MEDIA
WHAT YOU MISSED IN THE JAPANESE PRESS
BY MARK SCHREIBER
Bling and Home Loans Are Midyear Hits
VOLKSWAGEN JAPAN
Over 10,000 units of the Volkswagen up !, with a base price of ¥ 1.49mn each , have been sold here since going on the market in October .
Keeping up with a 42-year tradition , the Nikkei Marketing Journal ( 19 June ) announced its midyear list of hitto shohin ( popular products ).
Using an elaborately lettered sumo-style banzuke design , the thrice-weekly publication , which has picked hit products and services in Japan since December 1971 , named high-priced wristwatches , jewellery items and home loans as its respective east and west yokozuna ( grand champions ).
The watches earned top rating according to sales figures issued by Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co . Ltd ., which reported a 75 % year-on-year increase — perhaps buoyed by Abenomics .
Meanwhile , loosening of the money supply by the Bank of Japan led large numbers of borrowers to inquire about refinancing their mortgages based on historically low fixed rates .
Other strong contenders included Thai tourists in Japan . Having taken advantage of the drop in the value of the yen , their numbers increased for 13 straight months .
In addition , Seven-Eleven Japan Co ., Ltd . outlets sold 65mn cups of self-service coffee ; Dutch electronics giant Philips scored big with its electric multi-cooker that requires no oil ; while Ginza ’ s rebuilt Kabukiza theatre , which opened in April , was expecting 1.1mn visitors in its first year , a projected increase of 20 %.
Further down the list was the Volkswagen up !, a one-litre , three-cylinder compact car that in October went on sale in Japan at the basic list price of ¥ 1.49mn . Since going on sale , Volkswagen Japan has sold over 10,000 units of the vehicle .
Also selling well have been action cameras , which are fastened to helmets or skis to safely record videos while users are engaged in frantic activity .
And Mount Fuji — now a World Heritage Site — is expecting a flood of visitors during the summer climbing season .
The newspaper bestowed special prizes on Tokyo Disney Resort on the occasion of its 30th anniversary , and a “ nice try ” award on beef bowl chain Yoshinoya Co ., Ltd . for offering extra-cheap ¥ 280 special meals .
For reasons that should require no explanation , this summer ’ s zannen-sho ( booby prize ) went to the Boeing 787 .
“ Moonlighting ” Mini Cafes Perk up Coffee Sales
According to the All Japan Coffee Association , the number of coffee shops in Japan in 1981 peaked at 154,630 , while the figure for 2012 is expected to reach about 67,000 .
This implies not so much a drop in coffee ’ s popularity as it does diversification of how the beverage is marketed .
Nikkei Business ( 17 June ) reported that in May , Nestlé Professional , a division of Nestlé Japan , launched their Nescafé Milano dispenser machine for the food service industry and their ProCare beverage service programme .
As part of the ProCare programme , shops or outlets can rent a Nescafé Milano machine for a flat monthly payment of just ¥ 15,750 . In addition , they will receive continuous technical maintenance , café management support and promotional displays . The firm expects to have 500 machine placements by the end of 2013 .
The outlets are free to set their own prices , but their merchandise offerings ( up to 14 different blends ) are expected to undersell the major chains .
Some 60 % of the existing owners of the machines are food and beverage outlets , bars and ice-cream parlours , with the remaining 40 % located in retail outlets such as bookstores seeking to make use of surplus space .
Nestlé ’ s marketing manager described the new business — made possible by lending the coffee-making equipment — as “ moonlighting cafes ”.
In addition , coffee importer Key Coffee Inc . is seeking to expand its Key café mini-outlets that can be set up in a space as small as 9.9m 2 .
Currently there are 13 mini-cafés , and the firm hopes to have 30 of the turnkey operations up and running by the end of the year . Key Coffee provides all the equipment necessary , including menus .
Since the firm eschews a franchising system for these cafés , customers are not obliged to pay licensing fees or royalties . The outlets are treated as a niche business , able to fill … small niches .
12 | BCCJ ACUMEN | JULY 2013