“+ MET PROJECT” - Life saving interior accessory. Double-purposed products of safety helmets as well as design-driven home items that people would want to keep in their living spaces. POT is a flowerpot that doubles up as a safety helmet. LAMP is a side-lamp which serves also as a helmet and flashlight. Its uncompromised high quality design attracts people’s interest in helmets.

A stylish home item that no one will think of as a safety helmet at first glance. We are very satisfied with its high quality design. Through our virtual earthquake events, we collected many voices appreciating the attractive design as well as the usability how it can be handily transformed into a wearable safety equipment. We are now working on improvements for lighter weight models and easier attachment, and also planning to extend the line with new variations including tissue box covers and table clock.

We decided to work with an expert interior designer, not from a helmet design background. A team including Tanizawa in-house technicians exchanged ideas through discussions and achieved high quality in both design and safety regulation. Product materials were carefully selected based on superiority in durability and processability. Our goal was to meet the strict safety standard and at the same time, to develop a stylish high-quality design item to be sold not in DIY home centers but in home furnishing stores and variety shops.

The news traveled nationwide. TV report in “World Business Satellite”, one of the most influential evening news shows, triggered more than 100 media coverage and a big conversation on social network. It was also featured in interior design magazines and innovation media which were new types of channels that never featured safety equipment. The total PR effect was equivalent to over 200 million Japanese Yen.

Not only reinforced the importance of safety helmets, but this project developed nationwide awareness of Tanizawa brand. This leading helmet manufacturer now plans to extend the line with new variations that can be incorporated into the home and office.

Japan has a lot of earthquakes and having a safety helmet can become the difference between life and death. However, even after the Great Tohoku earthquake, only few households own helmets and keep them handy, because they are too bulky to be incorporated in living spaces. The Japanese government recommends to prepare home and office emergency kits that include helmets, but people tend to store them away in hard-to-reach places, like in the car or in the back of storage or cabinet.

Tanizawa, the market leader in helmet manufacturing, had their staff volunteer at the disaster stricken areas to feel despair when realized how helmets could have saved more lives. They felt it was their duty to resolve this problem and reached out to J. Walter Thompson Japan to come up with a strategy to make safety helmets a must-have accessory for the home.