Why? Part Deux

Following on from my...questions about the BASF ad, I have something else to ad. (ha ha!)


There is this famous ad series by Hitachi, the Japanese electronics company, which they show during or after a TV programme they sponsored. (Here's a link to the Youtube vid, of the 6th generation ad aired between '84-'91)
It's common in Japan for the sponsors of the TV spot to be actually named, before or after the programme - something that is happening more in the UK, especially with Five (the CSI series is sponsored by KIA now). However, in Japan, they only show the ads of the sponsoring companies.

Anyway, I digress.
Hitachi's corporate ad centres around a particular Monkey Pod tree which is in the Moanalua gardens in Hawaii. It is a long-running campaign, started in 1973. The tree has only featured since the second generation ad starting in 1975. It is a famous tree within Japan, and Hitachi has created a proper website for it.

The ad itself is actually simple, just a rolling credit of all the companies within the Hitachi brand, with the narrator saying some corporate gibberish at the end. I don't think it really adds to anyone's interest, it is just an ad to make people aware of the Hitachi Group.
But what grabs your attention is the song they use - "kono ki nannoki" (literally "this tree, what kind of tree?"). It's like a children's song, and it has both a simple melody and lyrics - but in fact, it was specially composed for the ad.


This ad works (in the sense that it is increasing public awareness of the Hitachi group) because the campaign has been going on for so long - which I think is the key to such an ad.
They have used the same song for whole campaign which ensures continuity; in fact, they used the same singer until recently - I think he is more famous for being the voice behind that song. It is not a pushy ad, just rolling credits, and the song is quite pleasing to listen to.

I guess someone can do a study on the psychology behind using a tree instead of anything human or man-made. I'm not sure of the reasons behind using a tree - maybe something about different branches leading to a trunk (i.e. different branches of the company leading to a unified corporation, facing the future together).