The Two Most Exciting Products for Japan in 2013
The monthly magazine Nikkei Trendy (*1) has revealed its ranking of hit products and services in Japan 2013, as it has done in previous years. There were two foreign products that sold exceptionally well in Japan in 2013, the Raycop (Bukang Sems Ltd., Korea) and the AirFryer (Philips, The Netherlands). So, what might these two products, which permeated the Japanese market just like Japanese manga or games, have in common?
Before we answer that question, let’s take a quick look at the actual products.
Raycop is a special dust mite cleaner for bedding. It is equipped with a UV light cleaning mechanism that removes approximately 93.1% of allergens, such as dust mites and house dust from your bedding. More than 2.5 million Raycop units have already been sold globally in 25 different countries.
The other product, the AirFryer, is a cooking appliance that lets you make fried foods without using oil. Over 1.5 million AirFryer units have been sold globally, in more than 100 countries.
Now, let’s return to the question from the beginning of this post; what do these two products have in common and why did they become successful in Japan?
First of all, both of these products managed to fulfill contradictory desires simultaneously through technological innovation. However, the key to their success lay not only in new technology but in how they were designed and marketed. Both products shared a marketing strategy focused on homemakers, in Japan mostly women, and succeed in becoming the first choice for their target group. Like many other successful innovations this year’s top two foreign products were a mix of technological innovation and smart marketing.
Several years ago, data showing that women control 64% of global consumption was published(*2). This figure is high but might be even higher in Japan where traditional households where women work as homemakers are still commonplace. It is often said that men and women have different consumer behavior. According to an analysis by Bridget Brennan, a journalist and marketing specialist, women tend to be more interested in what a product can do for you and men more interested in how a product works(*3).
In order to get female buyers to choose Raycop, Raycop succeeded in both offering a lineup of models with many different designs, and fulfilling the desire to sleep in a clean bed while making the often tedious and time-consuming task of cleaning mattresses and bedcovers easy.
The AirFryer succeeded in simultaneously fulfilling the desire of wanting to eat fried food at home while avoiding the smell and extra work involved in cooking with oil.
It is certainly true that in any era, the key to success lies not only in technological innovation but in creating value for the consumer and effectively communicating that value.
So, what kinds of products and services will be hits in the Japanese market in 2014?
*1. Nikkei BP, Inc. Nikkei Trendy, December 2013 edition.
http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/pickup/20131028/1053200/
*2. Book referenced: Women Want More: How to Capture Your Share of the World's Largest, Fastest-Growing Market.
Authors: Michael J. Silverstein, Kate Sayre and John Butman. Publisher: HarperBusiness (9/8/2009)
3. Book referenced: Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World's Most Powerful Consumers.
Author: Bridget Brennan. Publisher: Crown Business (7/7/2009)
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