Ajinomoto turns negative feedback into positive results through its popular “Frying Pan Challenge” campaign across Japan

Responding to customer feedback about frozen gyoza sticking to the pan when frying, Ajinomoto launched a half-year-long “Frying Pan Challenge” campaign to launch a new product that sticks less to the pan. The result that Ajinomoto reaped from this campaign is proof of an exemplary crisis handling from a century-old brand.

1. Background

More than 100 years ago, Ajinomoto Group was founded with the mission of helping people “Eat Well, Live Well”. Starting with the original umami flavor, many people refer to “Ajinomoto” as a synonym for “MSG” or “monosodium glutamate”. The image of the red bowl on the packaging for more than a century has become familiar to consumers around the world. But Ajinomoto’s mission has urged the Brand to increasingly expand its production of diverse products to serve the increasing needs of customers.

Among Ajinomoto’s main products, frozen Gyoza has emerged as a “celebrity” as it is known as the number one brand in Japan. Gyoza is a type of dumpling with minced meat and vegetables wrapped in a thin skin. 85 million people love it and over 100 million packages of gyoza are sold each year, which is a testament to the popularity of this dish in the land of the rising sun. Gyoza is loved not only for its delicious taste but also because it can be easily cooked in a frying pan.

This cooking method has brought a signal of Ajinomoto’s “crisis”. Specifically, on May 11, 2023, a user posted a photo of gyoza stuck to an old frying pan on Social Media with the caption: “Unbelievable!”. The gyoza sticking to the pan will cause them to break, affecting the taste and dining experience of the user. This must be a serious problem for Ajinomoto – a brand that always aims for meticulousness and innovation in each product.

Faced with negative customer feedback, Ajinomoto turned “danger” into “opportunity” to launch a Creative campaign called “Frying Pan Challenge”. An exemplary crisis management that any brand can learn from.

2. Objective

– Directly addressing user concerns: Ajinomoto responded promptly, demonstrating its commitment to developing gyoza that do not stick to the pan and look good after cooking.

– Increase brand love: Build a professional and dedicated brand image. Users will trust and use Ajinomoto products more.

3. Implementation Activities

– May 11, 2023: A user post about “frozen gyoza stuck to the frying pan” prompted Ajinomoto. Ajinomoto set a mission of “Bringing delicious gyoza to everyone”.

– May 12, 2023: Ajinomoto responded with a post

– June 16, 2023: Increased collection of sticky frying pans. A total of 3,520 frying pans were eventually collected.

– June 19, 2023: They were forced to stop collecting because the number of pans coming in was too large.

– October 16, 2023: Ajinomoto CEO placed a newspaper ad expressing gratitude for the frying pans provided in Nikkei Asia

Sensitive to the times and quick to solve problems, collecting old frying pans was an unexpected move by Ajinomoto. The brand realized that product improvement must start from the “root” of the problem. With more than 3,000 frying pans sent in by users, Ajinomoto tested and found opportunities for technical breakthroughs.

Fry, wash, fry again… Ajinomoto tested this process repeatedly on old pans. They were then placed in a scanner to thoroughly analyze the surface structure of the pans. Applying the principle of “continuous improvement”, the brand committed to facing this challenge head on, and Ajinomoto delivered as promised.

During the research on old frying pans, Ajinomoto published an official website titled “Frozen Gyoza Challenge” where they displayed data on the frying pans being tested. Images of old pans were displayed in 3D, and users could view the frying pans from various angles. At the same time, Ajinomoto also periodically reported on the research progress on this website.

On October 16, 2023, Ajinomoto’s CEO took out an ad in the Nikkei Asia newspaper expressing gratitude for the frying pans provided by consumers. Notably, the ad did not feature any product images of frozen gyoza, but focused on images of old pans. These were great opportunities for Ajinomoto to research and perfect its gyoza products.

After more than 6 months of dedicated research with the cooperation of a series of chefs, designers, frying pan manufacturers and even detergent manufacturers, on January 9, 2024, Ajinomoto officially launched a new non-stick gyoza, 26% less sticky than previous gyoza products.

4. Results Achieved

From negative customer feedback to a campaign that was carefully invested in terms of time, effort and money, Ajinomoto has reaped “sweet fruit” with a series of positive results. Not only did it create a new product line with superior quality, the campaign also helped increase brand awareness by 2.5 times. Ajinomoto thereby demonstrated the image of a brand that listens to customer feedback and constantly improves to meet the needs of diners. Not to mention, the new gyoza product received enthusiastic support after its launch. Sales increased beyond expectations by 113% compared to the first half of 2023.

In addition, the “dumpling revolution” also achieved impressive results in the media:

– Social media response: 549,910 likes

– Total posts from official accounts related to the project: 76,020,855 impressions

– The campaign appeared on 11 TV shows with a total duration of more than 50 minutes

– 585 online articles mentioned the campaign

– 45 print articles mentioning the “Frying Pan Challenge”

5. Explaining the Success and Lessons for Brands when Handling Crises

The key to Ajinomoto resolving negative feedback is to listen to customer opinions and turn them into concrete actions. The brand has looked directly at the problem to come up with a suitable and quick solution. Ajinomoto also knows how to use customer feedback as the “material” for a unique campaign. No one would have thought that the brand would collect old frying pans and bring them back to analyze and research. More than half a year of research just to produce a new product line that is less sticky is a dedicated effort that deserves recognition from the Ajinomoto team.

Ajinomoto has shed the old “coat” of a century-old brand to blend in with the creativity of the Modern Advertising Market. By effectively using social networks and communication channels, the “Frying Pan Challenge” campaign has been widely spread, deeply reaching the brand’s customer base. This has “soothed” customer reactions at the same time, making them more confident and confident in the brand.

This isn’t the first time Ajinomoto has turned negative feedback into positive results. In a previous incident involving dumplings in 1997, the brand advertised that its products could be baked without oil. In 2013, a consumer reported having trouble knowing how much water to add or how much to measure during cooking. Responding to this information, Ajinomoto immediately researched and developed dumplings that could be cooked by simply steaming in a frying pan without adding oil or water. More recently, the brand changed the illustrated instructions to live photos after some customers said they had difficulty reading the old instructions.

Epilogue:

From the story of Ajinomoto and the “Frying Pan Challenge” campaign, it can be seen that: Negative customer feedback is not always bad. Brands should accept and listen because it is an opportunity to “look back at themselves” and improve. The way Ajinomoto reacts to crises is proof that brands can completely turn “danger” into “opportunity”, using crises as “material” for creative and unique campaigns. At the same time, it strengthens the brand image and trust in users.

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