KDDI has rolled out a series of teaser campaigns and thematic
commercials created by Dentsu, in a bid to become the leading telcom in
Japan.
KDDI was established with the merger of KDD, DDI and IDO, and it is now
the second largest telecommunications company after NTT.
Building up audiences' expectation for the main corporate commercials, a
series of teaser campaigns executed in mini-documentary formats,
featuring the preparations for the main TVCs such as the selection of
actor and poster sites.
The thematic campaigns consisted of two commercials entitled "Chase" and
"Marathon" which employed black humour to communicate KDDI's strength to
strive for the number one position.
The "Marathon" commercial, for example, features a race in which the
second-placed runner takes the lead, egged on by a policeman and a
cheering crowd.
"Our purpose is to create the expectation that KDDI, in second place in
the industry, will provide improvements to the telecommunications market
through its competitiveness," said Dentsu commercial planner Yoshimitsu
Sawamoto.
"A marathon is an effective way to convey the message that a second
place runner makes competition more interesting - the commercial is
clearly showing the strength of KDDI in pursuing NTT."
In addition to TVCs, two full page newspaper advertisements with the
taglines "Keep it up, NTT! Go KDDI!" and "We can be naughty since we are
number two" were carried to show KDDI's determination to overtake NTT.
