Pocky sticks have been Japan's top-selling chocolate snack for decades. They are sold at supermarkets and convenience stores throughout the country, and are particularly popular with kids and teenagers, for whom the social interaction of sharing them with friends is a key part of their appeal. But sales to adults between the ages of 20 and 39 had historically been weak, and the client had struggled for years to expand sales to that target group. It had tried offering them in different flavours and package designs, but none had been successful. Instead, the client had become trapped in a costly cycle of new product launches and package redesigns. Our objective, therefore, was to find a cost-effective solution to these problems that would enable the client to boost sales to young adults and achieve stable, long-term growth.

To develop our creative, we began by examining the product's business model and the factors that motivate purchasing decisions in young adults. Our first insight was that young adults were motivated by needs on the upper tiers of Maslow's hierarchy of needs—particularly the need for self-esteem and self-expression. A second insight was that the client had under-utilised packaging and manufacturing resources that were currently being used to manufacture regional, limited-distribution products and short-lived products that contributed little to long-term growth. So we decided to leverage these resources and create a new packaging system for use at upscale shops and sales outlets where the product could be sold as a fashionable gift item, and to use social media—rather than costly mass-media advertising—to promote the idea of gift-giving as a form of self-expression and a means to gain peer approval.

To appeal to the sophisticated design sense of adult consumers, we deliberately chose not to use the photorealistic product images that are typically featured on confectionary packaging. Instead, we created matte-finish packages decorated with stylish and iconic graphic artwork in different colours for each of the seven flavours offered, and designed complementary multi-package gift boxes in a variety of sizes. To promote the idea of gift-giving as a form of creative self-expression, we created a branded microsite and newspaper inserts that suggested innovative ways to create gift assortments themed to suit various occasions. In addition, we created posters for in-store use, and a series of movies that were displayed at the point of sale, on the microsite, and disseminated on social media—all of which emphasised the stylishness of the packaging over the confectionery inside.

With simple package design and effective use of social media, our creative work not only increased sales in what had previously been the product’s weakest segment (adults aged 20–39), it also generated 120 million yen in additional new sales in just five months (01.12. 2019–30.04.2020). As a gift item, the product has long-term appeal and can be sold at a higher price, while multi-package gift boxes encourage people to purchase the product in higher volume. But the most significant impact of our solution was on the client's business model. Instead of depending exclusively on mass-market sales driven by mass-media advertising, the client gained an important new revenue stream of high-value sales driven by user-generated social-media content. What’s more, it serves as a sustainable model that can be applied to other brands and products in the future.