Outside Japan, Nissin Foods is still a relatively minor player in the food world. They want to be increase their visibility in Europe and Asia. However, they do not have the budget to run a mass marketing campaign worldwide. To increase awareness of their brand with a modest budget and to do so among young people in Europe and Asia, our strategy was to go viral on the web.

We assembled a freestyle team that represents Japan so that we could showcase astounding football techniques to fans of the sport around the world. Our freestylers performed dressed as samurai and ninja to give a truly Japanese effect. After more than a month of intensive training, we succeeded in shooting the actual video in the one chance we had to do so—in documentary style and without any use of CGI whatsoever.

The popular response was explosive! Seizing on the popularity of the initial video, a video capturing

the samurai, Nissin mascot, and Manchester United players interacting with one another was also uploaded. In just one month, all the videos combined were viewed more than 8.5 million times. They were also transmitted in countries throughout Asia. Popularity spread through social networking sites, and we eventually gained over 13 million views. Nissin are seizing this opportunity to put a variety of products adorned with both players and the Nissin logo on sale throughout Asia. Compared to the same quarter last year, they expanded their share by 40%.