Exporting the Japanese fan experience
The most recent such event was held in December at Nashville's Grand Opryland Resort and featured nearly 300 vendors. Even in this exceedingly competitive environment, the products available at Booth 1827 stood out as distinctly unique.
In this relatively remote section of the convention center was the Sharp Sangyo Company, a first-time exhibitor from Japan that billed itself as a "premier manufacturer and supplier of numerous attractive sporting goods." Sharp Sangyo's goal was to interest Minor League clubs in various Japanese promotional products, including fortune-tellers and, in particular, the Seventh-Inning Stretch Balloon. Even in the oversaturated and anything-goes environment of Minor League promotions, these items had rarely, if ever, been seen before on American shores.
A Long and Successful History
Similar to players such Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki, Sharp Sangyo had a long track record of success in Japan before arriving in the United States.
"In 1963, our company began to manufacture and sell commemorative gifts for the National High School Baseball Tournament, which was more popular than professional baseball at that time in Japan," wrote Katz Murai, Sharp Sangyo's overseas sales representative, in an e-mail interview. "It was lucky for our company that we had begun to sell at Koshien Stadium, which was called 'Holy Ground and Mecca of Baseball' in Japan. Many people wanted to visit the stadium and buy something there."
The National High School Baseball Tournament (commonly called the "Summer Koshien") is still massively popular in Japan, and Sharp Sangyo continues to sell a wide variety of souvenirs related to the tournament, including school pennants, baseballs, key chains, towels, cookies and noise makers.
But for over 40 years, the company has also sold products geared toward fans of professional Japanese baseball. One of its first breakthroughs in this area was the mini-team flag.
"Until we put this product on the market, the avid fans were people who made noise with drums and yelled catcalls during every game," wrote Murai. "These were called 'Ouendan,' meaning 'cheering group.' After our company started to sell mini-baseball flags at the stadium, they changed their cheering style with this product. This was the beginning of sales of participatory cheering goods in Japan."
Indeed, "participatory cheering goods" now account for many of Sharp Sangyo's best-selling products. The mini-flag led to the development and sale of items such as baseball bat megaphones and the aforementioned Seventh-Inning Stretch Balloons.
The popularity of such products illustrates a key difference between the rooting styles of Japanese and American fans (and, by extension, a key difference between American and Japanese society): Japanese fans emphasize the group over the individual, while in America the opposite is true.
Creating a Bridge Between Cultures
December's Baseball Trade Show marked Sharp Sangyo's first attempt to break into the American market.
"Japanese and American baseball goods have had a different path," wrote Murai. "We wondered, 'Will our special Japanese baseball goods be accepted in the U.S. baseball market, like many Japanese baseball players have been accepted in the U.S. in recent years?' We believe we can bring a new perspective and provide a breath of fresh air into the U.S. baseball market."
Obviously, the discrepancies between American and Japanese rooting styles creates a problem for Sharp Sangyo, as the appeal of many of their products could quite literally be lost in translation. That's why, for the time being, the company's primary focus is to sell its Seventh-Inning Stretch Balloons. The concept behind these balloons is simple: They are to be blown up by fans during the seventh-inning break, then released into the air simultaneously. When released, the balloons emit a piercing whistling noise as they shoot skyward. The result is a synchronized spectacle of sound and color.
In Japan, the balloons have become an established tradition, and fans often bring them to the game themselves (type "seventh inning stretch balloons" into YouTube, and one can see many examples of the balloons in action). In America, of course, the balloons would have to be given to fans as they enter the stadium, and specific instructions would be needed in order to insure that they are released simultaneously.
San Jose Sets a Precedent?
Sharp Sangyo's representatives (including Murai) made many contacts during the Winter Meetings and have hired Sportsworld Entertainment, an American marketing firm, to help with their sales efforts. While they are optimistic about their chances for success in America, they have thus far been unable to convince any teams to schedule a Seventh-Inning Stretch Balloon giveaway or take a risk on any of their other promotional products, which also includes the Fortune Teller (perhaps best described as a baseball-themed Magic 8 ball).
Currently, Sharp Sangyo finds itself stuck in a sort of Minor League Baseball catch-22: While teams are always looking to stage new and original ballpark activities, they also want to be assured that a promotion will be successful before investing the necessary time and money into it. Therefore, it can be hard to convince teams to take a risk on promotional concepts that are, quite literally, foreign.
Last season, however, the California League's San Jose Giants distributed Seventh-Inning Stretch Balloons as part of their "Japanese Heritage Night." The San Jose area has a large Japanese population and is in fact one of just three American cities that includes a "Japantown" area.
The Giants' "Japanese Heritage Night" promotion was put together by Kazumichi Sekine, who works for the club as a "international relations executive."
"The reaction to the balloons was really good for a first-time experience, and we think it went pretty well," said Sekine, who was born and raised in Japan. "We made sure we had the ushers explain what we were doing and how to do it. It took some work, but it was a great promotion."
Not surprisingly, one of the primary concerns expressed by American teams regarding the Seventh-Inning Stretch Balloons has been the issue of clean-up. Sekine said this was not a problem.
"It doesn't take much time at all, only a couple of minutes," he said. "We had some of our front-office staff on the field to pick up the balloons, but most of them just go straight up and don't go onto the field at all."
Sekine said he hopes to include Sharp Sangyo's balloons as part of this year's Japanese Heritage Night, but he has currently hit a stumbling block that is familiar to anyone who works in a Minor League front office.
"We can't sell them yet, because they are too new and people don't know what they are," he said. "So right now, it all depends on finding a sponsor."
An Untapped Gold Mine?
The products that Sharp Sangyo are currently trying to sell to Minor League clubs represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Japanese promotional items and ideas. Given that teams are always searching for new and innovative ways to get fans into the ballpark, it's most likely only a matter of time before more Japanese concepts and products insinuate themselves into American promotional schedules.
In fact, at least year's Minor League Promotional Seminar in Birmingham, Ala., Jason Klein and Casey White of Plan B Branding gave a presentation entitled "Promotional Ideas Smuggled From Japanese Baseball." The presentation (which can be viewed at www.planbbranding/promo) came about after the duo visited Japan on a business trip and was fascinated by the ways the game was presented.
While not explicitly endorsing any particular companies or products, Klein and White highlighted additional Sharp Sangyo creations such as mobile phone straps, clappers, key covers and, perhaps most intriguingly, portable beer vendor kegpacks. The presentation also covered the Japanese phenomenon of team theme songs, and even encouraged American clubs to stage some of the wacky stunts that they had witnessed on Japanese game shows. Human Tetris, anyone?
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Japanese-style promotions such as these will ever be fully embraced in the states. Despite a shared love of the game of baseball, perhaps the cultural divide between the two countries is simply too great. Obviously, this is not a view shared by Sharp Sangyo, which remains committed to bringing its products into the American market. It will be an uphill climb, to be sure, but Murai is optimistic.
"We have to recognize the differences between Japan and U.S. as soon as we can, then we have to accept our environment and keep on networking," he wrote. "Those are our challenges at this point."
Benjamin Hill is a contributor to MLB.com.