Hong Kong – Japanese beverage brand Asahi has teamed up with dentsu Hong Kong for an omni-channel campaign to promote its new beer, Dry Crystal, aiming to drive brand experience for the beer product and boost consumer conversions.

The campaign’s goal is to bring users to a new discovery by unlocking new ways to experience beer. 

Recognising Asahi’s offline-focused competitors and the evolving cookieless landscape, dentsu leveraged its data-driven expertise and first-party data to navigate the digital environment, precisely engaging target audiences throughout their purchase journey.

The campaign seamlessly integrated outdoor programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) advertising, strategically placed at prime locations across Hong Kong, with captivating interactive formats across video and display channels. Additionally, dentsu’s data partnerships with The Trade Desk allowed Asahi to leverage retail data, precisely targeting and converting users.

This multifaceted approach successfully captivated audiences, significantly increasing brand awareness while seamlessly driving conversions both online and offline. It not only enhanced Asahi’s full-funnel communication but also drove results in terms of awareness, engagement, and ultimately, conversion among its consumers.

The campaign had garnered 13.6 million impressions and 4.3 million video views. It continues to gain significant traction across Hong Kong, with plans to boost its reach by 87% moving forward. Asahi’s message has effectively reached the right consumers at the right time, leading to a remarkable 392% increase in conversions on Asahi’s flagship store on HKTVmall just three weeks after the campaign launched.

Mag Lai, regional head of brand at Asahi Super Dry, said, “We are thrilled to once again collaborate with dentsu Hong Kong on this effective omnichannel campaign for Dry Crystal. Dentsu has empowered Asahi to break through the competitive landscape and achieve remarkable success in both brand awareness and conversions.” 

Kitty Kwan, planning director at dentsu Hong Kong, added, “This omni-channel campaign for Asahi showcases dentsu’s commitment to delivering impactful solutions that drive meaningful growth for our clients. By seamlessly integrating data-driven strategies across channels, we’ve created a campaign that resonates with consumers and clients, helping to maximise the brand’s reach and engagement.” 

Singapore – Asahi Super Dry has launched its latest brand activation ‘AMPLIFIED’ via its sponsorship of one of Singapore’s food and lifestyle festivals ‘GastroBeats’.

Designed, conceptualised and executed by GOVT Singapore, the activation features various interactive installations of Asahi Super Dry’s multiple products, as well as an Asahi Super Dry hospitality zone with masterclass sessions.

Going into detail, the activation is built upon 4,000 sq ft of real estate space in the iconic Marina Bay precinct, highlighting Asahi Super Dry’s multiple SKUs including its dark lager variant ‘Asahi Kuronama’, its latest product innovation ‘Asahi Namajokki’, and the evergreen Asahi Super Dry.

Talking about the activation, Meryl Ho, head of marketing at Asahi Beer Asia, said, “We are proud to partner with GastroBeats for its 2024 iteration. GastroBeats has grown from strength to strength over the past couple of years, and is a key component of Singapore’s i Light Festival.”

“Together with the exciting variety of food and entertainment happening at GastroBeats, we hope to be able to complement the festivities with a refreshing mug of Asahi Super Dry,” she added.

Additionally, this activation by Asahi and GOVT Singapore follows their latest collaboration on Asahi’s ‘Draught Anywhere’ campaign, which encouraged consumers to enjoy draught beer from the convenience of their homes.

Singapore – After 4 years of development, Asahi Breweries has created the world’s first canned product that allows consumers to enjoy the same taste as a mug of draft beer. With this, it has launched a new spot alongside creative agency GOVT Singapore.

In an ultra competitive beer category, Asahi Super Dry has truly managed to set itself apart from its competition with the launch of the Asahi Super Dry ‘Nama Jokki’. This product aims to enhance the take-home beer experience by creating a luxurious, creamy foam on top of the can when opened, mirroring the sensation of a draft beer served in a bar or restaurant.

Meryl Ho, head of marketing at Asahi Beer Asia, said, “Lift, hold and enjoy. It’s as simple as that. Our latest campaign aims to democratize draft beer. We are proud of our Japanese roots and innovativeness, and wanted to showcase that in our latest campaign, and the agency has managed to deliver the brief in a manner that’s not only easy to understand, but insightful via the delivery of the scenes.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Koh, chief creative officer at GOVT Singapore, commented, “It’s a universal insight that when one has access to his or her first mouthful of draft beer, it ranks up there as one of the best feelings in the world. Especially more so if you’ve had a long day at work, at the beach, or just anywhere that’s hot, sunny and humid. But more often than not, draft beer is not the most accessible. Namajokki has changed that rhetoric, and that’s what we wanted to portray in our spot, the consumer’s exclamation of awesome-ness when taking the first swig of Namajokki.”

Manila, Philippines – Multinational food and beverage company Universal Robina Corporation (URC) has partnered with the Philippine subsidiary of Japanese drink company Asahi in order to tap into the cultured milk business, valued at PHP6.5b.

The partnership, done with Asahi Beverages Philippines (ABP), will see Goodday cultured milk drinks be soon available in stores nationwide. The cultured milk product contains the probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei MCC1849 to help improve immunity.

Goodday is ABP’s first foray into the Philippine beverage market, and both companies are introducing Goodday as Filipinos – having gone through adversities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – now have a stronger appreciation for their health.

Irwin Lee, president and CEO at URC, said, “Consumers have made health and wellness a priority over the past few years, and URC’s joint ventures and product innovations in beverages are ready to address their needs. With our partnership with Asahi, we look forward to the addition of Goodday Cultured Milk Drink to our portfolio of beverage brands to better serve Filipino consumers.”

Meanwhile, Hemalatha Ragavan, CEO of ABP, commented, “We strongly believe that Goodday will be made available in all of URC’s distribution networks across the Philippines, and in the hands of our loyal consumers as the demand for immunity-boosting health beverages continue to rise.”

She added, “My team and I are ecstatic as we look forward to establishing Goodday as a household Filipino brand like how URC has done for all its current brands.”

Based on Nielsen’s Retail Audit 2020 on ready-to-drink beverages, cultured milk is the fastest-growing ready-to-drink beverage category in the country. It has outpaced yogurt and milk, while other categories have seen a decline. 

Hong Kong – Asahi, one of Japan’s popular alcohol brands, together with dentsu International Hong Kong, has launched its first-ever 3D billboard in the heart of Hong Kong’s busiest district. The ad serves as an extension to Asahi’s global brand campaign under the platform “Beyond Expected”, a bold manifesto that leads its audiences to unveil unexpected experiences modern Japan brings. 

Asahi’s campaign is the first-ever alcohol brand to create such an immersive and anamorphic OOH (out of home) in Hong Kong. The ad is also an uplift and local adaptation of Asahi’s brand campaign currently touring around the world. 

The 3D ad starts with a 6-secs reveal of Asahi’s canned beer and finishes with a 15-secs brand reel. Surrounding the ad is a full 270-degree OOH domination right on top of Times Square, one of Hong Kong’s most popular shopping malls. And complementing the OOHs is a streamlined O2O and integrated consumer journey that engages audiences through digital content on social media, websites, banners, TVs, etc. 

Donny Ho, regional sales director for Asia of Asahi Beer Asia, said the campaign is extremely meaningful for them.

“One of our marks to be truly Beyond Expected through action, so consumers can see us with fresh eyes, and to take Asahi’s modern Japan spirit with them when they explore the city,” Ho said.

 Chester Tang, creative director at dentsu International Hong Kong, commented, “We see 3D billboards as the next phase of advertising; in fact, it’s already here.” 

“We have a head start in Hong Kong and are now free to break the fourth wall, merge with our IRLs and blur the lines between content, experimental and OOH,” Tang added.