The Rise of Persefoni
Embassy of Japan + Japanese External Trade Organization
Awamori Time Campaign
Role: Director, Executive Producer, Brand Strategy, Writer
The goal was to introduce Awamori, Okinawa’s native spirit, to US audiences while positioning Okinawa as a distinct destination within Japan.
We built a campaign around the idea that there’s always time for Awamori, a libation with incredible versatility. Our campaign did as well with a panoply of creative storytelling manifest in a hero film, social content, cocktail culture, original characters, influencer participation, and a contest designed to turn discovery into participation.
I led all video creative and production, collaborating with Julius Talvik (Alphaforms) on overall direction with animation partners across Europe.
From Okinawa to the World
From Okinawa to the World
A campaign hero film that showed all the unique traits
of Awamori and its home Okinawa.
Bridging tourism footage with original content,
including animation, cocktail sets, and original brand characters,
this piece showed Awamori was right choice for any occasion.
And Okinawa could fit any travelers delight.
Full campaign system across film, social,
editorial, and experiential content.
Content for months,
because there's Awamori to discover.
We created a faux cocktail-in-a-can brand
& satirical cocktail video.
We ran a Reel contest featuring
an original 🎤 audio jingle 🎶
The contest launched with influencers,
judged by esteemed cultural figures ,
and winner flown to the islands.
The Awamori Time campaign was beloved,
so the client ran it back or Part 2,
which expanded on the original creative/ethos.
CREDITS
Julius Talvik (Agency Lead, Chief Design Officer)
Ryan Smith (Creative Director, Executive Producer, Writer, Editor)
Mihai Tigleanu (Animation, Design), Leander Meresaar (Animation, Design)
Jack Schurman(DP), Montana Bertoletti (Production Designer) Cody Ingham (Gaffer), Peter Geoffrey (AC)
Thanks to all the extended crew & team partners, notably:
All the voiceover artists, production companies + tourism boards who lent their footage,
+ my lovely wife who helped with voiceover and painted/acted in the example reel!