Features | 2005.02.12 Sweetening the Deal - Labels Play Ball with the Candyman In early-'90s Japan, CD singles were selling like the proverbial hot cakes. Music fans snapped up CD singles - which included vocal-less "karaoke" versions -- as soon as they were released so they could get in some serious practice before treating their friends or co-workers to their renditions of the latest hits at the local karaoke box. But in 1998, CD-single sales started to fall dramatically, as karaoke lost its allure and more and more Japanese kids started spending their disposable income on mobile phones and video games. Japanese record companies tried to keep the singles market alive by switching from 3-cm CD singles, which had four tracks at most, to 5-cm maxi-singles, which had at least five tracks. The industry refused to give up on the 3-cm singles format altogether. In a truly inspired marketing tactic, Sony Music teamed up with confectionery maker Bourbon in 2000 to create a series called "The Audition," in which Bourbon candies were packaged with a CD single with tracks by aspiring singers. Consumers could vote for their favorite singer by sending a postcard to Sony. Four female vocalists out of the 10 hopefuls made their debuts on Sony as a result of this promotion. Another confectionery company, Ezaki Glico, scored an incredible hit in 2003 with its "Time Slip Glico" chocolates, which were sold together (for 300 yen a pop) with CD-single versions of oldies from the '60s, '70s and '80s in packages that reproduced the original vinyl-single jackets. The series struck a chord with middle-aged folks with a sweet tooth and a nostalgic bent. In what proved to be a very clever marketing move, the only way to find out what single was included in each "Time Slip Glico" package was to buy it and open it, spurring some people into buying them until they had the whole series. The complete collection of 18 CD singles has been posted on Internet auction sites for as much as 10,000 yen. Bourbon then quickly retaliated with their "Giants of J's Pops" series, which comprised CD singles packaged with cookies for 330 yen. Unlike "Time Slip Glico," the "Giants of J's Pops" series packages showed the names of the songs and the artists. Apparently that's why the series didn't sell well. In 2004 Bourbon introduced a CD/sweets product line called "All Night Nippon," which was the name of a popular late-night TV show that first aired in 1967. The CDs featured DJs who were popular in the program's heyday introducing hit singles from the era. Befitting the "All Night Nippon" moniker, the candy included in the package contained caffeine to keep you wide-awake. Like the "Time Slip Glico" series, you had to buy and open the package to find out which single it included. Also jumping on the bandwagon was toy maker Bandai, which in 2003 marketed a CD/sweet series called "Nostalgic Heroes and Heroines” comprising reissues of theme songs from ‘70s and ‘80s anime programs. Sweets are not the only incentive being used to revive the CD-single format. Toy manufacturer Takara, for example, recently introduced "Showa Remembrance Songs," a 300-yen package with a CD single and a packet of jasmine-scented bath powder. No word as to whether "Splish Splash" by Bobby Darin will be released as part of the series... ahem. In January 2005, another major toy company, Tomy, launched a series of CD-single premium packages called "Tea Time Music." Each of the eight packages in the series includes CD-singles with music-box renditions of popular Disney tunes such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin," along with a candy that matches the "flavor" of the song. These promotions seem to have worked. Artists whose golden oldies have been featured in such promotions have seen healthy sales increases, and CD-single sales rose dramatically in 2003 and 2004. The novelty factor seems to be wearing off, however, and the pressure is on the Japanese record industry to come up with similarly creative marketing tactics. We at Nippop, meanwhile, would like to see a box of bon-bons containing a collection of Candies classics. |
