This brand made Japan love coffee by hiring a psychiatrist

Nestlé's entry into the Japanese market was tough. The population of Japan were staunch advocates of tea, but it was a child psychiatrist named Clotaire Rapaille who reshaped the beverage landscape of the nation.

Nestlé established its presence in Japan with child psychiatrist Clotaire Rapaille

Nestlé were aiming to crack into the Japanese market with their flagship product, Nescafé after World War II. They packaged it well with all the right ingredients: competitive pricing, quality product and attractive packaging.

However, the company failed miserably. This was despite extensive market research and focus groups, which yielded positive feedback about the taste of coffee. Japanese people simply refused to give up on tea.

But why? The answer, it seemed, lied in consumer psychology, which the company cracked with the help of a psychoanalyst. A French psychoanalyst and marketing expert named Clotaire Rapaille, whom Nestlé hired, explained that Japanese people had no early memory of coffee. It was unfamiliar and evoked no emotional connection. Tea, on the other hand, was woven into the country's identity and daily rituals.

Nestlé reframed their approach by focusing on the subconscious desires of consumers, which Clotaire termed the "reptilian brain"​. The company started selling coffee-flavoured candies to children to help them develop a fondness for the taste of coffee and it worked. It became popular among children to grow up with a taste for coffee. Their parents, curious about their children's favourite candies, also discovered their joy for coffee.

In the 1980s, those children grew up and as a fast-paced work culture arose, so did a genuine need for caffeine. Nestlé took the opportunity to relaunch instant coffee. They also redefined their marketing approach and sold coffee as a convenient and high-quality drink that matched the needs of a busy lifestyle.

Thus, Nestlé’s long-term strategy, developed with Clotaire’s help, secured it a foothold in a country that is now the world’s sixth-largest coffee importer, bringing in nearly 500,000 tons annually.

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