The two items that topped Nikkei Marketing Journal's annual rankings were not products per se but product attributes reflecting consumers' response to inflation.
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Hit products of any given year are expected to change the direction of the market, carve out a completely new market segment or appeal to changing lifestyles with something innovative.
Jul 10, 2021
In an online list of the world’s wackiest vending machines; compiled by Fodor’s Travel, Japan got the nod for 3 out of 13 those selling beer, fresh eggs and bananas.
The Fodor’s list failed to impress this writer, who has seen machines with considerably wackier offerings. Some years ago, for instance, I spotted a machine that enabled people to automatically wash, rinse and dry their dogs.
The appearance of original vending machines does warrant media coverage, which is certainly the case for Dohiemon, a new type of vending machine that went into service earlier this year.
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Dec 19, 2020
Early one morning at the beginning of December, I rushed to the nearest newsstand to purchase a copy of the Nikkei Marketing Journal. It was somehow reassuring once again to see, emblazoned atop page one, the publication’s traditional sumo-style
banzuke (ranking sheet) a layout virtually unchanged since 1971 listing Japan’s top-selling hit products of 2020.
Before dissecting the 2020 rankings, it’s worth examining how this annual list began. The 1970s marked the time when discerning consumers in Japan began showing a preference for greater variety. Prior to that time, manufacturers had been content to sell their rice cookers, washing machines, TV sets and other mass-produced household items by appealing mainly through brand affinity. Increasingly, companies realized that to compete successfully they would have to attract consumers with innovative products aimed at specifically targeted segments of the market.