DENTSU SOKEN INC. 'Trending & Noteworthy Products 2016' Report

The text of the Dentsu Inc. news release distributed on November 24 is as follows.

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November 24, 2016

Each year, DENTSU SOKEN INC. analyzes the mood of the times and deep-seated consumption trends through surveys of the year's trending and notable products. This report introduces the "2016 Ranking of Trending and Notable Products Chosen by Consumers" and analyzes "2016 Consumption Trends" based on the ranking.

1. Consumers' Choice: "Trending and Noteworthy Products 2016 Ranking"

The "2016 Hot Topic and Noteworthy Products Ranking" was created based on responses to the question "What was popular this year?" in an online survey of men and women aged 15 to 69 nationwide. The survey covered 120 products and services selected through preliminary research.

[Top 30 Trending and Noteworthy Products of 2016 Ranked by Consumers]

1st Place: Pokémon GO
2nd Place: "Your Name."
3rd Place: Rio de Janeiro Olympics/Paralympics
4th Place: Hiroshima Toyo Carp Central League Championship
5th Place: PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen) / Pikotaro
6th Place: "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo"
7th Place: Universal Studios Japan
8th Place: "Shin Godzilla"
9th Place: Halloween
10th Place: "Sanada Maru"
11th Place: Hometown Tax Donation
12th Place: YouTuber
13th Place: Instagram
14th Place: Drones
15th place: Japan National Rugby Team
16th Place: Morning Drama Series "Asa ga Kita" and "Toto Neechan"
17th Place: "Osomatsu-san"
18th Place: iPhone 7
19th Place: Ise-Shima Summit
20th Place: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
21. Monster Strike
22nd Place: New Prius
23rd place: Voting age lowered to 18
24th Place: Budget Smartphones / Budget SIM Cards
25th Place: Skorts
26th Inbound Tourism
27th Place: Mercari (Flea Market App)
28th Place: 3D Printers
29th Hokkaido Shinkansen
30th place: Green smoothies

In 2016, factors such as the Kumamoto earthquakes and a slowdown in inbound spending by foreign tourists led to a decline in retail sales, causing consumers to feel uncertain about the future. As a result, consumer spending remained sluggish, and the year was marked by a continued tendency to protect one's livelihood.

On the other hand, there were many bright topics, such as the appearance of long-awaited Japanese blockbuster movies like "Pokémon GO," "Shin Godzilla," and "Your Name," the success of Japanese athletes at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics/Paralympics, and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp winning the Central League championship in professional baseball.

This year's "Hot Topics & Products of 2016" ranking reflects these societal trends, featuring many items that signal new consumption patterns.

Ranked #1, "Pokémon GO" fused the real world with the virtual world of Pokémon through smartphones, offering a new experience where players felt as if they had stepped into the game world itself.

The No. 2 film "Your Name." and No. 8 "Shin Godzilla" are notable for their meticulously crafted details, encouraging viewers to watch them multiple times, discover new perspectives, and share these insights with friends.

The Rio de Janeiro Olympics/Paralympics (3rd place), the Hiroshima Toyo Carp Central League Championship (4th place), and the Japan Rugby National Team (15th place) created a new relationship between sports and everyday people. More than just being captivated by the play of a single superstar, these achievements were accomplished through teamwork, and the way people supported their teams fostered a new connection.

2. 2016 Consumption Trends

Five new consumption trends emerge from the "2016 Hot Topics & Products Ranking":

1) Accelerating Diversity in Enjoyment
This year, numerous events and content ranked high among the most talked-about and popular items. Hits like "Your Name." and "Shin Godzilla" gained traction as viewers discussed aspects that interested them on social media, attracting new audiences who then discovered and shared fresh ways to enjoy them. Similarly, sports topics like the "Rio de Janeiro Olympics/Paralympics" and the "Hiroshima Toyo Carp Central League Championship" saw diverse ways of enjoying them. The popularity of "Instagram," which allows easy sharing of photos and videos, and the support for "YouTubers" who freely share ways to enjoy content and products, show that consumers themselves are also creators of diverse ways to enjoy things.

2) Bright Enthusiastic Fandom
"PPAP," which exploded on social media in late 2016, spread rapidly as people imitated it and uploaded their own videos. Cosplay and special makeup, now staples of Halloween, owe much to the influence of ordinary consumers posting their elaborate creations on platforms like Instagram. Furthermore, behaviors like people of all ages deeply researching information to find rare Pokémon in Pokémon GO, or undertaking pilgrimages to locations featured in anime and movies, have become perfectly ordinary consumer activities. It can be said that consumers are acting like "bright enthusiasts" in their quest to find their own unique ways to enjoy things.

3) Mixed Reality in the Mind
Pokémon GO sparked major buzz by introducing a new way to enjoy the game: bringing Pokémon into the real world via smartphones and physically visiting various locations to catch them. The realism of cityscapes in films like Shin Godzilla and Your Name. offered audiences an experience where the movie and reality felt seamlessly connected. Consumers are enjoying the real world as more fun and colorful through the virtual worlds of movies and games.

4) Miracle Team Love
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics/Paralympics featured remarkable team performances that captured attention: the men's 400m relay in track and field, the women's table tennis team, the women's badminton Takamatsu pair winning medals, and the Japanese men's rugby sevens team's victory over New Zealand. More than individual athletes, it was the sight of teams combining their strengths to achieve great feats that inspired people. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp's championship victory united players and fans, sweeping all of Hiroshima into celebration and filling Japan with jubilation. Scenes emerged where star players like swimmer Hagino and Hiroshima pitcher Kuroda displayed team loyalty, further fueling public support for their heroic efforts. Thus, cheering for team power expanded as a source of enjoyment beyond supporting individual athletes.

5) Revitalization of Revivals
The 40-year serialization of "Here Comes the Neighborhood Police Box" consistently incorporated the latest topics into its stories, maintaining a fresh impression right up to its final episode, which looked back on its 40-year history. Many works and products emerged that revisited familiar themes: "Osomatsu-san," a late-night anime reboot of Fujio Akatsuka's "Osomatsu-kun" featuring the six-twin characters; "Sanada Maru," which injected fresh perspectives into the life of Sanada Yukimura by Koki Mitani; and "Toto Neechan," themed around the founding of the housewife magazine "Kurashi no Techo." Even long-established products and content, while preserving their core essence, gained renewed appreciation from many by meticulously crafting every detail, winning the support of young people and becoming hot topics online.

3.2016: The Year of "Content Styling" Consumption

Consumer movements like "accelerating diversity in enjoyment," "brightening of fandom," "mental mixed reality," "miracle team love," and "revitalization of revivals" increasingly reflect changing relationships between consumers, products/content, and even companies.

Historically, the relationship between companies and consumers was one-way: companies provided goods and services, and consumers simply enjoyed them. However, the spread of social media has fostered connections and information sharing among consumers themselves. As a result, consumers now freely use and enjoy products and services in ways that go beyond the providers' original intentions.

Furthermore, products and services offering broader ways to enjoy them attract more supporters. Consequently, companies have focused on craftsmanship and attention to detail, delivering their offerings with greater care and precision. At times, companies actively incorporate new ways of enjoyment discovered by consumers, turning them into their own strengths.

As a result, a "Win-Win-Win" relationship is emerging between "companies," "consumers," and "their peers," where they explore, create, and expand ways to enjoy products and services.

Products and services have transformed into ever-evolving "content" that adapts to consumer demands, developing and advancing while gaining consumer support.

Consumers are evolving products and services by freely combining those that suit them in ways they want to use, and then sharing how they use them.

2016 can be seen as the year when the relationship between consumers and consumption moved beyond one-way interaction, advancing toward "content styling" consumption that evolves through two-way engagement.

In 2017, these content-based products and services will penetrate even deeper into consumers' lives. Technological advances will provide consumers with new perspectives. This new relationship between companies and consumers will further drive the evolution of consumption.

End

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[Overview of the 2016 Hot Topics & Noteworthy Products Survey]
・Survey Target: 2,000 individuals aged 15-69, nationwide
・Survey Period: Saturday, October 29, 2016 to Monday, October 31, 2016
・Survey Method: Internet survey
・Survey Company: Video Research Ltd.
・Survey Content: For each of 120 products/services, respondents were asked: "Currently popular," "Will become popular," "Not popular now and won't become popular," or "Don't know"

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Dentsu Inc. News Release
http://www.dentsu.co.jp/news/release/2016/1124-009088.html