Sunday, Dec. 2, 2001

By MARK SCHREIBER

Nikkei Trendy (December)

Japan's latest retail data shows consumer spending in October was down for the seventh straight month. But not all is gloom and doom. Even amid burgeoning merchandise inventories and deflationary price spirals, some products and services have still managed to persuade reluctant consumers to part with their hard-earned yen.

Identifying each year's "hit" products, and analyzing how they succeeded has been a standby of Nikkei publications since 1973. In its December issue, the monthly consumer magazine Nikkei Trendy posts a listing of the top 30 hits in the product and service sectors. Taken as a whole, they read as a study in adept marketing, creativity, fortuitous timing and, occasionally, sheer luck.

Trendy provides five buzz phrases that define the consumer trends over the past year. These are: simplified functions -- products that perform only one or a limited number of functions; "electronic turtles," i.e., toys, fashions, services, etc., that parents can enjoy with their children; high-tech foods; the "Uniqlo-ization" of retailing; and an increasingly pervasive system in which fixed pricing is applied to goods and services.

Uniqlo, of course, is the immensely successful Hiroshima-based retailer of unisex casual wear for all ages, sold at ultralow prices and offered in wide color variations. Now, display and pricing strategies that emulate this formula are being used for everything from eyeglass frames to fingernail polish.

Looking at the top 30 hits, first and second place went to two American imports: Universal Studios Japan and Tokyo Disney Sea. The former opened in Osaka in April, the latter near Tokyo in September. In third place was Hayao Miyazaki's blockbuster animated film, "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" (English title: "Spirited Away.")

Trendy's top 10 was rounded off, in this order, by: Sony's Cybershot digital camera; the Fit, a new four-door compact from Honda that became Japan's second-best selling model overnight; Kanebo's Revue Magical Change skin conditioner for men; Mainichi Honebuto MBP, calcium-fortified dairy beverages from Snow Brand; Asahi Beer's Hon Nama budget-priced draft malt beverage; Ag+, Shiseido's high-tech underarm deodorant spray; and a microwavable, frozen fried-rice dish from Nichirei called Honkaku itame Chahan which claims to capture the flavor of a stir-fried dish by a professional chef.

From these and 20 others, Trendy identifies five patterns that are influencing current consumer psychology. The first appeals to those who "hate to wait." Finding new and better ways to save time and effort has always worked well with consumers.

What else? Well, "Japaneseness" is definitely in vogue again. Whether applied to reading matter, culture, sports, food or technology, appealing to people's desire to feel good about being Japanese proved effective as a marketing tool. The third involves what Trendy calls "encouragement," an example being the range of oyaji (papa) goods -- like a humorous 780 yen squeeze-me doll to exercise one's grip, or tasty boxed lunches packed with healthy ingredients.

Goods and services appealing to a desire to transform oneself also sold well. Self-improvement books, minor plastic-surgery procedures, diet pills and relaxation music kept the cash registers ringing. And product packaging in 2001 went "metallic," with the three most popular colors being satin silver, brilliant-white pearl and ice blue. These were applied to such diverse products as cars, personal digital organizers, cosmetics and even women's bathing suits.

A followup article in Trendy asked which hits from Japan had a chance of making it abroad. The most provocative has got to be Fuji TV's weekly program "Ryori no Tetsujin." Known in English as "Iron Chef," it was dubbed in English and broadcast on America's Paramount TV network this autumn. For further commentary on televized gluttony, see Michael Hoffman's article below.

Tokyo Confidential summarizes articles appearing in vernacular tabloids. The views expressed herein do not reflect those of The Japan Times, nor can we vouch for the veracity of the contents.

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