ASIA-PACIFIC – SHANGHAI, CHINA, NOVEMBER 11, 2011: Pocky Day, November 11, is well known in Japan because of the fact that the month and date in Arabic numerals resemble four vertical sticks of Pocky snacks. This year, Mindshare Shanghai ushers Pocky Day to China with a QQ Dancer campaign, an online dance game on QQ, the instant messaging platform.
“Everyone loves Pocky. It’‟s a snack that is associated with happiness. The reason why we selected QQ Online Dance as a key platform is because gaming and dance, like Pocky, raise a person’s happiness index,” said Kevin Zhou, general manager of Mindshare Shanghai. “QQ Dancer has two million users currently, making it the optimum platform to reach Glico Pocky’s consumers.”
Leveraging on the users’ preference to customize the look of their avatars, each box of Glico Pocky comes with special pin codes, allowing users to exchange for virtual commodities such as apparels and accessories for their avatars or for gaming use. The microsite also encourages consumers to leave a message on their thoughts about Pocky Day or the campaign through the QQ micro-blogging section found at the microsite.
Online gaming in China represents one of the largest and fastest growing Internet business sectors in the country, with 76.2% of netizens age between 15 to 30 active in online games (Source: CMMS, Summer 2011).
“Our aim is to connect with a new generation of Chinese consumers, one that is more vocal, with different forms of self-expression. Kudos to the team at Mindshare for coming up with this fresh and innovative online idea,” said Song Shui Fan, associate marketing director, Glico China.
The campaign will conclude in January 2012. Please visit the microsite for more information.
