SNS Marketing Contest "J-REIT GEN-Z CREATOR CUP 2025 Presented by MIZUHO" Announces Judging Results

Hands UP Co., Ltd. and Mizuho Bank, Ltd. are pleased to announce that the final judging for the inter-university SNS marketing contest "J-REIT GEN-Z CREATOR CUP 2025 Presented by MIZUHO," aimed at expanding awareness of J-REIT (Real Estate Investment Trusts) among university students, has been completed and the results finalized. A total of 13 students from 5 universities across Japan participated in this project. Furthermore, the project involved planning and development in teams with famous influencers, making it an unprecedented initiative that fused the real sensibilities of Gen Z with the professional communication power of influencers. [Project Overview] This project is a co-creation initiative where current university students and famous influencers team up to plan and produce short videos promoting J-REIT, with the theme of expanding J-REIT awareness. Participating students in each team comprehensively designed: ・Concept development ・Content planning ・SNS dissemination strategy By combining the unique perspectives of Gen Z with the insights of influential influencers, numerous "highly feasible projects that don't just aim for virality" were created, leading to many new expressions not seen before in the traditional financial sector. In particular, a variety of creative works were produced, such as video projects that reimagined J-REIT as a "favorite idol" based on the popular Gen Z "Oshikatsu (fandom activities) culture," ASMR formats for enhanced immersion, short dramas, and interview-style story videos. As a result, the total views of the produced videos reached 262,000. This initiative demonstrated new possibilities by combining Gen Z's sensibilities with influencers' communication power. [List of Participating Universities] Students from the following 5 universities participated in this project: ・Keio University ・Komazawa University ・Waseda University ・Sophia University ・Aoyama Gakuin University (In no particular order) [Implementation Details and Day's Events] The produced videos were released on TikTok from March 13 to March 29, 2026 (currently private), and the final judging was conducted based on their performance. The judging was comprehensively carried out from perspectives such as: ・Planning ability ・Creativity ・Feasibility ・Scalability on SNS On the day of the workshop where the plans were developed, the fusion of Gen Z's real sensibilities and influencers' insights led to the creation of many diverse and original plans. Subsequently, a professional production team refined the plans with the students and completed them as actual content. The venue maintained high energy throughout, and judges commented: "Ideas that would not be born from a single company" "A new form of marketing through the synergy of Gen Z and influencers" [Judging Results] After rigorous judging, the winning university was determined as follows: Winning University: Aoyama Gakuin University The Aoyama Gakuin University team created drama-style content centered on the universally relatable themes of "school" and "romance." By naturally incorporating the concept of J-REIT into everyday life, they successfully made the complex topic of finance "personally relevant." [Comment from the Winning University] "We are truly delighted to have achieved the best result of winning this workshop. It was a wonderful time where we deeply learned about J-REIT and the mentors' perspectives. The level of other participants was also high, and we feel the value in having persevered to the end in such a valuable environment. We especially believe that this result would not have been possible without the advice from our mentor, Yusaku Sports. We want to use this experience as a starting line and continue to spread the appeal of J-REIT!" [Comment from Winning University Mentor: Yusaku Sports] "Frankly, I am truly happy that this video achieved the best result of winning. I feel that this is the result of the combined efforts of the Aoyama Gakuin University students who actively engaged in creating a wonderful work, the production staff, and the performers. I would be delighted if this project could be a catalyst for each person involved to discover new insights and lead even better lives." [About Hands UP Co., Ltd.] ■ About Hands UP Co., Ltd. With the vision of "maximizing individual happiness and potential," we develop new businesses and provide marketing support specializing in Gen Z. We have a track record of transactions with over 50 major corporations and organizations, and over 300 Gen Z creators. We also work on nurturing AI talent "AIHERO" to contribute to solving global issues. Representative: Keywords: