Knorr Cupsoup – Frosty Window

Brief and strategy
The communication goal was to establish, both literally and figuratively, a warmer connection between Knorr and Japanese customers, enhancing Knorr’s brand image. Because the budget for the campaign was quite small, we needed to make big impact through a surprising campaign. The insight is timeless: when people are cold, they want something warm to eat and drink. With that insight in mind, we also sought a touch point where the target could ponder the pleasure of warm soup on a cold day, without shivering in the cold. We aimed to give people a true sensation of sitting next to a cup of warm soup on a cold winter day.

Creative Executions
Our media choice was unique: train windows. Our creative material was special stickers that, when placed on the windows, gave the impression of condensation caused by a streaming cup of soup. In the midst of the “condensation” apparently written with a finger, was the product message. We placed these ads in a cold, snowy region during the winter, so the real landscape beyond the train windows became part of the creative, too. Using train windows as the medium offered us two key advantages. First, passengers had to move from the cold outdoors to get into the warm train, so the sensations of cold and warm were fresh in their minds. Second, during a train ride, passengers spend much time observing their surroundings. The unique creative stirred people’s curiosity, becoming a topic of conversation inside the cars. Many passengers used cellphones to take pictures of it.

Results
With a budget of only US $10,000 for creative, production and media, we exposed this advertising to approximately 600,000 passengers. Since passengers interacted with the creative intimately, the campaign had the desired effect of establishing a warmer bond between the Knorr brand and its customers.

Advertising Agency: Hakuhodo, Tokyo
Creative Director: Mutsumi Bando
Creative: Makoto Fujita
Year: 2005
Gold Lion