Iconiq

The past couple years have been difficult for participants in the Japanese media industry as it has been for their global peers. The global financial crisis exacerbated changing advertising spending allocations due to lower readership of old media magazines and newspapers. In addition, the music industry continues to shrink due to lower CD sales and aging demographics.

While not entirely unique nor pioneering, Avex's experiment with Iconiq is a response to the aforementioned market trends. Iconiq is the not-so-clever name picked by Avex, a major Japanese record label, to fashion an overnight success from an unknown B-level teeny-bopper pop singer. Avex substituted the traditional marketing strategy of a pop act - press, events and publicity to hype up several singles and music videos - with a massive coordinated marketing blitz. Avex lined up seven sponsors in an unprecedented advertising blitz to paste Iconiq's face on billboards throughout Japan. The seven sponsors are Shiseido, ANA, Starbucks, Maserati, Kitson, mu-mo and Rhythm Zone (a division of Avex). Impressively, Avex announced Iconiq's debut by means of a Shiseido commercial where her shoulder-length hair is buzz-cut.

Through pure force of marketing, Avex achieved immediate face recognition through Iconiq's constant presence on billboards, TV commercials, magazine covers, etc. The second phase was Iconiq's music debut - her initial album launched at #3 on the Oricon charts, which may reflect her producer's purchases more than consumer support. Avex has pulled out all the stops and will continue to ensure Iconiq has ample airplay on TV and radio. Unfortunately, the music is an emotionless B-grade pop sound and does not match the name nor the buzz-cut look. While the verdict is still out on whether Avex can make Iconiq a success, it appears even a massive campaign cannot sell mediocre music.

On the other hand, The Japan Times happily delivers Avex's PR line here.