Kewpie and how a Japanese mayo bottle conquered the US market

Sometimes an entire massive market opens up from a single video of a salmon rice bowl. It sounds hard to believe, but that was the beginning of Kewpie's journey—the century-old Japanese mayonnaise brand—entering the American kitchen. In 2021, a viral video by creator Emily Mariko unintentionally brought that golden squeeze bottle into the view of millions of young Americans.

But the real takeaway is not the viral moment itself. The real lesson is what happened afterward: a tiny in-house marketing team at Kewpie Americas spent three years turning accidental curiosity into a deliberate, measurable, and distinctive brand strategy.

From a viral video to a deliberate strategy

After the 2021 explosion, the easiest thing to do would be to celebrate and stop there. Kewpie chose the harder path: treating it as a market signal to build a foundation. By this past September, Emily Mariko officially became a brand partner—a move showing they understand creator trust should only be "locked in" after content has been time-tested by the audience.

That strategy stands on two legs. Online is social media, targeting the 20–30 age group. Offline is the "I Love Kewpie" tour that just kicked off in Southern California, featuring the Kewpie doll mascot at the center. According to Jeremy Stoddard, VP of marketing at Kewpie Americas, early results show real-world touchpoints will be a core focus for community building next year.

Looking at how they allocate resources, there is a mindset worth noting: do not bet on a single channel, and do not let any channel do another channel's job.

TikTok for discovery, Instagram for retention

Kewpie USA currently has nearly 200,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok. But these two platforms are not treated the same way. TikTok is the discovery channel: short recipes, creator content, mascot content. Instagram is where the community is nurtured: giveaways, brand updates, slower and warmer interactions.

It sounds simple, but many brands do the reverse: posting the exact same content everywhere and wondering why no one responds. Clear platform roles help the team know what goal every post serves.

• TikTok: expand reach, spark curiosity, show strangers "oh, is there this product?".
• Instagram: keep those who already know you, create a sense of belonging, reply and praise.
• Offline: turn followers into real-life acquaintances—with photos, merch, and memories.

Don't measure by likes, measure by saves

This is the part I find most brilliant. Stoddard put it bluntly: the metric they care about is saves and shares, not likes. The reason is very practical: someone saving a recipe means they intend to cook it, and that is a stepping stone toward buying and repeating purchases.

Likes are cheap. Saves are expensive because they take up a spot on someone's phone. Shares are even more expensive because they act as a personalized recommendation.

If a metric does not lead to any customer behavior, it is probably just beautifying a report.

You can try this right away: open your analytics, filter the top 5 posts with the highest saves over 90 days, and ask yourself what they have in common—format, topic, hook? That is usually a more authentic content map for the next quarter than any brainstorm session.

Creators are not hired guns, they are believers

Kewpie works with real home cooks like Emily Mariko, Sam the Cooking Guy, and Easy Peasy Jordan. But their vetting criteria are very clear: prioritize people who already love and naturally post about the product. Stoddard asked a great question: "People who make a living cooking, would they reach for Kewpie?"—and that answer carries more weight than any self-praise.

That is why they built their ambassador program based on existing affection rather than chasing rate cards. The team also encourages content that replaces traditional American mayonnaise with Kewpie, or uses it on vegetables—a usage originating from Japan rather than local habits.

Thus, a loop is created: creators cook, viewers recreate, viewers post their own content, and UGC generates naturally. The "I Love Kewpie" tour is also designed to fuel that loop further through merch and photo ops with the mascot.

The 1909 mascot and admirable restraint

The Kewpie doll was designed by an American illustrator in 1909. In other words, the US tour is not just marketing—it is a return to roots. The Kewpie team taps into that exact point: retelling the mascot's origin so Americans see it as familiar, rather than some foreign symbol from halfway across the world.

Many brands use mascots for shock value or engagement bait. Kewpie chooses restraint, maintaining standards from its Japanese headquarters. Stoddard calls balancing loyalty to roots while creating differentiation in the US a delicate act. And a quote worth jotting down: "Our goal isn't necessarily to create a trend. If we do, it's about creating a moment, staying true to ourselves, and storytelling as much as possible."

I think many Vietnamese marketing teams will see themselves in this: chasing trends is fast, but building a moment true to your identity is much more durable.

What you can apply this very week

Do not wait until a viral video happens. Prepare the system beforehand so that if luck knocks, you are not standing there dazed.

1. Choose a behavioral metric instead of an emotional one: saves, shares, cart additions, repeat purchases.
2. Assign platform roles: one channel for strangers to find you, one channel for acquaintances to stay.
3. Audit your creator list: who used your product before any contract existed?
4. Turn a small offline touchpoint into a content production site: photo corners, merch, moments.
5. Write down a "what we will not do" statement—boundaries you won't cross no matter how tempting a trend is.

Kewpie has no magic wand. They have a product with personality, a stroke of luck received at the right time, and more importantly, a small team patient enough to turn that stroke of luck into a system.

As for you, if tomorrow a video mentions your product, what have you prepared so you won't miss out? In your opinion, should brands prioritize building a community first or chasing reach first? Leave a comment—I'd love to hear your perspective, even if it contradicts what I just wrote. And if this article sparked anything, feel free to save it to open up the day you sit down to map out next month's content strategy.