Just a few years ago, when Yoichi Nakamuta was on a business trip to New York, he stumbled upon an unusual designer item: Go-Go Drink, a natural herb soda or energy drink. But it wasn't just the intriguing blend of tropical herbs and roots it contained that caught his attention.
The can was created by Douglas Lloyd, one of Gucci's main designers. The logo and graphics are the work of New York illustrator Michael Economy, the father of Kiki, the cutsie-pie mascot with a flame-orange bob and hot-pink mini dress who adorns the can.
In Japan, "genki drinks" are usually the domain of a very unglamorous demographic: the over-worked and typically hung-over salaryman. But Nakamuta could sense Go-Go Drink's potential in a different market segment -- Japan's ko-gyaru (young girls). He returned armed with samples and gave his staff the task of marketing the drink in Japan.