Idemitsu Kosan

Idemitsu Kosan's oil business tended to be less recognized globally, particularly in Asia, compared to giants such as France’s MOTUL and England’s Castrol. Through communication with local sales agents, we realized that the awareness was an issue. We had considered implementing TV commercials to raise it, but there were cost issues. Instead, N PLUS proposed online communication using an online video platform and planned, produced and distributed the video. The video was used for exhibitions in the Asian region, and we succeeded in expanding the recognition that Idemitsu also runs oil business.

The two YouTube video ads created for branding, were published on 3 million reach for 4 weeks from September 3 to 30, 2015 in four Asian countries, including Singapore and Vietnam.

Although it was the first time for the company to create and publish a YouTube video ad, the number of video views was 3 times as many as the target while the viewing rate was 2.5 times higher than expected.

This time, in addition to the goal of increasing brand recognition around Asia, there was another purpose; the effectiveness of digital measures. Until that time, the company had little experience in advertising online, including banner ads. The company also hadn’t opened any SNS public accounts such as Facebook or Twitter. The above result became the opportunity for Idemitsu Kosan, which had been promoting "mass" marketing such as TV commercials, to solidify its policy to shift toward digital marketing.

This time, the purpose wasn’t about "broadcasting TV commercials" but "spreading brand recognition throughout Asia". Considering this purpose, if the budget is abundant, "broadcasting TV commercials" could be considered as one of the means for the purpose. However, in an early-stage of branding activities, there would be a strong need to start with a small budget.

In this case, the idea of back-casting (reverse budgeting) could be more effective, where the barriers between analog and digital in media selection should be removed, and the optimal communication design should be strategically considered.

N PLUS starts from an interview on the issues of companies, visualizes issues and proposes solutions.