The Case for 'Watabe's Location Scouting' as a Textbook for Empathy Marketing

Are you familiar with the YouTube program
“A show where Unjash Watabe scouts locations, dreaming of one day appearing on a terrestrial gourmet program”
?

Actually, I’ve been watching since before the subscriber count even hit four digits—a so-called 'old-school' fan—but I’ve realized, perhaps a bit late, that it’s not just for viewers, but the absolute best teaching material for marketing...

Working in this field, I come across all sorts of SNS content and ads, but this one stands out so much that I thought,
“This is marketing gold...”
It’s actually a little frustrating.

The thing is, I started watching it thinking it was just another gourmet video, but before I knew it, I found myself completely immersed—
• Watching while eating my own meals
• Feeling the urge to go out for a drink after watching
• Buying the show's merchandise
—I was just hooked.

And then, while drinking alone, it hit me.

“Isn't the marketing design for this incredibly well-executed?”

It’s not just about the video quality.
“Empathy”—when you look at it through that lens, it’s packed with elements that resonate with the current era.

I posted about this on X, and it was surprisingly well-received, even getting a quote-retweet from the director, Soma-san. Since it generated such a response, I decided to dive deeper into it here on note.

Once again, in this article, I want to break down
• Why does 'Watabe's Location Scouting' resonate so deeply?
into five points from the perspective of empathy design. This should resonate not just with marketing managers, but also with SNS operators and creators, so please read until the end.

1. Quality = A Three-Layer Structure of Video, Sound, and Words

In a nutshell,

“The best of both worlds: Terrestrial TV × YouTube”

is what it comes down to.

What simply surprised me was the video quality.
As I wrote in my post,

• TV-style camerawork (switching between close-ups and wide shots, framing design)
• Attention to detail in the footage
• Handling of sound
• How the food is presented
• The rhythm of the conversation

is truly TV-quality.

On top of that, it incorporates the tempo and pacing characteristic of YouTube.

Each episode of this program is about 30 minutes long, and for the average person, it can be difficult to keep watching for over 30 minutes without getting bored.

However, there is a trick hidden here.

The lighting, composition, and sound quality are high, and the food is conveyed through the screen as “Wow, that looks delicious...”. Furthermore, Watabe-san’s food reporting is as incredible as ever. Phrases like
“Rich but not heavy”
and
“The acidity gives it a backbone” are his signature style, bordering on literature.

Furthermore, if we look at it from a marketing perspective, the point isn't just that the "visuals are beautiful," but that it designs a "simulated experience for the five senses."

A three-layered structure of visual + auditory + linguistic pleasure.

By Watabe-san eating in a way that looks delicious, it creates a simulated experience that gives you the urge to go to a nearby bar or restaurant.
(I've actually gone out to drink about four times because of it.)

If you can reproduce this in text or video on social media, your engagement will skyrocket, so I want you to be conscious of it.

2. From UGC to UCC. The ideal form of participatory content

If you watch the show, you know there's a regular segment where he goes to a snack bar at the end.
They run a "bottle relay project" there, and it really has become the best content.

It's a format where the "bottle that anyone can drink from" that Watabe-san bought first is passed on as a baton to the next location by the person who finishes it last. It's not just done because it's an interesting project, but because it embodies the concept of

"Energize the shops! Energize the town!"

So it's not that the viewers are making the content, but that the viewers are participating in the content together.

Furthermore, what's interesting about this mechanism is that social media-like reciprocity is indirectly incorporated. It's said that social media should essentially be a communication tool, not a one-way broadcasting tool.
In that sense, this project is a very interesting design because it fosters a

"Maybe they'll come to my area too...!?" sense of
anticipation, which leads to continued viewership from people who watch the show regularly.

3. A relationship that shares the same passion with sponsors

What I think is amazing about "Watabe no Rokehan" is that there is absolutely no pushy feeling from sponsors saying "This is an advertisement!" That's because
the sponsors are not just supporters, but are portrayed as "members of the program."

Sponsor = Program Co-creator

Simply put, because sponsors with products that are compatible with the program are attached, the focus can naturally be on the product within the content.
Also, by coincidentally encountering shops that actually use the products, the program becomes even more exciting, and what you might call drama is born, so it blends in without any sense of discomfort.

When I actually look at the comments, I see voices saying things like "I've introduced it," so the influence is incredible.

In this day and age where advertisements are disliked, the program structure and compatibility that allow products to be promoted while naturally blending into the content will become important in the future.

Companies that ask influencers for PR should be careful about this, and even when operating organically, the structure should be valued.

4. Turning fans into believers in a worldview. Falling in love with the philosophy, not the person

What's interesting is that there are many people who feel
“I like the vibe of this channel” rather than
“I watch it because it’s Watabe-san.”

The key is that while it may look like Watabe-san's channel, he isn't the sole protagonist.

Everyone who makes this show is a protagonist.

It’s interesting that even though it could have been content where Watabe-san was on screen the whole time, the behind-the-scenes directors have their own personalities.
I think this is a truly new way of presenting content.

“Transparency as a team” brings the psychological distance between the creators and the viewers much closer, and because the behind-the-scenes staff have personalities and are interesting, people start to think, “Anything this team makes is interesting.”

In fact, there are fans of AD Ishizaka-chan and the big-eating cameraman Niikuma, not just Watabe-san, so it's no exaggeration to say that the fans are attached to the channel itself rather than an individual.

This aligns perfectly with the
“flat relationships”
and
“sense of security from seeing the faces of the creators” that the current Gen Z and younger generations are looking for.

This functions as the brand of the show.
Actually, just as it is said that the “insider culture” and “consistency in tone and manner” are important for corporate accounts on other platforms, this is the same context, so I hope you keep this in mind.

5. Process economy and the story of a comeback

In fact, this show has an incredibly skillful process-economy-style concept.

By showing the process from Watabe-san's failure to his reconstruction, the viewers have become his supporters. It’s also excellent that while there is an actual clear goal, the theme of “comeback” is not intentionally pushed to the forefront.
It’s not about forced reflection; you can feel his real attitude within the show as he tries to regain trust through his actions and sincerity.

Moreover, viewers unconsciously interpret it as if it were their own business,

“a member of the story of Watabe-san's comeback,”

which makes it very easy for them to support him.

By the way, the content itself is presented very well, and I even felt like crying a few times myself.
The concept makes the most of both Watabe-san's existing strengths and his current position.

Viewers become 'members who witness the process of revival'.
This is truly process economy.

People empathize more with the 'process of change' than with the 'finished product'.
By being open about revivals, growth, regrets, and failures, a brand gains a sense of familiarity. D2C brand 'behind-the-scenes product development' reveals and crowdfunding are also examples of this method.

It is truly a 'documentary program'.

In conclusion

'Watabe no Location Hunt' isn't just entertaining.
That program is packed withempathy, trust, participation, and atmosphere—the

'essence of modern marketing'

is packed into it.

For those who thought, 'Maybe we could do this too?'
I want you to start by 'creating something together with your fans'.

And if you would like to create content like this together, please feel free to contact me.

At MUSUBI, where I serve as representative, we support companies primarily through:
・Instagram
・TikTok

Just like in this note, we analyze examples currently on the market and constantly think about how to create concepts that meet our clients' goals and win in the market.

Since my team members possess even greater marketing skills than I do, I am confident that we can achieve your KGI with a high probability.

Please feel free to consult with us if you have any needs.

Also, please be sure to follow me on X!