The WiLL brand was a collaborative marketing initiative amongst a group of Japanese companies aimed at catering to a younger demographic from August 1999 to July 2004 in Japan. Participating companies included Kao Corporation (personal hygiene, household detergents, cosmetics), Toyota, Asahi Breweries, Panasonic, Kinki Nippon Tourist Company, Ezaki Glico Candy, and Kokuyo Co., Ltd. The companies collectively offered products and services under the WiLL brand to attract a younger consumer base.

Toyota also implemented a “youth-oriented” strategy in North America through the Project Genesis program, reflecting a wider trend of targeting younger audiences in the automotive industry. The WiLL brand experiment exemplified a Japanese engineering concept known as Kansei engineering, which emphasizes emotional and aesthetic aspects in product design to create a more engaging user experience. This approach was not unique to the WiLL brand but was also utilized by other Japanese companies across industries.

Key Points:
1. The WiLL brand was a joint effort by several Japanese companies to target a younger market segment in Japan from 1999 to 2004.
2. Participating companies included Kao Corporation, Toyota, Asahi Breweries, Panasonic, and others.
3. Toyota extended a similar youth-focused strategy to North America through the Project Genesis program.
4. The initiative was based on Kansei engineering, emphasizing emotional and aesthetic design elements in product development.
5. The WiLL brand experiment aligns with broader trends in the industry

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