYWRITER :

HIROHISA FUJIWARA

CREATIVE VIDEO DIRECTOR :

MORRIS KU

CREATIVE SERVICE MANAGER :

CHIHARU OZAKI

PHOTOGRAPHER :

YASUYUKI AKIBA

VIDEOGRAPHER :

MASANORI TOBA

ILLUSTRATOR :

AMI KANZE (FREELANCE)

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR :

HIROKI HIBI

ACCOUNT MANAGER :

MIKA ISHII

PR DIRECTOR :

SHIMA HAYASHI

MEDIA AGENCY :

VML OGILVY JAPAN, TOKYO

FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :

TCJ CO., LTD., TOKYO

PRODUCTION PRODUCER :

YOJI IKESHITA

PRINT PRODUCTION COMPANY :

NIPPON IDT CO., LTD., TOKYO

PRINT DIRECTOR :

MASAYUKI MATSUBARA

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

Kids in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, weren’t finishing their daily milk.
So, leveraging kids' love for manga (Japanese comics), Seki Milk bottles were painted with four framed illustrations in white ink, revealing more of the story as the kids drank up. The entertaining manga,
gradually exposed, led the kids to finish the manga, the milk and all the nutrition within.  

CREATIVITY/IDEA/INSIGHT :

In the case of schools in Gifu Prefecture, SEKIMILK is a strong and trusted brand for the target audience, which is the elementary schools and their students. And knowing the kids the way SEKIMILK does,
the idea came about quite naturally.
Leveraging the kids' love for manga—or Japanese comics—the bottles were painted with 4 frames of comics, in white ink, so invisible when
the bottles are full. Reading from top to bottom, which is how Japanese is traditionally taught to be read, the manga was revealed to the kids as they drank the milk bottles. In fact, to finish the comic strip, the kids would have to finish the bottle completely, which they gladly did.

STRATEGY :

In Gifu Prefecture, elementary schools were noticing that 65%
of the children weren't drinking all the milk they were served.
This led to the schools wanting a way to solve the problem of the kids not getting all the nutrition they needed.
The strategy was to solve this issue by making the act of drinking milk more fun, which is the strongest currency available in influencing
6-10-year old’s behavior.
Knowing that kids love nothing more than Japanese manga led to thinking how to connect the two. Having the manga painted in white ink on the bottle, so manga could be seen as the milk was consumed,
was the real epiphany. And it came out of a strategy of "engaging fun".

EXECUTION :

After conceiving of and selling the idea, the first challenge was finding the right manga artist. And then working with a printing company
that could make the printing idea a reality.
The manga artist, Ami Kanzei, was the perfect choice as her background was in creating manga printing and adhering to the thick glass bottles.
The ongoing series displayed fun, fresh characters that engaged
the kids with simple, entertaining storylines.
The bottle printing took rounds of trial and error until perseverance paid off 6 weeks after the first attempts.
The bottles were supplied to the schools on a weekly basis,
with a new story each week, keeping the kids interested and finishing their milk.
News coverage captivated Gifu prefecture, spreading the desire to bring the Milk Manga bottles to all 40 schools.

RESULT :

In Gifu Prefecture, after 15 weeks of distributing the Milk Manga bottles, 95% of the children were finishing all of their milk, enjoying 100%
of the milk's nutrients.
In addition, the earned media value from the new coverage the Milk Manga bottles received totaled US$2 million, encouraging more schools, even beyond Gifu Prefecture to speak with SEKIMILK about supplying their schools with the Milk Manga.