Created for The Workshop's creative mentorship program - Fall 2022
Ajinomoto Foodie Campaign
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The problem:
The assumption that MSG is harmful is driven by an outdated belief in Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. This myth has been driven forward by xenophobia and incorrect medical assumptions with no base in reality. In reality, people are missing out on MSG’s ability to enhance flavor and unlock umami, the fifth taste, which intensifies flavors sauces, broths, soups and many more foods. |
The task:
Shift perception for MSG from an unhealthy additive to a necessary ingredient to make food taste better amongst at home chefs. Get At-Home Chefs To See MSG As Their Secret Flavor Weapon By Breaking Down Myths + Showing Its Ability * full brief available here* |
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The target:
At Home Chefs Primarily Millennials at different stages of their lives who enjoy cooking at home over ordering in. They’re not wildly adventurous and don’t often stray from their favorites but they are always looking to improve upon their skills and their recipes. |
The deliverables:
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Campaign Line
Our overall insight was that people generally dance, smile, or have a look of joy about them when experiencing good food. From that, we discovered our main idea and campaign line - Find your umami.
Print + OOH
Overall, we wanted to play into the insight by showing close ups of people's faces experiencing umami after they've tasted something with Ajinomoto.
We decided to create a long copy print ad to give background to what exactly msg and umami is because our target market may not be familiar.
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We used images of faces expressing joy and excitement to show the what it might look like to experience umami. Using many different kinds of people to demonstrate that umami is a universal experience.
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The placement for these print ads would be magazines and out of home. The smile should catch the viewers eye to be intrigued with what the text has to say.
Social Activation
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This is a Tik Tok AR filter game called UMAMIface. It is fun game that changes your facial expression and gives you points for eating MSG. To play, the user would simulate eating any colourful food icon (representing foods with MSG) that shows up on their screen for points. If the user accidentally eats a black and white food icon (representing foods without MSG), they loose points. Users would post the videos of them playing the game to their feed which would influence others to play and do the same. The game would drive traffic to the Ajinomoto Tiktok account that would be filled with recipe videos of meals using Ajinomoto.
:30 Script
This is a script for a video ad that can be placed as a tv spot or on social. This shows a visual representation of elevating your recipes and unlocking umami. The setting is a dinner party amongst friends at the friend's house who may not be the best cook.