SEKIMILK is a regional milk producer in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan. It produces fresh, wholesome milk for a variety of kinds of stores in the area, as well as schools. In the elementary schools, where milk plays an important role in providing for the children's everyday nutrition, the schools and SEKIMILK were noticing that a large percentage of the kids weren't finishing their daily bottles. So, the school system in the area, concerned about the kids' daily nutrition intake, asked SEKIMILK what they could do to have them finish their milk. The budget was minimal, and the coverage would be across the Prefecture affecting some 40 schools.

In the case of schools in Gifu Prefecture, SEKIMILK is a strong and trusted brand for the target audience, which is the elementary schools and their students. And knowing the kids the way SEKIMILK does, the idea came about quite naturally.

Leveraging the kids' love for manga—or Japanese comics—the bottles were painted with 4 frames of comics, in white ink, so invisible when the bottles are full. Reading from top to bottom, which is how Japanese is traditionally taught to be read, the manga was revealed to the kids as they drank the milk bottles. In fact, to finish the comic strip, the kids would have to finish the bottle completely, which they gladly did.

From the beginning, we knew PR had to be at the center of this execution. But what could get the attention of the GIFU media? It has to be something interesting to the general public.

Fortunately, the idea of placing enticing, entertaining illustration on the bottle that could only be revealed if the milk was consumed was key to getting media attention.

The message was really based on, "the more milk kids drink the more fun is revealed." This idea, health-related, but with a heap of fun, became the draw for earned media.

After conceiving of and selling the idea, the first challenge was finding the right manga artist. And then working with a printing company that could make the printing idea a reality.

The manga artist, Ami Kanzei, was the perfect choice as her background was in creating manga printing and adhering to the thick glass bottles.

The ongoing series displayed fun, fresh characters that engaged the kids with simple, entertaining storylines.

The bottle printing took rounds of trial and error until perseverance paid off 6 weeks after the first attempts.

The bottles were supplied to the schools on a weekly basis, with a new story each week, keeping the kids interested and finishing their milk.

News coverage captivated Gifu prefecture, spreading the desire to bring the Milk Manga bottles to all 40 schools.

In Gifu Prefecture, after 15 weeks of distributing the Milk Manga bottles, 95% of the children were finishing all of their milk, enjoying 100% of the milk's nutrients.

In addition, the earned media value from the new coverage the Milk Manga bottles received totaled US$2 million, encouraging more schools, even beyond Gifu Prefecture to speak with SEKIMILK about supplying their schools with the Milk Manga.