Instagram has become a popular marketing tool for food and restaurants in Japan, and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Association (ASMI) is now riding this wave.
A recent survey found that 40 percent of Japanese Instagrammers and social media users went on trips and to restaurants mainly to post photos. "Insta-bae," meaning "to look good on Instagram," was selected as one of Japan's top buzzwords for 2017 by Japan's biggest correspondence course company, U-CAN, and Jiyu Kokumin Sha (a book publishing company), and many businesses have introduced photogenic products to entice people to upload photos.
ASMI, headquartered in Juneau, Alaska , announced on 15 February that it will collaborate with InstagramersJapan (IGersJP) in the Instagramers User Community to hold a "Nerimono Arrangement Photo Contest" (nerimono is fish-paste product). Participants can submit photos from 15 February through 4 March, using easily available fish-paste products such as chikuwa, kamaboko, kanikama (imitation crab) and fish sausage.
In its Japanese announcement, ASMI said the content is meant to generate fun and original takes onfish-paste products from the general public. The event is timely, as Alaskan surimi is used as raw material for products used in oden, a popular winter dish.
Surimi made from Alaska pollock is highly valued in the industry due to its stable quality. ASMI is using the contest to highlight that Alaska pollock surimi from Alaska is “natural, sustainable, and traceable,” it said.
Photos can be submitted in the comments section of "Photo Contest of Alaska Seafood Marketing Association" of the Instagram site "@IGersJP planning" using designated hashtags (all in Japanese except "#PR"). Five winners in Japan will receive an Alaska seafood assortment valued at JPY 10,000 (USD 94, EUR 76), to be shipped at the end of March.
The Japanese language hashtags are: 「#アラスカシーフード」「#アラスカすりみ」「#ねり物アレンジ」「#PR」.
