The marketing unit of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the operator of the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear complex, said Tuesday it will resume advertising its products on TV for the first time since the 2011 crisis.
Tepco Energy Partner Inc. will start advertising the company's products and services on TV from Wednesday in Tokyo and six nearby prefectures after refraining to do so since core meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 complex, triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Although there have been calls for the company to use the money pegged for advertising to pay compensation stemming from the disaster, Tepco has judged that TV commercials are necessary to attract customers amid intensifying competition following the liberalization of the retail electricity and gas markets, it said.
Aside from TV, Tepco will also promote its services, such as its gas and electricity package, on radio and trains until the end of September. Tepco is aiming to increase gas contracts to 1 million by next spring from 660,000 as of the end of May, it said.
It has not decided whether to continue the TV commercials beyond September, it said.