The term point-of-purchase (POP) display refers to the explanatory panels or stick-on labels that adorn displays in shops to catch the eye of browsing customers. According to an article in the Nikkei Marketing Journal (18 September), publisher Takarajima-sha has begun to promote one of its magazines using multilingual POP displays.
For reasons not fully explained in the article, it appears that visiting tourists who cannot read Japanese nevertheless like to purchase certain publications to take home.
One such magazine is InRed, a monthly from Takarajima-sha aimed at women in their thirties.
The POP displays—in English combined with French, and in Chinese with Korean—will initially be appearing in some 27 retail outlets at airports and major railway stations in the Tokyo area. The magazine’s October issue, including a cloth tote bag giveaway, went on sale on 7 September at a price of ¥720.
Designed with white lettering on a background of red (for English) and blue (for French), the text on the example reads “The Best Souvenir from Japan!”, followed by “Buy a fashion magazine ‘InRed’, and get a stylish bag inside!”
The French wording varies slightly from the English, as it poses the question: “Le Japon est-il encore cool!? (Is Japan still cool!?)”