Macromill Group

Tokyo, April 2, 2019 - Asahi Breweries, Ltd. has developed a new pack design for their canned Chu-hai (shochu-based beverage) “Asahi Mogitate” with a new methodology utilizing EEG (electroencephalogram) and eye tracking provided by a partnership of Macromill, Inc. and Centan Inc. (Macromill’s subsidiary.) New Asahi Mogitate will be launched on April 2, 2019 following the product’s quality enhancement.

Asahi Breweries is one of the main operating companies of Asahi Group Holdings. Based in Tokyo, Japan, the company develops and produces alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Asahi Breweries needed to create a more appealing pack design for Asahi Mogitate to catch consumers’ eye on the shop shelf and to differentiate it from competitors in the RTD ^*1 market, which is growing every year. To support this, Macromill used neuro research with EEG and eye tracking technology. Eye tracking technology allowed us to identify which parts of the pack people looked at. In parallel we measured the respondents’ EEG in order to identify which areas of the pack were most appealing to them.

As a result of this neuro research, Asahi Breweries launched a new pack design with the text "Extracted within 24 hours of harvesting” (Asahi Mogitate’s sales point) prominent. In addition, a large green picture on the pack helps consumers associate Asahi Mogitate with a fruit tree. Asahi Breweries chose this design as it won the most favorable unconscious response from respondents.

“The combination of EEG and eye tracking technology allows us to measure respondents’ emotions, which would not be possible with eye tracking alone” said Shin Hara, Vice President, R&D department, Macromill. “With our neuro-scientific approach, our clients can create new pack designs backed by evidence to make more sophisticated marketing decision-making.”

“This new pack design of Asahi Mogitate is different from our past version” said Tadashi Genda, General Manager, Marketing Planning Department, Marketing Headquarters, Asahi Breweries. “It enjoys a very good reputation among our employees. They said they immediately noticed the pack change and it now conveys our brand’s appealing points and concepts more effectively. What made a great difference was our new capability to examine design concepts and intention with numerical values.”

Case study in detail

Please refer to the following URL to see the background, examination process, and results of this project: https://group.macromill.com/case_stories/asahibreweries.html

About neuro research

Neuro research (neuro marketing) allows us to obtain deeper insight on subject matters of which respondents are unaware. In neuro research, brainwave, heartbeat, and gaze direction are measured on a real-time basis in order to obtain consumers’ physiological response when they look at target products. This approach is used in addition to more objective questionnaire or interview surveys.

About Asahi Mogitate

Asahi Mogitate is one of the flagship RTD ^*1 products of Asahi Breweries. Asahi Mogitate will be launched throughout Japan on Tuesday, April 2 2019 following their enhancement of its ingredients and pack. 12 variations (six flavors) of Asahi Mogitate will be available.

This case study is part of Macromill’s priority new business areas which include artificial intelligence and neuro science. Macromill and Centan will further strengthen our alliance to assist in our clients’ decision making with more thorough consumer insights. We will fully utilize our know-how and prior successful examples to jointly develop new marketing research solutions with physiological data.

*1 RTD：“Ready to Drink,” meaning packaged beverages such as canned Chu-Hai sold in a prepared form, ready for consumption