In the process of promoting the "emopa" function on the newly released smartphone "AQUOS" by Sharp, an advertisement starring popular voice actress Kana Hanazawa attracted the attention of netizens. In the advertisement, Kana Hanazawa pronounced the lines of the big brother of the black road in a very fierce tone, which was impressive.

"EMOPA" is a new function that has been redeveloped based on the "Heart Engine", an artificial intelligence system installed by Sharp in home appliances. It can automatically identify the user's location and use sound or video to convey information according to the user's mood.

"emopa" is expected to launch 20 mini-commercials in collaboration with Japanese artists. In addition to Kana Hanazawa, well-known Japanese singers and artists such as GACKT and Teruei participated in the performance, performing a variety of short films full of life feelings.

So, why did Sharp choose Hanazawa Coriander to endorse the new feature? Let's listen to what Yan Hanochi of Sharp's marketing department has to say.

●"Emopa" as a new assistant

——In EMOPA's online promotion, the shocking black lines recited by Kana Hanazawa became a hot topic among netizens. So, what exactly is the so-called "emopa"?

Yan Hanoi (hereafter, Hanoi): EMOPA is an unprecedented "assistant" that has appeared in a new way. It is easy to associate with the word "assistant" that when one party says "what do you want to do" or "look for this", the other party will spontaneously help to do it. Many people may think that it is just a function of this proxy nature. However, while Emopa also has this feature, it is also able to guess what the user wants at the moment and take the initiative to talk. For example, computers are the ones we can't get answers without input, while televisions and radios provide a constant stream of information and answers when they are plugged in. Although it is also an assistant, there is still a big difference. Unlike TVs, smartphones are a medium for transmitting information only to individuals, and if you know when this person will return, you can send a message when the user returns. With this sensing technology, it is possible to understand the actions of smartphone users and to have a reasonable dialogue with them in response to the current situation.

- Since emopa stores the user's various numbers, analyzes them, and finds the most suitable response, its answers will become more and more accurate, right?

Hanoi: Normally, people demand a lot of accuracy, but in reality, we don't demand too much (laughs)...... In a sense, emopa speaks with its own "personality", so users should not expect too much from it, we want to build a more casual relationship. Of course, in the process of use, there will be some "how many days have I met you" and "Is the door closed?" Say something you didn't expect, or say "HappyBirthday" the day before your birthday......

- I always feel like a relationship with my mother.

Hanoi: That's right. And to find out what kind of intimacy the relationship is, you can look at the percentage display in the "Emopa Mood" app. It's also a pleasure to know that "Emopa already knows me that way". If you know yourself very well from the beginning, users will be resistant (laughs).

- That's true (laughs).

Hanoi: Gradually increasing the form of understanding should also be able to extend the time you can use your mobile phone. Emopa has about 5 preset characters that users can choose according to their mood. Although it is possible to change characters, the memories stored in emopa will not be erased, so users can experience the joy of learning about themselves from different characters.

●Opportunity for the development of EMOPA

INTERVIEWER What was the reason for the development of "emopa", which is at the heart of this topic?

Hanoi: Technically, the "COCOROBO" is a robot sweeper that enables voice communication between humans and machines. However, the COCOROBO sweeper is not an IT machine in the first place, and there are only a few things that can be done. With this in mind, we thought of using smartphones as a terminal device, and unlike a company's voice recognition service, we realized AI technology in a new form. If you watch the video we made zuò, you can understand that at the end there is a scene where you don't want to be separated from your smartphone. Now the lifespan of mobile phones is only two or three years, and users have become accustomed to changing to a new mobile phone in two or three years. With EMOPA, users will want to transfer the memories of their devices together. The sense of security accumulated over time can increase user loyalty, so we started to develop it.

INTERVIEWER So, did you encounter any difficulties or hardships during the development process?

Hanoi: What we thought about during the development process was that the intrinsic aspect of EMOPA was not so much "technology" as "content", and the most important thing was how to improve the quality of the lines. For example, if you want to say that it will make the user feel this way, you have to have a human feeling, and in a sense, you have to have a "human nature". So what we struggle with is "people". What kind of people to develop with the most difficult, with what attitude to solve, and how to allocate time and energy. I think there are similarities between this and the world of games, and when making a game, you also have to anticipate the user's behavior, such as "scare them here" and "give such pleasure here", and the game makers are racking their brains. Because of this, the energy spent on the lines by the producers is different, and the fun and highlights of the final product are also different. Technically, the speech system is simple, but it is the most difficult to determine what to say in what context.

- EMOPA is a function of "the people involved in R&D are crucial", specifically who is doing R&D and in what way.

Hanoi: The development is led by the New Business Development Promotion Department of our company. As the name of the department says, it is a department that "specializes in creating new things that have not been available until now". The department proposed the "EMOPA" project. Everyone is pushing forward with unprecedented momentum, but there are still some areas that cannot be completed by the company's own strength alone, so this time we entrusted Kavac and the screenwriter to share part of the work. The collaboration with KAYAC has had a great effect, and their flexible conception has given Sharp a whole new value to the brand.

●Why did Sharp use Hanazawa coriander?

- We were amazed by the features of EMOPA, and on the other hand, we were very interested in the artists who appeared during the online promotion phase. What is your reason for using artists like Kana Hanazawa and GACKT?

Hanoi: This is the second round of EMOPA's promotion. The first was in the winter of 2014, when professional swimmer Kosuke Kitajima and entertainer Mariko Shinoda were used. We target men between the ages of 30 and 35 and put it into real-life situations to show them the true value of emopa and resonate with them. Has the user been cured? Is the spirit restored? Try in these areas. But as the promotion progressed, we felt that if it was just displayed like this, it was not enough at all, and it had to attract more attention. Although Kitajima and Shinoda are very popular, I felt that it was necessary to create videos that could be seen on SNS and that would be appealing just by the content itself.

INTERVIEWER What are you doing to make your video content engaging?

Hanoi: The purpose of the second round is to arouse the interest of the public, so we invited artists who can generate a lot of buzz and get a lot of retweets. Therefore, instead of inviting a certain artist to promote it, it is better to invite artists with personality and let them do some performances that are not usually easy to see. This leads to topicality. In addition, the lines spoken by "emopa" are all lines that are suitable for artists to interpret and can be the icing on the cake. Later, with the wide spread of the online promotional video, the public's awareness of EMOPA was greatly enhanced, which was the purpose of the second round of publicity.

INTERVIEWER Because you want to improve the spread of the Internet, Kana Hanazawa, who has both acting skills and topicality among the voice actors, was chosen by you, right?

Hanoi: Yes. Hanazawa has a lot of die-hard fans and is quite famous in the online world...... In addition, it is generally difficult for people who are often seen on TV to start a conversation on the Internet, and there is not much information on the Internet at the moment, and fans want to see their new performance forms of individual artists, so we can meet our needs very well.

● Archangel Hanazawa's overwhelming acting skills and effects

- By the way, did you know about Hanazawa Coriander before?

Hanoi: I don't know her at all. Roles are decided by discussion after the agency submits a proposal. This time, with the aim of raising a topic, we chose from the point that "it is best suited to trigger a chain reaction".

Of course, artists that can often be seen on TV are also possible, but considering that this promotion form is more special and is promoted on the Internet, we chose Hanazawa with great expectations. As a result, the number of clicks on the "emopa" campaign increased significantly.

- I see. So what surprised you by the selection on set?

Hanoi: To be honest, I was shocked that she had such good acting skills. Because she is a voice actress, I didn't expect much from her acting skills, and I didn't expect her acting skills to be so good at all...... I think she should have studied the scripts written by the supervisor and screenwriter in some kind of Cheng dù beforehand, NG rarely passed almost one piece, and her acting skills and appearance were not lost to professional actors, which was really great. In addition, there is also a scene in the video where she did a post-recording for the Black Way movie, and she gradually changed from a gentle voice to a rough tone of the Black Road, and finally stood up and yelled: "Do you look down on me!" I was touched by the contrast. She showed the difference between the "angelic voice" and the "rough voice" very well, and I was really excited at that moment. In addition, in the video of helping to take care of a friend's child, Coriander plays 3 dolls to attract the child's attention. Her ability to freely change the voice of the doll in an instant is also amazing.

INTERVIEWER This promotion has exceeded expectations, so are you talking about the third online promotion now?

Hanoi: Yes, it's currently being discussed. Next, in order for users to choose products, we are considering how to link the content of the promotional video to the purchase. It is difficult to make a difference in the functionality of smartphones, but this time we have managed to make a little difference from other companies, and if this difference can be emphasized more clearly in online promotion, it should be possible to increase sales.