(1) We ran these ads as part of a global ad campaign launched by MasterCard under the communication theme “priceless value.” We ran those ads only in newspapers to make the most of high-level public expectations for the Japanese national team in the FIFA World Cup 2002.

(2) Daily newspapers permit advertisers to act on timely basis. What we published in The Asahi Shimbun on the days that the Japanese team competed was a creative content only newspapers can deliver. We also place importance on brand imaging that only newspapers can provide. We consider newspapers an indispensable medium for reaching a broad audience.

(3) Nationwide popularity gives The Asahi Shimbun a permanent position on our list of advertising media. We understand many high-income earners and opinion leaders read the Asahi Shimbun. It was also the official newspaper of the FIFA World Cup 2002. As such, it carried numerous soccer-related articles. We believed we could generate synergy by running our ads in The Asahi Shimbun.

(4) Some readers took the trouble to express their thoughts to us about the ads by e-mail. Applications for membership increased during the campaign. We also found members used their MasterCard more often in this period. We also received higher evaluations of such items as level of public recognition and corporate image in a follow-up survey we conducted after this ad campaign.

(5) Compared with previous ad campaigns, this one captured more attention from our employees. I think it helped motivate our employees in their work.

Shigeru Kibe
Senior Marketing Manager