PAXIEL Promotion Campaign

ROLE
Concept, Strategy, Planning
DELIVERABLE
Campaign Planning, Website Design, Front-end Development, Voice Content, Product Design, Package Design
DATE
Apr 2023

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Paxiel”, Morinaga’s chocolate shell ice cream bar, monopo Tokyo designed and developed a campaign website, interactive social media content, and promotional campaign capturing the snack’s signature cracking sound, “PAKIH!” itself. For over 120 years, Morinaga, Ltd confections have held a place in every Japanese person’s memory. Paxiel, pronounced “Pakih-ciel” is an ice cream bar that combines a uniquely thick chocolate shell and silky smooth chocolate or vanilla ice cream in its center. The two social media campaigns were designed to create a buzz in-store and online, by introducing gifts and interactive audio content with popular voice-over actors.

CLIENT BRIEF

  • Promote Paxiel to a wider range of consumers

  • Promote Paxiel's signature 7mm thick chocolate coating and the texture that produces its unparalled “PAKIH!” sound

  • Create a digital buzz that leads to in-store purchases

OUR PROPOSAL

  • A promotional digital campaign that captures Paxiel's signature “PAKIH!” featuring popular voice-over actors

  • By utilizing the gyro function of a smartphone, introduce interactive elements simulating the experience of eating a Paxiel ice cream bar

  • Plan an integrated campaign that creates a buzz online and leads to in-store purchases

  • SNS marketing content that encourages users to share the campaign

CAMPAIGN CONCEPT

It’s 'PAKIH!' time, for a break

In Japanese, the onomatopoeic word “PAKIH!” depicts the sound of an intense “crack” or “snap.” This signature “PAKIH!” sound is delivered upon first bit of a Paxiel ice cream bar through its sensational texture, which is due to Morinaga's unique manufacturing method of wrapping a 7mm thick layer of chocolate around the inner ice cream. Through experiments conducted by a specialized institution, it was demonstrated that Paxiel’s unique biting sensation could actually reduce stress! We took this as a point of inspiration to plan and design the digital campaign: “PAKIH! - a Quick Break” to reflect how Paxiel can be a relaxing companion in busy modern life. One of monopo's key goals was to ensure that our work directly increases sales by creating two interactive SNS campaigns and incentive strategies. Incorporating the hook for each customer to win prizes, the campaigns create a direct incentive to purchase Paxiel while being comforted with soothing audio affirmations by their favorite voice actor. With a total of 8 unique script variations, the audio invites listeners to experience the soothing ASMR effect of the cold chocolate “PAKIH!” alongside sweetly whispered words.

VOICE CONTENTS

Soothing voice-over content that soothes, making the most of smartphone features

The relaxing audio at the heart of the campaign features two popular voice actors as the two flavors of Paxiel. Takuya Eguchi played the role of "Rich Chocolate,” and Soma Saito played the role of "Sweet and Mellow Vanilla." The ASMR sound creates a deeply soothing sensation of the actors whispering by your side as one takes the first bite. The whispered words allow the viewer to “Take the break you need" across eight different situations: from praise for their daily efforts to a simple kind phrase. A key feature of the campaign is its interactive design, combining crisp audio with a smartphone’s gyro function to simulate an immersive experience. When the user’s smartphone is placed horizontally over the website, the voice actor can be heard softly saying, "Hey, have a bite." The user is then urged to raise the smartphone upward, where a satisfying "PAKIH!" sound is revealed. Working closely with our in-house engineers from the campaign’s initial planning stage, we were able to make full use of cutting edge technology.

Subtle design for an SNS buzz

Focusing on creating a lasting impression on SNS, particularly Twitter, we created extra interactive elements that can be shared across platforms. In the relaxing voice bites, a secret voice is played if a user does not 'eat' for a certain period of time after being urged to. Similarly, by entering the secret password written on the 'lucky stick' (only available after enjoying the product) one unlocks a special voice feature of the two actors appearing together. These strategic elements of the campaign have already created a significant buzz on social media and added to the campaign's success as a whole. As an additional element, we introduced a gift campaign where users can win original neck pillows with the actors’ soothing voices, as well as gift vouchers that can be used to purchase a plethora of relaxation goodies. The aim behind this was to attract a wider range of social media users by creating enjoyable content for everyone, not just the fans of the voice actors.

CREDITS

CLIENT
Morinaga & Co., Ltd.
ROLE
Concept, Strategy, Planning
THE TEAM

Agency
Oricom Co.,Ltd.

Account Executive
Koki Hamada (Oricom Co.,Ltd.)

Account Manager
Ami Nishizu (Oricom Co.,Ltd.)

Creative Director & Front-End Developer
Ryo Miyakawamonopo Tokyo

Planner
Yosuke Maedamonopo Tokyo

Art Director
Akira Yamaguchimonopo Tokyo

Content Producer
Youki "youkiss" Ohkubo (ijigen Tokyo)

Scenario Writer
Nire Inui

Sound Director
Taiyo Higuchi (OFFICE HIGUCHI)

MA Engineer
zukio (OFFICE HIGUCHI)

Composer
Naoyuki Chikatani

Photographer
Shintaro Nakamura

Model
Akiko Nishimura

Creative Supervisor
Masahito Funada (Morinaga & Co., Ltd.), Yoshie Kuribayashi (Morinaga & Co., Ltd.)