Japanese Consumers A-Twitter over US Beef

JAPAN - While Americans are being cautioned not to text while they drive, or even while they walk, Japanese diners are being encouraged to “Tweet While You Eat” to share their excitement about US beef.

8 June 2012

3 minute read

Asia

Japanese consumers are accustomed to following bloggers and visiting mobile websites to learn more about US beef, but Twitter is a relative newcomer to Japan. As the number of Twitter fans in Japan recently topped 15 million, USMEF launched a multi-phase Twitter campaign to engage and motivate consumers to digitally share their interest in US beef and win tasty prizes. Funding for the campaign is provided through the USDA Market Access Programme (MAP) and the Beef Checkoff Programme.

The first initiative is the selection of four American Beef Ambassadors from the nearly 5,000 Twitter followers USMEF-Japan has amassed. Over the next six months, these individuals will promote themselves as American Beef Ambassadors, utilizing the “#usbeef” hashtag at the end of each tweet. This hashtag will make their tweets searchable to other fans as they write about home cooking or restaurant dining experiences with US beef.

“As Twitter gains new followers by the day in Japan, we are confident that this campaign will significantly expand the visibility of US beef among a critical audience – the young adults who have built this technology into their daily lifestyles,” said Tazuko Hijikata USMEF-Japan senior manager of consumer affairs.

In the Japanese Twitter culture, “now” is the operative word. Many tweets end with “now” to create the sense of timeliness and urgency. USMEF is riding this wave with its “American Beef Now” initiative designed to demonstrate the popularity of US beef among Twitter users. Consumers will tweet “American Beef Now” and the location of the restaurant where they are dining on US beef, helping to drive other consumers to these destinations.

ased on their number of followers and influence displayed, USMEF-Japan will periodically select tweeters to receive one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of American beef as a prize.

To support the campaign, USMEF-Japan is running a list of restaurants that serve US beef on its website to serve as a resource for interested tweeters.

“‘American Beef Now’ will encourage diners to try US beef,” said Hijikata. “And when their friends read the tweets, they will see that someone they trust is enjoying and publicly announcing that they are eating it, which supports both the image of US beef and the restaurant offering it on its menu.”

USMEF is not putting all of its new media eggs in the Twitter basket. To help drive traffic to its website, USMEF-Japan recently conducted the “American Beef Go! Go!” campaign to provide education about US beef in an entertaining format. More than 10,000 consumers participated in the campaign.

Visitors to the USMEF website can acquire basic knowledge about American beef and earn “stamps” as they demonstrate knowledge about the safety, flavor and other positive attributes of the product. Participants will be eligible for prize drawings including one kilogram packages of US beef and popular cooking utensils.

Through the first three months of 2012, US beef exports to Japan were up 10 per cent in value ($194 million) compared to 2011, while volume dipped 7 per cent to 29,695 metric tons (65.5 million pounds).