Give me something!

It's an understood (although perhaps intensely loathed) concept of advertising that one major way to get someone to watch your commercial is to give then something in return. However, more often than not people are less inclined to try to get that 'something' as they, in some way, must remove their butts from their warm, soft couches and go into the harsh reality that is the world.

Thanks to the Japanese, this is no longer a problem!

A partnership between Ukiki Channel and the Commercials for Commercials Campaign has created 'Ukiki Campaign" (In Japanese, ukiki is the sound a monkey makes)*.
When you watch a commercial, a special logo will pop-up at the end which lets the viewer know that by watching this commercial, they are eligible for special points. By clicking a button on their remotes, the information is sent to a database which records who watched the commercial, when, on what channel, and a certain amount of points that are being awarded for that commercial.

Japanese consumers are used to the idea of collecting points to receive prizes. Every store here in Japan, from my local crepe shop to the supermarket, offers point cards. As you purchase things, your points accumulate. With these points you can, naturally, get prizes from the card's respective store. At this moment, I am only 103,486 points away from the Louis Vitton handbag that my grocery store offers.

While this campaign most likely wouldn't work in America (land of instant gratification), the Japanese are acclimated to this idea of a point system and the idea of saving up to get something.

The nice point of this campaign is that it isn't only the consumers who get a good deal out of this! Advertisers can now see the who, what, where and when of their viewing audience on a large scale.

The only downside to this brilliant plan? Your television must be equipped with playback. While many people have a notion that Japan is very technical advanced society filled withe early adapters, the truth is that this is very, very far from the truth.

...and because this post wouldn't be finished without a random bit of Japanese/English/American culture backwardness. The 'Halloween Flavored' (pudding flavored) Kit Kat bars have a nice little quote about Halloween on them:
"Halloween is a day to cheer for the dreams of children"

* - Ukiki is also the sound one makes when they're...err...you know..."busy". This lead to many awkward looks from my co-workers when they walked by my computer and noticed what I was looking up on Google...