Kumamoto, an agricultural county in southern Japan, used a clumsy bear as a mascot to create a regional brand. In just two years, Kumamon has brought economic benefits of $65.438+0.2 billion to the little-known Kumamoto Prefecture, including sightseeing and product sales, as well as advertising effects equivalent to $90 million, creating a miracle of regional public brands and cartoon endorsements and becoming a typical case of county brand strategy. Let's look at the story of Kumamon.

Where does Kumamon come from? -Image source

Kumamon is the official mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture. This puppet image played by human comes from designer Mizuno. At first, it was just a propaganda case to welcome the opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen and increase the popularity of Kumamoto Prefecture.

Shinkansen is one of the important means of transportation for Japanese people to travel, and the terminal of Kyushu Shinkansen is Kagoshima, a beautiful town famous outside, and Kumamoto, an agricultural county, is just an inconspicuous intermediate station.

The opening of the Shinkansen may mean more to Kumamoto Prefecture than people think. Deyong Fawei of Kumamoto Brand Promotion Division said that their position on this matter is "a once-in-a-century opportunity".

"We have no money, there are few young people here, and there are no available employment opportunities. The local economy is in adversity. " That's what the governor of Kumamoto said (the post of governor is equivalent to the governor of China or the mayor of a municipality directly under the central government). Like all governors who strive to develop the local area, Urushima also wants to invite residents of Kansai to visit Kumamoto. "If the last stop of the Shinkansen is Kumamoto, no one will want to do this project. However, the last stop is Kagoshima, and Kumamoto may just be a stopover, "he said. "Building a mascot like Kumamon is much cheaper than building roads or something."

How influential is Kumamon? -All of Japan

The effect far exceeds expectations. This blushing black bear has spread all over Japan, creating a model of county branding.

The mascot "Kumamon" is as big as a real bear. His cheeks are rosy and his body is soft. His image can be seen everywhere in Japan, from cakes to key rings, from airplanes to wallets. There are even motorcycles made by car dealers that are similar to Kumamon's, which greatly satisfies the fans.

Kumamoto's whimsical comic marketing creativity keeps Kumamoto's related products feverish, and there are also many popular gadgets suitable for family daily use, such as bags, mobile phone cases, socks, lunch bags and so on.

Japanese hotels are also scrambling to launch Kumamon rooms to meet the expectations of fans.

The local Bank of Japan in Kumamoto calculated that the economic return brought by this bear to this county from 2011to 20 13 reached124.4 billion yen (about RMB 7.63 billion). Only 20 13, there are 65438+6393 million images using it.

According to the image spokesperson ranking of Japanese research institute RJC, in 20 13 years, Kumamon ranked first in comprehensive scores such as image cognition and communication power, surpassing Uncle McDonald and Peko.