The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2017–2018
Kobe Shimbun prints an actual-size checklist you pack your evacuation bag on
A two-page newspaper spread shows emergency items full-size, so families literally pack on top of it — ADFEST's Grande for Humanity.
Kobe Shimbun · Dentsu
What it had to solve
Japan lives with earthquakes, and the Kobe Shimbun newspaper has run disaster-prevention initiatives ever since the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji quake hit its own city. Its editors saw that evacuation shelters still descended into chaos because most residents arrived without supplies — so the paper asked Dentsu to turn preparedness into something a household would actually do.
How it works
After a major earthquake, the first 72 hours decide how much help arrives, and evacuation shelters are often understaffed during that window because rescue crews are elsewhere. The Kobe Shimbun, which has covered disasters since the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake destroyed much of its home city, kept finding the same problem: shelters stayed chaotic because most residents arrived without their own supplies.
Working with Dentsu, the paper replaced advice with an object. Its two-page spread in the May 17 morning edition printed actual-size images of the few things a person can realistically carry, including earplugs and an eye mask chosen after residents complained about noise and constant light at shelters. Readers packed their evacuation bag by laying each item on its picture, a treasure-hunt mechanic that pushed families to discuss what they really needed, including the blank 'Free Space' panel for their own additions.
The idea spread through the institutions the newspaper could not buy: a school principal made the spread part of a morning assembly, and an NPO used it in disaster-preparedness workshops. The project won awards in Japan and overseas, capped by the Grande for Humanity at ADFEST 2018, where the jury praised it for provoking the family conversation that a checklist alone never starts.
Why it lands
- Showing items at actual size turned a list into a physical game that children could join.
- The back-page photo comparison made the problem concrete instead of hypothetical.
- A minimal, carryable kit respected why households had not prepared — the old lists were simply too heavy.
- The blank 'Free Space' panel made each family the author of its own emergency plan.
What it did
The feature turned an abstract duty into an evening activity: a school principal urged pupils to try it, and an NPO adopted it for workshops. The project took numerous awards in Japan and abroad, including the Grande for Humanity at ADFEST 2018.
What you can take
When the audience won't do the responsible chore, design the message so the chore becomes the activity — a medium that is useful beats one that merely persuades.
Since then
Kobe Shimbun's disaster-prevention programme dates back more than two decades, and Emergency Collectables became one of its most visible pieces. The project leader, Dentsu's Ken Akimoto, said his goal was for the spread to become an annual school exercise in which children take the newspaper home and pack a bag with their parents — turning a one-off feature into a community habit. ADFEST's jury president called the work a piece that 'would have impact but also start a very important conversation', and it kept circulating in Japanese classrooms and NPO workshops long after its publication date.
Sources
- Behind the Award-winning 'Emergency Collectables'
- 'Emergency Collectables' — This Year's Grande for Humanity Winner
- Here are all the Grande Lotus winners at ADFEST 2018
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