Breaking new ground: How Tiger Beer aims to penetrate Japan

Tiger Beer is making its mark with a pop-up bar in Japan, done in partnership with GOVT's sister agency THE LAB, ALT Worldwide's second subsidiary. This comes following the brand's launch in Japan last year in June. Inspired by the global proposition, "Here Come the Uncaged", Tiger Beer's YUKI platform is a Japan-only marketing endeavour. The launch of YUKI Habitat was aimed to draw consumers and "modern on-trade outlets" to the brand. The team aimed to show that regardless the trade, whether is it a restaurant, a dive bar, an izakaya, or a nightclub, Tiger Beer can exist in the environment. Set in Fukuoka, Tiger Beer was introduced in the city and Singaporean chef, Jeremy Cheok from Slake was also invited to curate a Singapore-inspired Japanese menu for the outlet. THE LAB undertook the creative, social and digital duties for the overall campaign while, PR and event production was managed by a Japanese agency, Outbound KK. In a conversation with Marketing, Johnny Tan, regional manager (commercial), Heineken Asia Pacific Export, said "Different styles but the same category. That was what we aimed to invoke as a platform, that it’s okay to be different and that it’s fine to draw weird stares. Because that’s what YUKI is." Tan also said to Marketing that in the months to come, there will be multiple Tiger Habitats created all around various cities in Japan, each with its own concept. Here's the peek at the bar set-up: Tan said that the sentiments from the Japanese consumers were positive, as the marketing was "refreshing" to them. He added that the consumers were appreciative that a foreign brand took the time and effort to weave in the local customs and culture into its campaign. During the campaign period, the team generated a reach of over 4.67 million, and more than 120,000 engagements, said to surpass its global benchmarks and KPIs. Marketing in Japan When asked about marketing in Japan, Tan said that as compared to Singapore, which is a small market where the brand can speak in one tone of voice across to its audience,  Japan presented a vastly different case. He explained that the rich history and culture of the land as well as local pride, individual cities with its individual nuances, tonality and personality all play an influential role in determining the success or failure of a marketing campaign in Japan. "With that in mind, marketing has to be conducted with a lot of checks. It’s not just about pushing what we as a brand would like to push across, but about finding the best possible way to convey what we as a brand stand for and believe in, in a way that the Japanese audience can understand and accept. I have always personally believed that marketing should be authentic, and with our Japanese audience, even more so," he explained. Stating that apart from language barrier, the team was caught off guard in the differences in working styles of the Japanese. Tan said that team had to adapt to the speed and cost of execution, as Japan is also an expensive market to operate in. "That said, the quality of Japanese craftsmanship is definitely not a myth," he added. The pop-up bar in Japan follows its “Uncage Hereos” campaign launched globally last year where marketing activations were run across 13 markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Germany among others. Credit List: Client: Heineken Asia-Pacific Export Brand: Tiger Beer Japan THE LAB Business lead & executive producer: Leon Lai Creative group head & head of art: Zac Tan Art director: Joan Chong Junior art director(s): Melissa Tan, Na Eui Yeob (John) Copywriter: Denise Cheong Project lead & market manager: Yilin Goh Account director: Kevin Seah Senior account manager: Benedict Lim Senior account executive: Chiyomi Nakagawa Account executive: Nicole Lim Social media manager: Nicolette-Clare Ong Content manager: Charissa Kow Heineken Asia-Pacific Export Regional commercial manager: Johnny Tan Regional marketing manager: Meryl Ho Regional assistant marketing manager: Yunxuan Ng