Hiraga Gennai: The Renaissance marketer of eighteenth-century Japan

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine a copy Hiraga Gennai wrote advertising the toothpowder brand Sosekiko in terms of its target audience, product decisions pertaining to branding and packaging, pricing and advertising objectives and message appeals. A masterless samurai in the eighteenth century, Hiraga Gennai is considered Japan’s first advertising copywriter. Life of the versatile Renaissance man Gennai and the influences of his accomplishments on advertising in following generations are briefly discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

The research draws from a sampling of classical and contemporary literature as well as the interpretation of the images shown here. Visual content is described and analyzed as well.

Findings

Gennai’s witty and humorous advertising copy for handbills attracted the townspeople of Edo. The toothpowder market was mature and competitive, and Gennai’s copy emphasized differentiation through packaging and volume discount rather than ingredients. The advertising copy has culturally unique aspect: It appeals to the audience’s ninjo, or feelings of humanity, and explicitly solicited disseminating positive word-of-mouth by the audience.

Originality/value

This research shows that activities resembling more contemporary marketing practices, such as advertising and branding, for consumer products such as toothpowder existed in eighteenth-century Japan, more than a century prior to the paradigmatic development of marketing concept. The possibility for Gennai as a potential strategic marketing planner and implementer, in addition to advertising copywriter, is researched and analyzed.

Citation

Minowa, Y. (2014), "Hiraga Gennai: The Renaissance marketer of eighteenth-century Japan", Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 258-278. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHRM-04-2013-0018