Marketing
In the absence of price-related special offers to use as a marketing tool (see Beer In Japan - Part 2), Japanese beer companies have to resort to other methods to boost sales. One of the most interesting ways to do this is to cash in on the national obsession with the four seasons, and the breweries do this with gift sets and limited edition seasonal beer brands.

Beer gift sets are popular during the gift-giving seasons of summer (ochūgen) and winter (oseibo), and consist of several cans of beer nicely presented in a cardboard box with a see-through plastic lid. These gift sets are sold at a rip-off price – higher than the cost of buying the beer cans individually – reflecting both the emphasis placed on aesthetic appeal in Japan (seen in everything from food presentation to Zen gardens) and the importance of gift giving in forging and maintaining social relationships.

Especially popular during the Spring and Autumn months - when seasonal fervour reaches its peak with hanami (cherry blossom viewing) and kōyō (Autumn leaves viewing) respectively - are limited edition seasonal beers. Japanese appreciation of the transience of nature seen in the changing seasons translates well into limited edition products in all areas of retailing. Beer marketing is no exception and these seasonal beers are sold in attractive cans adorned with cherry blossoms or red leaves. As far as I can tell though, these beers taste pretty much the same as the breweries’ regular beers.

Uniqueness
Another example of unusual packaging can be found in what must be the world’s smallest beer cans, which are 135mls and look like they belong in a dollhouse. On the surface they would seem to appeal to Japanese notions of kawaii (cuteness) but in reality they’re aimed at elderly drinkers and those whose metabolism causes them to have an extremely low alcohol tolerance. Regardless, for foreigners visiting Japan they make excellent souvenirs for friends back home (for display, not drinking though, as it really is just one mouthful of beer in the can).

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 7:37 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Articles in English, Food and Drink, Beer in Japan, Drinking in Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.