All About... Manga as a marketing medium

Japan’s new prime minister may have axed plans for a national manga museum, but there’s no doubt manga remains a massively popular form of entertainment in Japan, and is growing in other markets. The medium’s high penetration has not gone unnoticed by brands, and a number of innovative manga- and anime-focused campaigns have been rolled out in recent years.

1 Manga has long been staple reading material in Japan, covering nearly all age groups and social classes. Domestic sales of printed books have fallen in recent years, but the industry is still worth around US$4 billion. Overseas, manga’s popularity is growing in markets such as the US, France, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and Singapore. Last year, the value of the North American market alone stood at $175 million.

Dave McCaughan, Asia-Pacific strategic planning director at McCann Worldgroup, describes manga as a “mainstream medium”. He notes that while books remain the most widespread format, mobile is the fastest-growing. Mobile manga uses a subscription model and usually takes two forms: either a direct conversion of the printed story, or a parallel story that acts as a complement to the print version.

According to Gregory Birge, MD of F5 Digital Consulting, mobile has opened up manga to female readers who felt embarassed buying hard-copy ‘adult’ comics; he says around 70 per cent of mobile readers are female.

2 Using manga for branding is a relatively new phenomenon, but industry observers see exciting opportunities. “There is huge potential in manga and anime for the advertising business,” says Takuya Matsuo, regional creative partner at Ogilvy Japan.

Since manga does not carry traditional advertising, it is primarily used as a vehicle for product placement and branded content. Its wide-ranging subject matter means that it has been employed to promote everything from chocolate to cars to contact lenses to - according to McCaughan - sex toys. A brand can either create a manga storyline of its own in conjunction with a publishing house and mangaka (manga producer), or pays a product placement fee to the publisher. The first instance allows the brand to extend its theme and characters beyond the manga format to television and a range of other platforms.

3 In Japan, there is nothing unusual in using a cartoon hero to appeal to adults. GT Inc creative director Koshi Uchiyama, who is developing a manga-based campaign for NTT DoCoMo, points out that Kosaku Shima, a character popular among Japanese salarymen, has promoted brands including Suntory Malts beer and office product maker Kokuyo.

Several years ago, Nissan launched its Serena family car through product placement in the manga Cooking Papa, which stars a responsible family man. Nike worked with Beacon Communications to target high school sports enthusiasts with its ‘Bukatsu’ campaign that offered users access to a manga series featuring Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kobe Bryant and Ronaldinho via QR codes. And wine-themed manga Drops of God plays a key role in publicising high-end wines in Japan, which are written into the story according to the taste of the authors. Anime (animated film) examples include the Freedom Project series by Nissin Cup Noodles and Dentsu. The initiative, created alongside Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame, featured a moon-dwelling boy with a passion for Cup Noodles and spanned on-screen, online and in-store media.

4 However, McCaughan says that many - especially Western - brands do not yet see manga as a “serious” medium. One issue, he says, is that in offering the brand up for straightforward product placement, the advertiser must be prepared to relinquish control. “[The publishers] will take your money, but it’s up to them how they use the brand,” he explains. Conversely, producers may be unwilling to write brands into their stories for stylistic reasons.

Nonetheless, given the potential, the effort would seem worthwhile. “A lot of people don’t understand how big it is,” McCaughan claims. “In Japan, it’s read by everyone aged 60 and under; in other markets it tends to appeal more to the under-35s, but that’s changing. Many people in their 30s have been reading manga their whole lives.”

What it means for…
Advertisers
- Manga is a major medium - at least in Japan - and its value as a marketing tool should not be overlooked. While it is a mainstream medium, it can also be used to reach specific niche audiences.

- Books are not the only format for manga. Mobile is the fastest-growing platform and is particularly effective in targeting a female audience.

- Be prepared to let go of your brand to a certain degree, unless you are creating a new manga property. Writers will work with a brand but retain control over the way it is used.

Media agencies

- Manga does not lend itself to traditional print advertising, but offers opportunities for deeper reader engagement through branded content, meaning agencies need to build relationships with manga publishers.

- Authors should be treated in the same way as TV production companies, though they may exercise a higher degree of control over the content they produce.

- Manga is not a completely open medium for marketing. Not all publishers and producers will be willing to develop brand-related material.

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This article was originally published in 22 October 2009 issue of Media.