All Blacks in Japanese advts

Press, 8 April 1988, Page 3

All Blacks in Japanese advts

By

TIM DONOGHUE,

NZPA Correspondent Hong Kong The first national television and advertising campaign featuring the All Blacks outside New Zealand and costing $29 million, gets under way in Japan today. The 700 million yen ($8.75M) campaign comes after a deal between Japan’s third-largest. canned food producing' company, Nippon Suisan, and the New Zealand Rugby Union. '' Fifteen All Blacks, most of whom were in the successful New Zealand team that toured Japan last October; will be seen by the Japanese public promoting cans of New Zealand mutton “yakiniku.” |

By using the theme, "All Black, power,” Nippon Suisan [ hopes to see its annual canned mutton sales of one billion yen ($12.5M) from New Zealand increase to four bil-

lion yen (SSOM) a year. , The president of the, New Zealand Meat Group | in Japan, Mr Graeme Harrison, said Nippon Suisan decided to use the All Blacks as a campaign theme because; • The company’s “yaki niku” mutton was 100 per cent New Zealand in origin. • The dominant colour of Nippon Suisan’s can was black, the same colour as the All Black jersey. • The style of the All Blacks matched the content of Nippon Suisan’s “yakiniku." It is the first occasion the All Blacks have featured in an extensive televison publicity campaign outside New Zealand. ’ 11 It is believed that the Rugby Union has also agreed to allow players to appear in other commercial sponsorship arrangements with Japanese companies. The scenes for the commercials were shot in

Auckland early last month.

The campaign will be run for seven weeks on national television and in 10 leading daily newspapers and magazines. Jt is the first occasion a Japanese company has launched a national sales campaign emphasising the fact that the meat is imported from a single country. •' ’• 1

All of the mutton used by Nippon Suisan is supplied by the Asian [New Zealand Meat Ltd (A.N.Z.C.0.), a New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board-owned company.

A.N.Z.C.Q.'s sister company, Japan New Zealand Lamb [ Marketing, Ltd, negotiated a sponsorship involving Wayne Shelford’s All Black team in Japan last year. Oh that tour members of the All Black party participated in restaurant and retail store promotions featuring New Zealand lamb.