Japanese travelers know little about Saipanda

A survey conducted by a Tokyo-based marketing firm revealed that only 32.2 percent of the 1,000 Japanese surveyed are aware of the existence of Saipanda campaign promoting the Northern Marianas in Japan.

Of this, 65.8 percent learned about it through television commercial, 34.2 percent through newspapers and magazines and 16.1 percent through flyers/travel pamphlets.

K.K. Creative Assist was chosen by MVA to conduct a marketing survey on the CNMI’s market share in Japan as well as determine the effectiveness of its advertising campaign after over one year of using the Saipanda character.

Tokyo-based advertising firm Dentsu 10 created the Saipanda mascot, a character which resemble a panda bear with a rhinoceros horn nose, symbolizing the male Japanese traveler who is a repeat visitor and crazy about Saipan.

In a move to reach a wider group of audience, the study covered 1,000 respondents in a street survey conducted in Tokyo and Osaka were between ages 18 to 64 years old. In addition, 10 groups of respondents were chosen for focus group interviews — those who have traveled to Saipan and those who have not been to Saipan but have traveled to other destinations.

Only 49.2 percent of the respondents who were interviewed in Narita Airport and about to leave for Saipan were aware of the Saipanda character.

Those who were interviewed at Saipan International Airport showed that 76 percent of the respondents know the Saipanda character. While respondents’ awareness of the Saipanda character increase by 26.8 percent on average during their visit, 24 percent of the visitors were still unaware of the existence of the mascot.

Forty-four percent of the respondents agreed that Saipanda has a strong impact but only 14.4 percent agreed that the Saipanda character matched with Saipan’s image.

While it may be good to retain the Saipanda character, K.K. Assist said it should not be the main focus of MVA’s advertising campaign. The MVA board will now evaluate its marketing campaign using the Saipanda mascot in view of the results of the survey.

The Saipanda mascot was first introduced to the mass market through advertisement in different newspapers and magazines by Dentsu targeting office ladies that comprised the biggest travel market in Japan.

In a move to reach a wider market, MVA decided to promote the CNMI using Saipanda in 10 seconds television commercial. The advertisements which targeted Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka were shown for three-week period covering January and February and May and June.