Since the birth of post-war U.S. highway building boom the teaser ad on the inter-highways has been a familiar sight to cross-country drivers. In Japan the teaser sales promotion ad has had a place too.   Over the past several years some notable adaptations of teaser ad promotions been rolled out to Japan's densely packed population. Here we review some of the more interesting campaigns and the products behind the teaser ads. Overseas marketers will find hints on shaping their own firms sales promotions aimed at Japan's urban consumer.

Sony - Vaio type P Promotion

Sony and Toshiba are turning to advertising strategies such as teaser ad promotions.  The attraction is their low cost and the ease with which they create a buzz. See Chart below listing major Japanese companies that used teaser ad promotions in the past several years.    To promote its latest mini-notebook "VAIO type P", Sony's teaser ad promotion shows a lady that appears to be on her way to an exclusive party. From her clutch bag the society matron withdraws a white envelope and inside it is a bright red invitation card that reads "VAIO New Mobile Coming Soon… Go to>>>".

Teaser ads such as these make full use of Japan's internet lifestyle, enamored as it is with technology and being connected online at all times.


Chart: New products that used a teaser campaign [Click image to enlarge]


McDonald's  Quarter Pounder Promotion

  Initially the Quarter Pounder burgers were sold only at  McDonald's locations two newly opened shops in the    trendy Omotesando and Shibuya fashion shopping areas.  Instead of blasting the public with a series of commercials, McDonald's made use of the public's interest in word-of-mouth  --  in Japanese called "kuchi-komi," literally "mouth communication"  --  culture to create a buzz .


From the Omotesando shop store front.  White Japanese letters above say "Top Secret"

McDonald's led off this  campaign  by covering the show windows of the two shops with black boards across which were written  "Top Secret." In case anyone missed the point, they hired security men in black suits to guard the  shops.  On opening day of the Quarter Pounder campaign some 500 people queued up in front of the Omotesando shop. 

In sum, the reasons behind the increase of teaser ad promotions in Japan are two-fold:

- The reduction of advertising budget forces companies to turn to low-cost advertising methods that yield considerable impact

- The increasing use and influence of the internet as a platform to reach passive consumers has become routine; the consumer can be counted on to go online and "google" for answers to the teaser ad generated mysteries and at the top of the search hits they inevitably find content from the product maker making the connection to the campaign.
       
For more about teaser promotions in Japan see these links to JMR article (in Japanese) here.

--  A Japanese language version of this English adaptation is here.
--  JMR marketing glossary for the term "teaser"   - ティーザー広告  is here.