Ramen Project

How to generate growth for small businesses in Fukuoka City, Japan

Video production
Strategy
Creative Direction
Design
In preparation for the Tokyo Olympic games (which were impacted by Covid), we were tasked with finding a solution to drive tourists to places where English or Chinese aren't widely spoken, while also boosting the local economy.
Our goal was to generate growth for small businesses in Fukuoka City, Japan. The city's declining population put increased pressure on tourism to help stimulate growth for these businesses. Fukuoka City, known as the birthplace of Tonkotsu Ramen, had authentic ramen shops like Najima-tei that hadn't adapted to digital platforms or offered English translations, relying solely on Japanese paper menus.
We contemplated the idea of transforming the offline journey of finding, ordering, and enjoying ramen into an online experience.
Prior to the campaign, an average of four tourists visited Najima-tei ramen shop each day. During the four-week campaign, we witnessed significant results: 3,910 tourists tapped on the map to locate the ramen shop, and 81 tourists clicked on the QR code to access English or Chinese menus. The cost of driving people to the shop's map was 42% lower than the average cost.
User Journey: Targeted ads on Facebook drove tourists to the ramen shop where they could discover the answers. Directional maps were integrated into Instant Experience to guide them to the ramen shop. To further entice, we showed the menu of ramen and introduced a trailer about the ramen master.
Off line posters leading to online content

Meta