Calpis gets fans grooving to the beat with first user-generated video

Calpis, Japan’s cultured milk drink, has created its first user-generated video using winning submissions from its Instagram Reels contest launched in August this year. The peppy and uplifting video created by Calpis aims to get netizens grooving to the beat, while the brand's messaging around maintaining good digestive health is set to the background music of Calpis’s brand tune. This marks the brand's first foray into UGC and Calpis' spokesperson told A+M that the contest saw almost 10 million impressions and a reach of 8.7 million within four weeks. To maintain brand affinity with consumers, the brand believes in providing followers content that Calpis believes in, the spokesperson said. 

According to Calpis, the campaign was chosen to spread positivity and to motivate netizens to take good care of their health, given that the pandemic has taken a toll on Malaysians' overall well-being. Yee Pek Kuan, VP of marketing at Etika, said that considering current circumstances, Calpis needed to reinforce the messaging around good digestive health by encouraging our consumers to channel their creative goodness within through our digital contest.

Participants of the Instagram Reels contest had to create a short and catchy video featuring a Calpis product of any variant namely Original, Mango, Strawberry, or Grape, and their best dancing skills. The contest ran from 9 August to 5 September 2021.

"Being a brand that is always looking for creative ways to engage with our consumers, we find it important to reward them for being supportive of Calpis, and to express our appreciation for their enthusiasm as well, especially with this Instagram Reels Contest," the spokesperson added. Ultimately, the brand wants consumers to know that they do have a place in Calpis and that the brand stands by them.

The pandemic has pushed Calpis to be more agile than before, which helps it look to more creative ways to solve its problems. "Digital platforms have been Calpis’ main communication channel to reach out to our target audience, as majority of them are Gen Y and Gen Z. With the pandemic, the digital sphere is even more so important to sustain the brand," the spokesperson explained. Focusing on digital platforms also enables Calpis to work with  content aggregators, key opinion leaders, micro and nano seeders.

Working together with its creative and media agencies, the brand has and is still constantly exploring different and new technologies within the social realm to remain competitive among its competitors. Additionally, Calpis is also looking to get onto eWallet and transaction apps to reward shoppers in a more efficient manner.

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