France Japon Eco :

This article was written for the magazine « France Japon Eco », autumn 2001. Interview  written by journalist Cécile Bagot. Translated from original French language.

Small Gifts Keep Business Running

What is a more convincing way to sell a product than by offering a gift with it ? The French company Soie Coquine, specializes in promotional gifts and uses a lot of imagination to give a product the added incentive that will trigger an impulse purchase.

Interview :

France Japon Eco :
"Soie Coquine" (“teasing silk” in English), a rather curious name for a company specializing in promotional gifts. Where does it come from ?

Karl Strepkoff (President of Soie Coquine) :
In the beginning, Soie Coquine had its headquarters in France and we specialized in the creation of luxurious promotional items made with silk imported from Thailand. Since that period, we have kept our name and a prestigious clientele in the luxury and cosmetic field (Givenchy, Dior, Nina Ricci, Lancôme, Estée Lauder, etc.).
When I decided to come to Japan, our activities naturally evolved toward promotional items in general and therefore our target became wider. Currently, we are conceiving gifts  for the mail order business and the food and drink industry. However, we still create pouches and handbags for our old clients.

FJE :
Why does this evolution seem so obvious for you ? Is Japan a fertile ground for a promotional gifts creator ?

KS :
It was a natural evolution for our company from my personal point of view. The promotional sector as a whole is more stimulating since promotional gift creation provides more room for imagination and evolves rapidly. From the professional point of view, the Japanese market size is much bigger than what we are used in France.
Take Coca-Cola for example. This company organizes 60 to 80 local promotional campaigns every year in Japan during which from 100,000 to 500,000 goods are distributed within a 2-month period. When it comes to its national campaigns, up to 35,000,000 items are given away. This is huge !

FJE :
How do you explain this infatuation ?

KS :
The mass market is completely saturated in Japan. There is such strong competition between the brands which all want to conquer new customers that they will go to any means in order to capture the consumer’s attention. With promotional gifts, success is guaranteed. Hang a funny gadget on the neck of a bottle and your sales will increase by 30% to 40%.

FJE :
The competition should therefore be tough with Japanese manufacturers of these types of items. How do you succeed in convincing your customers to work with you ?

KS :
Although promotional gifts are indeed everywhere in Japan, the goods offered often lack originality. Within Soie Coquine, we work to conceive only innovative and unique gadgets even though it is sometimes difficult to convince Japanese marketing directors to try something new. A lot of them prefer to choose standard products that have already proven their efficiency and also prefer dealing with Japanese makers with whom they have a long business relationship.
Consequently, our customers are mostly foreign companies : French companies of course (Pernod Ricard, Hachette Fujingaho, Maxxium, etc.), European companies (Nestlé for example), but also some big American names like Avon, Coca-Cola and Disney Store.

FJE :
According to your opinion, what is a good promotional gift ?

KS :
Everything depends on the customer’s objective. The rules of the game are simple. The price should not go over 100 yens and the product should respect the customer’s strategy, purchasing impulse, image research, long presence in the eyes of the consumer, etc. Then, it is up to the imagination. Products should be handy, funny, and original. A cushion that one can transform into a blanket, a handy and compact shopping trolley bag, a large bag that one can pack into its handle made with soft plastic or into a very flat soft case, a poncho that protects against the rain and folds into a hard plastic shell and that one can hang on his belt, a bottle-opener having the shape of an animal, etc.
A single basic idea can give birth to several products, like this maraca having the shape of Mickey Mouse in order to decorate a pastel ball pen or having the shape of flowers and put around a bracelet that has fluorescent colors to target young Japanese ladies shopping in the Shibuya district, or having the shape of a soccer ball for soccer fans.

FJE :
It never ends ! What will be the next step in the evolution of Soie Coquine ?

KS :
We are going into a new dimension, literally ! Our next promotional tool will be a blimp equipped with video cameras to allow the shooting of soccer games from the sky. The end result will be original shooting angles and images that will take your breath away.
This will be on everyone’s TV screens during the 2002 Worldcup soccer event if current negociations go as planned. This should really bring new wings to Soie Coquine, don’t you think ?