Ørsted Japan Activation 2022

Ørsted—which develops, constructs, operates, and owns offshore wind farms around the world with the vision of "creating a world powered entirely by green energy," had decided to enter the Japanese market as part of its Asia-Pacific expansion. To enter into new territory in the green energy industry, it was essential to have the trust and understanding of the people in the region where the offshore wind farm is expected to be built. With this in mind, it was of key importartance to communicate with a wide range of people—from the general public to decision-makers such as agencies and government offices, while also maintaining a focus on the local people, particularly in the local fishing villages where the construction would take place.

We created a brand launch campaign centered around a message encouraging change in the Japanese energy market. While maintaining the brand image that had been developed over the years—we crafted a tone and concept catered for Japan, designed and produced integrated brand communications, website renewal, ad localization and production of video and graphics, as well as the launch of SNS media. In our proposal, we also focused on understanding the locale and its people, particularly in the rural areas where the facility was expected to be built. We conducted extensive media buying, employing not only major national media, but also local newspapers and TV commercials, while also conducting on-site surveys to determine actual foot traffic, particularly due to fluctuations since COVID. Additionally, we also developed a hashtag that would allow Ørsted's actionable stakeholders to reach secondary information, set KPIs, and conducted A/B testing, paid media allocation, and analysis.

The campaign message crafted by monopo was “Change the Wind.” Having not made much progress in the shift to green energy, Japan is often lagging behind the rest of the world in energy issues. The tagline not only informs people about offshore wind power generation—which is still unfamiliar to many, but also plays on the idea of changing the "wind," which includes localized Japanese nuances, such as “fūdo” (climate) and “fūshū" (customs). The video was produced together with a sound artist, whose visual storytelling approach utilized “wind” as as the main subject and focusing on the harmony between sound and image. In addition to being released nationwide on the official YouTube page, the video was also shown on local TV commercials in Akita Prefecture and signage throughout the city.

Since Ørsted's brand identity is already successful in other markets around the world, we needed a localized approach for it be successful in Japan. Localization does not just mean translation but rather optimizinf it into a form that best conveys the message to the audience and in this case, the locals specifically. We developed a tone of voice, copywriting and redesigned the website with information specific to the Japanese market—creating a unique identity that would inspire a sense of familiarity and trust with its Japanese audience.