In Japan, cars are thought of as simply an expensive mode of transport, what with insurance, parking fees, tax and the other costs associated with owning a vehicle. With the advent of ride sharing services, the number of people going out purely to enjoy a drive is rapidly falling. Targeting people who love the outdoors, Mitsubishi’s challenge was to create something that made people want to go on long drives. We had to convert them from “car” industry to the “car lifestyle” industry.

Labelling the target market as “weekend explorers”, we offered a free “classic literature scenery prediction service” for users to actually experience picturesque vistas straight out of ancient classical poetry such as The Tale of Genji. The original AI program analyzed data from classical literature research and weather reports in real time to provide information on “scenery from classical literature” in 28 locations nationwide, including information on things to see, time of day and probability of getting the view. The result was a completely new car navigation system and what’s more, it was provided free of charge.

Taking the fact that outdoor people are constantly looking for a reason to go on weekend drives and the renewed interest in rediscovering Japan’s qualities in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics, we used a “new scenery experience” unique to Japan, to appeal specifically to the Japanese population and to facilitate engagement with the brand.

The “classical scenery” navigation system was a completely new web service for fans of the outdoors that worked like a weather app through a smartphone or a computer. Inputting your departure location would give you a car route to the closest classical scenery in seconds. There were also multiple functions such as being able to search based on the feeling evoked by a poem when it was read aloud.

- Users: 450,000 UU / 1.7M PV (93% of which were new users)

- Exposure: Over 100 instances of media coverage and PR exposure including in national newspapers

- Aligned with over 30 governments throughout Japan to attract tourists

- CVR to the car model review page increased by 150%

- Selected as education material at a prestigious university