VOICE OF FOOD

Ajinomoto - Voice of Food (Case Study) | Campaign 1. Background & Challenge: Traditional cooking recipes rely heavily on visual language and cues like "golden brown" or "until translucent," effectively excluding an estimated 300,000 visually impaired individuals in Japan from independent cooking. As a market leader operating one of the country's largest digital recipe platforms, Ajinomoto needed to address this accessibility barrier. The strategic B2C challenge was to re-engineer standard recipe design—historically optimized for visual consumption—into an inclusive format that fosters independent culinary execution without relying on automated cooking machinery. 2. Creative Idea & Strategy: The creative strategy pivoted away from traditional, image-heavy web layouts that disrupt digital screen readers, shifting cooking from a visual task into a multisensory experience. Co-created with a blind home cook, the campaign introduced "Sound-Led Cooking," a design breakthrough built on the insight that cooking naturally produces precise auditory signals like sizzling and bubbling. By replacing visual cues with real cooking audio, the platform reframed accessibility as a universal design innovation, empowering visually impaired cooks while offering a novel, sensory-driven method for sighted consumers. 3. Execution: Ajinomoto transformed its most popular dishes into a text-first, high-contrast website specifically optimized for VoiceOver software, stripping away complex links and visual distractions. The team recorded key cooking sounds to serve as primary instructional milestones across 30 core recipes, while completely removing sight-dependent language from 70 additional entries. The launch was amplified through an experiential press event, audio-first radio programming, print features, and technology exhibitions, establishing a new inclusive benchmark for food media. 4. Results & Impact: The digital platform captured 23,604 unique users and delivered a 120% higher engagement rate compared to Ajinomoto’s standard sites, achieving a 99% positive brand sentiment. The campaign generated over 160 million earned media impressions, sparked nationwide cultural discourse on inclusive design, and drove real-world behavioral impact, including the establishment of a cooking club at a high school for the visually impaired. By redesigning the asset, Ajinomoto successfully converted a niche accessibility initiative into a powerful, brand-building movement. Credits: - Client: Ajinomoto - Agency: Dentsu Inc. / Tokyo - PR / Marketing Agency: Material - Production Company: kome; TYO MONSTER; Ie3; WOO - Music / Sound Production Company: dadab; Dainichi Copyright Notice: Content featured on this channel may be submitted by members of the advertising and creative community via email for editorial review and educational discussion. We respect the intellectual property rights of creators, agencies, production companies, and brands. If you are a rights holder and believe any content has been featured without appropriate authorization, please contact us and we will promptly review and remove the material upon request.