Before the end of 2016, Olympic and Paralympic sponsor Panasonic ran launched new content in its multi-platform ‘Beautiful Japan Towards 2020’ initiative – spearheaded by a TVC driving viewers to a core web platform hosting an extensive online video series.
This online film series, one of the first 2020 activations from any major Olympic sponsor, will consist of no less than 47 different films – one for each of Japan’s 47 prefectures – all of which will have roll out by 2020.
The videos all feature local athletes dreaming of and working towards the Tokyo 2020 Games.
They focus on the fighting spirit it takes to compete in the Games, the dedication required to pursue a dream and the natural beauty of the Japanese landscape.
Thus the dual aim of the campaign is to both promote the beauty of Japan and to support young athletes who have ‘accepted the challenge of chasing their dreams for 2020’.
The series’ stars are the sportsmen and women of the future: school children shot training and supporting each other as they (and their coaches and families) prepare for a tilt at Tokyo 2020.
One of the videos released before the turn of the year, featuring disabled athletes preparing in tandem with prosthesis technicians, was released on Japanese TV to promote the project, boost awareness of the series and drive viewers to the initiative’s digital hub.
It includes the line: ‘Everyday I take a step beyond the day before. Today I am stronger than what I use to be’.
While all the other spots shot to date – such as one featuring fencing,
and another volleyball,
are all hosted on a dedicated multi-language Panasonic website (http://panasonic.jp/olympic/bj2020/en/).
In recent weeks through December and January the campaign has also rolled out social content pieces,
あけましておめでとうございます
今年も #ビューティフルジャパン をよろしくお願いします。#綾瀬はるか さんからも新春のメッセージ♪次はあなたの街を訪れるかも！https://t.co/R3R3bA01Sq #BJ2020 pic.twitter.com/m31cCixCUA— Panasonic Japan公式 (@Panasonic_cp) January 1, 2017
as well as outdoor posters featuring the young athletes in the films running on Japanese railway trains and ads in the Tokyo subway.
The push also aims to inspire Japanese people to get excited about the Games and strive for their own dreams for 2020.
Comment:
Launched in 2014, Panasonic’s ‘Beautiful Japan Toward 2020’ initiative was actually first launched in 2014 and is a six-year project that ‘aims to present the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games as an Olympics and Paralympics for all of Japan’.
These stylish, sometimes cinematic videos (shot in Panasonic Viera 4K of course) front a campaign that sees the Japanese electronics giant become one of the first IOC TOP sponsors to start leveraging its rights ahead of its home nation Games which will be hosted on Tokyo in 2020.
Is it ever too early to start maximising rights? Perhaps it can be!
But when factoring in both the vast sums required to become an IOC TOP partner and that this is a home Games for Panasonic, Tokyp 202 present the brand with a one-off opportunity that it needs to make the most of.
Panasonic, who’s self-stated corporate philosophy is to ‘contribute to society by providing cutting edge technology’, has been a TOP IOC Olympic sponsor since back in 1988 and has committed itself to partnering with the Olympic movement at least until the 2024 Games.
Links:
Panasonic:
https://www.youtube.com/user/PanasonicAVMJAPAN
https://twitter.com/Panasonic_cp
https://www.facebook.com/panasonic.avmjapan
https://plus.google.com/u/0/101405183906472219902
IOC:
https://www.youtube.com/user/olympic
https://www.facebook.com/olympics
https://plus.google.com/+Olympics
Tokyo 2020:
https://www.facebook.com/tokyo2020/
https://www.instagram.com/tokyo2020/
https://www.youtube.com/tokyo2020
