Monster Mash
Is Godzilla a better pitch-creature than, uh, actor?
That’s the question facing Kirin Brewery of America, which in its largest promotion ever has teamed up with the much-hyped film about a Japanese monster. The film has been soundly panned by critics.
The tie-in to the movie “Godzilla” is important to Kirin, which is busy expanding its business beyond Japanese restaurants, where it is a popular choice for washing down sushi. The U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s Kirin Brewing Co. had hoped that excitement about “Godzilla” would help get its name out to American consumers, especially those who favor more costly imported brews.
“It’s the perfect tie-in for a Japanese beer company,” said Kirin America’s retail account director, Paul Jaramillo. “We’re the largest beer company in Japan, and it’s the largest monster.”
How big “Godzilla” turns out to be among theatergoers is another question. With a gross of $55.7 million, “Godzilla” was the box-office leader during the four-day Memorial Day weekend. But it fell short of the $90.1-million record set by “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” last year and below expectations created by hype about the movie.
“It’s not ‘Titanic,’ ” Jaramillo said.
A parade of companies has latched on to “Godzilla,” which had been touted as the blockbuster for summer. Taco Bell and Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream are two other companies with promotions linked to the movie.
Given Kirin America’s small size in the United States, the stakes are higher for the Santa Monica-based company than for bigger firms.
To lock up rights to the Godzilla character, Kirin America agreed to spend between $3 million and $5 million on its marketing campaign. Anchoring the effort are two television commercials shot in the grainy style of a 35-millimeter home movie. In the spots, a plastic Godzilla toy battles and defeats a Kirin beer bottle--a scene reminiscent of a Bud Bowl run amok.
The commercials were shot on a wood-paneled set resembling a 1950s rumpus room. No attempt was made to hide the hands of the people manipulating the toy or the flame-thrower Godzilla uses to torch the Kirin bottle.
Hunter Philips, executive vice president of Los Angeles-based Houston Helm & Co., Kirin America’s advertising agency, said the retro-style spot helps Kirin stand out from the slicker ads from big-budget advertisers tied to the movie. And use of the quirky toy helps make the spot relevant to fans of the vintage “Godzilla” films on which the new release is based, Jaramillo said.
Besides the commercials, which are airing mostly on cable TV during sports and news programming, Kirin is sponsoring a “Godzilla”-related promotion to help the brand get space in retail stores and is using billboard advertising.
Kirin began to expand its focus to include import drinkers in 1997, hoping to benefit from the increasing popularity of imported beers such as Corona and Heineken. In focus groups, Kirin executives found that consumers linked the brand strongly with Japanese food--it is the leading brand in Japanese restaurants--but didn’t think of drinking it on other occasions. Kirin has 1% of the total import market, which accounts for just 7% of overall beer sales.
“We have to broaden the thought of Kirin beyond Japanese food,” Jaramillo said.
Kirin last year launched a billboard campaign that attempted to emphasize Kirin as a global, rather than ethnic, beer. One ad, for example, noted that Kirin outsells Foster’s worldwide, though the Australian beer is better recognized in the United States.
Philips said Kirin took the approach to establish “credibility” with import drinkers, choosy consumers for whom brands are a badge of good taste.
“To American import drinkers, it’s important that a brand is perceived as popular,” Philips said. “Kirin was getting lumped with other ethnic beers. It was important to establish it is sold the world over.”
Jaramillo is optimistic about the “Godzilla” promotion, even if the movie continues to fall short of the hype. “Ninety-eight percent of consumers recognize Godzilla,” he said. “That has to help us.”
