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Transforming the Kodansha Brand from Niche to Known Manga Icon through Insights-Driven Marketing

At a time when American anime viewership was surpassing Japan’s and manga sales were skyrocketing, Kodansha’s brand was largely unknown in North America, despite a century of publishing beloved manga titles. The company wanted to unite the many fragmented fandoms within its audience under its larger brand to become a leading destination for manga consumption and fandom in America. Kodansha partnered with Material to develop an insights-driven, omni-channel marketing strategy to transform the brand from a legacy publisher into a cultural force.
  • Uncovered opportunities to build emotional loyalty with audiences through brand tracking and social listening programs
  • Performed an audience segmentation and macro trend scan to reveal cultural drivers that sparked engagement and resonated emotionally with manga lovers
  • Created a refreshed campaign positioning: “Where Manga Meets” – framing Kodansha as the brand where manga and American culture come together
  • Developed and executed a campaign strategy that integrated digital, social, influencer and experiential activations into one cohesive brand journey
  • Orchestrated pre-event excitement, live engagement and sustained post-event conversations to maximize the reach and impact of three localized events bringing fans together with the brand

Our “Where Manga Meets” campaign established Kodansha not only as a prominent manga publisher in North America, but also as the go-to destination celebrating and connecting manga stories, fans and pop culture under one roof.

From this central, leading position, Kodansha celebrates manga fandom through immersive experiences, authentic influencer narratives and community-driven storytelling. Along the way, Material helped the brand create a vibrant social community where fans feel seen and are eager to participate.

In just seven months, our insights-driven, omni-channel campaign exceeded benchmarks for driving emotional loyalty, engagement and increased awareness. With more than 350 million impressions, an engagement rate 153% higher than industry standards, a 170% increase in social conversations and website traffic that included 57% new fans, Kodansha strengthened its position at the center of a dynamic, growing manga fandom ecosystem.

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