Anime has both "royal" and "sharp" advertising "SHIROBAKO" Interview with Yuki Maeda, Warner Entertainment Japan!

The TV anime " SHIROBAKO " is currently the talk of the town for its realistic, passionate, and refreshing depiction of the struggles of the staff who are passionate about creating anime. The main focus of "SHIROBAKO" is on the "production" staff who create the films. However, in the process of delivering animation to the world, the efforts of the so-called "production" staff, who are in charge of distribution and advertising, are also indispensable.

Akiba Research Institute, therefore, decided to switch our focus from the main "SHIROBAKO" series to focus our interviews on people who are involved in the "SHIROBAKO" project but who will not be featured extensively in the main series. The theme, so to speak, was "SHIROBAKO behind the scenes. The person we interviewed was Yuki Maeda of Warner Entertainment Japan, who is involved in the promotion of "SHIROBAKO.

What kind of job is it to "advertise" an anime? She talks a lot about "SHIROBAKO" and other specific examples of anime titles. You may be able to enjoy anime more deeply after reading this!

--Before we get into the main topic, let us start with "What kind of person is Mr. Maeda? Before I get into the main topic, I would like to start with "What kind of person is Mr. Maeda? How many years has it been since you joined Warner and started working in animation advertising?

Almost three years now. Before that, I worked for an online game company for about 8 years.

--So you changed jobs from a different industry.

Yes, that's right. However, before I started working for an online game company, I worked as a desk clerk at an animation package manufacturer for about three years after I graduated from university. At that time, the company did not hire new graduates, so my position was part-time.

--Oh, I didn't realize that.

During the three years I worked there, the parent company changed, not only the name of the company, but also the internal structure and many other things changed. I was about 25 years old at the time. I was about 25 years old at the time, and I decided to go to an online game company, which I was into at the time.

--How did you end up joining Warner?

The people who helped me back then are now at Warner. I wanted to work with them again. I thought that now that I had more experience at a game company, I might be able to help them more than before, so I applied for the job.

--I see. What titles have you worked on at Warner so far?

The first two I worked on were " Accel World " and " Campione! I was involved in "Accel World" and "Campione! With "Accel World," I was able to use my previous experience to do various things with web banners. SS" and " JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. SS" and "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure," which were newly broadcast after I joined the company and were just starting to be advertised.
I was also involved in " Strike the Blood " and " Toaru Majutsu no Index: The Movie ", etc. In 2014, I am in charge of " selector infected WIXOSS ", " Shirogane no Will Argevoln ", "SHIROBAKO", three original titles that Kawase (Kohei) is producing. and others.

--You have been involved in a wide variety of titles, haven't you? So, let me cut to the chase here. What exactly is the role of an anime publicist?

Conceptually speaking, publicity is a job that involves thinking about "how to get the work known by as many people as possible" and then carrying it out. We do a variety of things, but I think it is best to think of it in terms of "increasing the exposure of the work and getting more people interested in it" as the main idea.

I am not involved in the production of the artwork, but I am in charge of the overall operation of ......, which includes the delivery of the artwork to customers and the direct contact with customers, but, well, it is difficult to put it all together. It's difficult to put it all together (laughs).

In short, I think I am a "jack-of-all-trades. For example, I discuss with the producer whether this work is a title that should be advertised in the "royal way" or a title that should be advertised in a slightly "sharp" way (......), and I also develop concrete measures to implement the plan that we have decided on. We also develop a plan with the production producer, and then we execute the plan ourselves. Of course, we do not do this all by ourselves. We also receive various ideas from the companies participating in the animation production committee, and we assist them and summarize them.

--So you are involved in all aspects of advertising work, from upstream to downstream.

Yes, that is correct. I also coordinate the scheduling of interviews with staff and cast members requested by magazines and web media, check drafts, etc. If an advertisement is to be placed in the media, I think of the appropriate content, the appropriate way to present the advertisement, and the appropriate catch, etc. to match the timing of the publication, create them, and submit them to the media. We then create and submit the ad to the media. If we decide to hold an event, we also think about the content of the event, and if we decide to release merchandise, we think of ideas for that as well. I really do everything. ......, or rather, I have to do everything (laughs).

--You mentioned the words "royal road" and "sharp" advertising, but what would you say are the best examples of each?

I think the royal road is "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The original work is a national hit, so the first point of publicity for this work was to get the information about the anime adaptation to the fans who knew the original work. Therefore, in conjunction with the various developments to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the series in 2012, we worked with Shueisha to advertise the anime to anime fans while at the same time targeting a mass audience through large-scale transportation advertisements and magazine advertisements.

For example, with "Strike the Blood" (......), we made the characters wear real skirts on billboards and had them placed in some stores across the country. Of course, I also did tricks on the inside of the skirts. ...... First of all, I did it because I wanted to do it (laughs), but I did it because I thought that if fans of the work reacted to it and people who saw their reactions reacted as if I was doing something unusual, then it would be a success.

SS", we put life-size illustrations of the heroines on the wall of the enclosure of the Radio Hall, which was still under construction. In other words, I think that the kind of sharp publicity is the kind that creates a buzz by doing something unusual or something that will please the core fans of the work, and from there expand it to a wider audience.