Kirin Hyoketsu crowns its top hand model in latest campaign via Thinkerbell Aotearoa
Japan’s Kirin Hyoketsu has taken NZ’s competitive RTD market by storm, and its latest work with Thinkerbell is no exception.
Says Regan Grafton, chief tinker at Thinkerbell Aotearoa: “We needed to get Japan’s #1 RTD to #1 in NZ. The trouble was, though it’s huge overseas, Hyoketsu was virtually unknown over here. Sounds daunting but lucky for us, it tastes damn good so deep down we knew Kiwis would love it – all we had to do was get them to try it.”
Driving mass trial via user generated content (UGC), the creative sought NZ’s #1 hand to model Japan’s #1 RTD for a salary of 1 million yen (about $11,000 NZD). Integrated across social, OOH, in-store, earned and activation, the nationwide search generated a huge number of auditions from hopeful hands.



Says Russel Curtis, brand director spirits, wine and RTD for Lion, who are the local producer and distributor for Kirin: “Within three hours of launch, the promotion already had over 30,000 organic views on Instagram alone and been featured on national news. Not only are people trialling the product, they’re also telling their friends to, and we couldn’t be happier with how it’s been tracking.”
The brand announced Christchurch entrant Jordan Garven as the new hand behind Japan’s premier RTD. Garven will soon shine as the star of his own photoshoot, showcasing the hand that caught the eye of Kirin Hyoketsu’s discerning judges.
11 Comments
good thinking
Nice
hand models from the US anybody?
Anybody?
Ok, then…
1m yen right now is a mere 11000nzd
I think it’s great. Clever way to do something interesting within what are probably very strict brand guidelines.
PS @Conversion I think you’re missing the point.
It’s been done before and better with Dorito’s.
Why do we keep high fiving work in this country that has been done before?
Because I haven’t seen it. Link?
Yes plz
Show us or stop ya moaning
It’s not good.
Saying one thing and expecting something else – those print ads are telling me to audition to be a hand model not to “all we had to do was get them to try it”.