A drama you watch while commenting on your phone!? ~The story of the second installment of the further-evolved ad-fusion drama~

This is Nakao from Dentsu Inc. CDC.

Adfusion—a new advertising concept that integrates ads as core content.

As its first initiative, in 2018, we collaborated with Fuji TV to plan the world's first Adfusion drama, "Detective Kojin," which completely integrated drama and advertising. Amidst voices saying things like, "That's impossible..." and "It's definitely not going to work," the Fuji TV team and our Dentsu Inc. team united, overcame various challenges and obstacles, and finally aired it successfully in June. Thanks to everyone's support, it won the Bronze Award in the Media Creative category at that year's ACC Awards.

Huge Response! The First Installment Surpassed Advertising Expectations

This entirely new approach garnered attention even before airing, featuring in publications like the Nikkei newspaper and Yahoo! Topics. The response after broadcast was even greater, ultimately resulting in over 40 articles across various media outlets and becoming a major talking point.

Furthermore, by merging the main drama content with advertising, we achieved what we hoped for:
- Achieving ads that viewers wouldn't skip, ads they absolutely wanted to see
• Achieving high levels of interest, favorability, usage intent, and recommendation

Post-broadcast surveys (summary at the end) showed results exceeding our expectations, demonstrating the potential for this format to deliver effects distinct from traditional TV commercials and establish itself as a new advertising option.

As a result, we received inquiries and requests for the next round not only from the TV and advertising industries but also from many clients. This time, we're thrilled to announce the production and airing of the second installment!!!!

Wow, I'm truly overwhelmed!!!

Two Evolutions Realized in the Second Installment

But since we were doing a second installment, it would've been boring to make it exactly the same as the first. This is a project tackling something big like "opening up new possibilities for TV and commercials," so we really need to keep challenging ourselves with new things.

Therefore, we implemented two challenges this time, enabling us to create a new, further evolved ad-fusion drama.

・A drama you watch while commenting on your smartphone
・A drama that further deepens the ad-fusion with the story

These two points represent the key evolutions this time.

What is a drama you watch while commenting on your smartphone?

Simply put, it's a drama where viewers' comments stream in real-time, just like on Niconico Video.

Of course, if comments appeared directly on the main screen like on NicoNico, it would obscure the drama. So, your comments will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. And in response to the real-time comments posted about the drama, the main character's # or the show's staff's # will occasionally reply, creating a two-way conversation.

While some news and variety shows have previously featured viewer comments on screen, implementing this in a drama is likely unprecedented. After all, producers typically think, "Viewers want to focus on the drama, right?"

However, this ad-fusion drama took on the seemingly taboo challenge of displaying viewer comments—information unrelated to the story—on screen during the broadcast. In fact, there was a clear calculated risk behind this move.

The ability of young people to "watch while commenting on their smartphones"

That advantage lies in two abilities acquired by today's digital natives and smartphone natives.

Namely...

・An enormous capacity to handle vast amounts of information
・Overwhelming information processing ability, especially the ability to ignore unnecessary information

Today's youth live with smartphones in hand, constantly exposed to vast amounts of information and perpetually sorting through it. Consequently, they possess a far greater capacity for information than someone like me, a typical middle-aged guy born in 1970. Information is consumed at speeds unimaginable in the pre-smartphone era, and topics shift rapidly. Amidst this, they've developed the ability to quickly filter out only what interests them from this vast sea of information, often without feeling much stress.

What particularly caught my attention is their ability to ignore unnecessary information. We middle-aged folks can't help but notice information when it's there, regardless of whether we need it or find it interesting. However, smartphone-native youth, as the term "read and ignore" suggests, can casually disregard information they find uninteresting or unnecessary, and only engage with it when needed.

I think this is a truly remarkable ability. That's why I reasoned that even if comments flood in below a drama's screen, they should only react when interested and ignore the rest – essentially, they should be able to "sweep it under the rug."

When creating ads or content for young people going forward, we need to move away from my own non-smartphone-native perspective and instead consciously design with their abilities in mind. By doing so, I believe new forms of expression that were previously taboo will increasingly become acceptable.

This ad plays a decisive role in the story!

Working together on the first installment strengthened the relationship with the screenwriter, director, and everyone at Fuji TV. And personally, I wrote an insane number of ad scripts during the process, accumulating significant experience and skill in creating something previously unseen: "drama ad scripts."

Therefore, for the second installment of the Ad Fusion Drama, we set the goal of having the advertisement play an even deeper and more decisive role in the drama's story than in the first installment! We were actually able to achieve this at a remarkably high level.

But this wasn't something I could have achieved by just writing the ad scripts on my own. It was only possible thanks to the tremendous understanding and cooperation of the drama's main scriptwriter, Mr. Mori, and director Mr. Goto. I'd like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to both of them!

So, in this second installment, I'd like to show you just how well the ads fused with the drama.

First, here's an overview of the drama.

Ad Fusion Drama Part 2: "The Reality Show"

It's an incredible show aiming for the top spot in the currently popular dating reality show genre. Everything is real—absolutely no staged scenes! Five women are set to battle for the affections of a high-spec prince in a lavish villa funded by a massive budget. But right after filming begins for their month-long stay, an incident occurs...

One of the assistant producers managing the show's budget disappears with the majority of the funds. Cornered, the director and producer decide to "shoot an entire month's worth of footage in just two days" – essentially, to fake the entire thing. Can such a show even work!? And can the participants find happiness!?

This is a must-go-on (can't be canceled no matter what) type romantic comedy drama.

The products and advertisements of each program's sponsors play a major role in this story!

Ah, but spoiler alert from here on!

If you missed the broadcast, please watch the catch-up stream on FOD before reading. Or, if you're curious after reading the article below about how deeply the ads were integrated into the drama, be sure to watch the drama on FOD to see for yourself!

・Tokyo Tatemono "Brillia"
The ultra-high-spec prince lives in Tokyo Tatemono's urban, ultra-luxury mansion complex called "Brillia." The luxury of Brillia clearly conveys to viewers just how successful he is. At the same time, since all those scenes are filmed at Brillia, it also functions as deeply integrated product placement within the story.

・Suntory "The Premium Malt's Divine Foam Server"
After embezzlement of production funds is discovered, everyone resigns themselves to the show's inevitable cancellation. Helpless, they drink Premium Malts poured from the Divine Foam Server brought to the set. But then, seeing the server effortlessly create its perfect foam, the director realizes they too can create their own story. This marks a major turning point in the narrative, transforming the reality show into a staged production.

・Excom Global "Imoto's WiFi"
The scriptwriter who was supposed to write the script for the staged scenes couldn't be reached! It turned out he was on his honeymoon overseas. One problem solved, another arises. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, it turned out the writer had brought Imoto's WiFi on his honeymoon and they managed to get in touch. From then on, filming the reality show continued using scripts sent by the writer via Imoto's WiFi.

Additionally, regarding President Nishimura's wish to appear in the drama from the first installment, it was realized in the form of a caricature appearance in the program's end credits.

・Locondo
The protagonist, Kotoko, receives acting coaching from assistant director Tamiya on how to confess her feelings. To help Kotoko relax, Tamiya coaches her to sing in a musical style to the rhythm of Locondo's sound logo. Kotoko's heart opens up thanks to the power of Locondo's sound logo. Watching the two happily sing along to the Locondo sound logo, it becomes clear they have actually fallen in love. And this genuine love between them, not written in the scripted scenario, leads the drama to an unexpected conclusion.

・Suntory "Craft Boss TEA"
Just when it seemed the final confession scene would lead to an unforeseen incident and the program being shelved, Haruna uses the Craft Boss TEA ad—"Why not be more free?"—as an analogy, encouraging Kotoko that her love could be freer too. Empowered by Craft Boss TEA, Kotoko charges toward true love... Craft Boss TEA guides this drama to an unexpected conclusion.

How about that?

It blended into the drama's story way deeper than you imagined, right?

That's why viewers can forget it's an ad and genuinely enjoy the commercial segments as part of the drama. As a result, it achieves unprecedented levels of interest, favorability, purchase intent, and recommendation rates—far beyond typical TV commercials.

During its airing, it generated a huge response, even reaching #1 on Twitter's trending topics!!

That's the story behind the second installment of our further-evolved Adfusion Drama.

You won't want to take your eyes off Ad Fusion Drama from now on!!!!

Why not try an Ad Fusion Drama with your company's products or services next?!

【Program Overview】
■Title: "The Reality Show ~Sudden Commercial Drama 2~"

■Broadcast Date & Time: Friday, April 19, 2019, 12:55 AM - 1:55 AM on Fuji TV
*Available for free on FOD for two weeks immediately after broadcast

■Cast
Yuri Yanagi, Suzuka Ogo, Nonoka Ono, Miyu Koike, Buruma Konno, Koto Serizawa, Kazunari Tosa, JP, Masei Nakayama, Kento Shibuya

■Storyteller
Kenichi Takito

■Staff
Executive Producer/Advertising Script: Takanori Nakao (Dentsu Inc.), Isao Akematsu (Fuji TV)
Promotion: Yasuhiro Hidaka, Takashi Kishinami (Dentsu Inc.)
Digital Strategy: Tatsuki Tada, Yuri Munakata (Dentsu Inc.)
Producer: Takuya Seki (Kyodo Television)
Director/Producer: Yosuke Goto
Script: Hayashi Mori
Planning: Hirofumi Akaike, Osamu Nozaki (Fuji Television)
Production & Copyright: Fuji Television
Production Cooperation: Kyodo Television

[Survey Overview]
① "Detective Kojin" Sponsorship Effectiveness Survey
・Survey Subjects: Men and women aged 15-69 in the Kanto region (Tokyo and 6 prefectures) ・Program Viewers: 500s ・Non-Viewers: 500s
・Survey Period: June 20, 2018 (Wed) 24:30–25:30; Catch-up: After broadcast end–1 week
・Survey Method: Internet survey
・Survey Agency: Dentsu Inc., Video Research Ltd.

② "Meitantei Kojin" Effect Measurement Survey
・Survey Subjects: 1,350 men and women aged 15–69 in Tokyo and six prefectures in the Kanto region
・Survey Period: June 22–26, 2018
・Survey Method: Internet survey
・Research Organization: Dentsu Inc.