I went to only one museum while in Japan, and that was the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I’m not a fan of museums anyway, because they only discuss the past. What’s more interesting is the present, which is why the brand showrooms that we went too were so much more interesting.

I guess the closest thing we have to brand showrooms in Canada is the Apple store or Sega Playdium. In these stores, you can play with Apple or Sega stuff, and associate their brand with good feelings. For example, Apple laptops and free wireless or Sega and wasting money on arcade machines. Just being a casual tourist, we found a couple of brand showrooms in Tokyo without even trying. At the Sony building in Ginza, they had a live aquarium in the middle of the street, and an “aquarium exhibit” inside that was comprised entirely of TVs. In the end, I wasn’t that impressed and didn’t get a Sony TV. Also in Ginza is the Nissan Auto museum. We couldn’t figure out how to get past the lobby though, so this place was not cool.

The Toyota building in Ikebukuro was much better as it had games and showcased some of its Hybrid technology. Although, a lot of the exhibits seem like what you would see at the Auto show. I actually went because Ed mentioned that there was a test drive track on the top floor, but I guess they tore it down since he went.

The coolest brand showcase we went to was the KDDI Designing Studio in Harajuku. We actually went in here to step out of the rain, to find a makeover show being filmed in the lobby. They also gave out free bottles of water and had free Internet which is a bonus for tourists. However, the cool stuff was their design. They had a mobile music interface display which showed some conceptual ways to make mobile Rock Band. On subsequent floors they had further (free) activities such as creating business cards with mobile URLs to things that you like, and playing some Science Centre type games. After going through all the activities, you receive a free prize (candy) and a random chance for a branded souvenir. We won the #1 souvenir and the consolation prize souvenir so it was well worth the visit.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: advertising, cellphones, japan, sony, travelling