Creating Word of Mouth in a Pre-Launch Project

"Happybean" was the follower in the tofu market. Their point of differentiation was in the technology behind Happybean, and the company was interested in finding out how best to make that clear to consumers.

As part of our pre-launch marketing, we made it our objective to study and understand the product fully -- and to understand how consumers interpreted the product -- before introducing the product to consumers.

To gain consumer insight, we opted to use a "Guerilla Paper," which looks like a high school test paper, that we sent with the F2F.

In Korea, many women participated in the exam, which we titled "Tofu Exam for MOM." The exam itself was executed online, as well as offline.

For the offline portion of the test, we recruited influencers in each province, who then tested their friends and neighbors.

The idea was to use the testing process itself to create buzz before launching. Many people expected the launch of Happybean, and many formed online communities.

After launching, we gave exam participants the chance to taste "Happybean."

All of these efforts helped foster brand loyalty to the product.

Happybean's launch succeeded due in part to the evangelists and the pre-launch excitement created by the various marketing efforts.

One year after the product launched, Happybean garnered 8% of the market share in the tofu market.

Credit Information
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Client: Happybean (by CJ Corp.)
Agency: AML (Advantage Marketing Lab)
Budget: $100,000
Date of Campaign: April 2005