Testimonial

Hello, this is the Orinas Customer Case Study Interview Team.

This time, we interviewed Mr. Kurotaki from the Sales Promotion Team, Direct Marketing Department at K.S.I.C.I. We have been supporting the official Instagram account with everything from consulting to proposing strategic operational policies to monthly performance analysis reporting. We spoke frankly with him about the challenges he has faced so far, his thoughts on launching a new brand, and why he chose Orinas to help him!

Aiming for More Strategic Social Media Management

We Hired a Digital Marketing Company

Orinas: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today. First, I would like to ask you to tell us about your company's business.

Kurotaki: Our company, Keishiishii, mainly sells Western confectionery under various brands. Our main brand is Otaru Confectionery Shop LeTAO, which is based in Otaru.

Orinas: What kind of responsibilities does Mr. Kurotaki's department have?

Kurotaki: My department is mainly responsible for mail order sales. I am also in charge of the call center and sales on malls such as Rakuten. The team I'm in is mainly responsible for managing the official LeTAO online shop and planning and promoting sales.

Orinas: What position did SNS play in the mail order department?

Kurotaki: Although we started using social media, we weren't able to make full use of it. We began to think that we wanted to use social media such as Instagram as a way to further expand LeTAO's brand awareness. We had been posting about each product and recommendations, but we hadn't been able to use it to go further and communicate with our customers.

Orinas: We first consulted you about a year ago, but what were the challenges and problems your company was facing?

Kurotaki: There were two challenges.

• First, I wasn't sure if I was getting the results I expected, even if I put in the time. I knew that the social media field was going to grow, but because it's a field where trends and changes happen so rapidly, I didn't know how to achieve the same results as other companies, or what results meant in the social media field.
• The second challenge was that we had not been able to make use of customer posts. The LeTAO brand itself has name value and is well known by customers. Our customers have been posting about our products for some time, so we wanted to use social media to connect them to new sales channels. While many people purchase our products in our physical stores, awareness of our online store is low, and we had not been able to create a solid path to encourage them to purchase.

Orinas: When you first contacted us, it seemed like you were already focusing on social media. Did your number of followers grow naturally?

Kurotaki: Yes, it grew naturally to about 16,000 people. This may be due to the fact that the "LeTAO" brand name is well known. However, we felt that it would be difficult to increase the number of followers and strategize how to manage it on our own, so we started looking for a company that would cooperate with us in various ways.

Orinas: I see. Was there a particular trigger that made you want to do something about it, even if it meant getting help from outside the company?

Kurotaki: It all started when the purpose of using social media changed. Originally, we thought of social media as a way to send out information and spread it around. However, we began to think that we wanted to use social media to expand our sales channels. This led to the idea that we should place more importance on customer feedback, such as product reviews.

We thought that when people are thinking about making a purchase, the information sent by our customers would be more trustworthy than information from us. To achieve this, we needed to enlist the help of our customers to increase the number of people who post on social media about trending products and the merits of LeTAO products. We wanted to sell our products by creating an environment where customers could get excited about each other, so we decided to enlist the help of people outside the company.

Orinas: You had decided on the direction you wanted to go in, but you were worried about what to actually do on social media.

Kurotaki: That's right. There are many things we want to communicate to our customers, but we don't know what they want. We found it difficult to think from the customer's perspective, wondering what would make them happy and what would pique their interest.

We Chose Orinas for Their Thorough Consultation and Flexible Support

Orinas: It's difficult to think from the user's perspective when you're working within a company. I imagine you compared companies before deciding which one to use for your Instagram account. What made you choose us out of the many digital marketing companies available?

Kurotaki: The main reason we chose Orinas was because they listened to what we were looking for and were flexible in recommending the right products. We considered many companies, but with other consulting and social media marketing specialist companies, we were often forced to propose packaged plans, and even when we said, "We don't need that feature" or "We don't need this kind of support," they would often say that because it was a package, they could only provide support in that form.

Our basic idea was to manage our social media operations ourselves as much as possible. We wanted a partner who could provide additional advice and discuss future plans. The deciding factor was that they were flexible and able to respond to our needs and make proposals.

Orinas: The first thing we supported was strategy planning. Now we work together on analysis and consulting. Could you tell us about any effects or results you've seen since we started supporting you?

Kurotaki: It was really helpful that we were able to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of our account from an objective perspective. We were able to notice strengths and weaknesses that we hadn't even thought of.

• For example, regarding the organization of accounts. We have many stores, an online store, and many other things, and we have brands other than LeTAO, so we were worried about not being able to control them all, but we received advice on how to organize them. Thanks to that advice, we are discussing account management internally and plan to gradually improve control.
• I feel that the creative content and writing of my posts have improved with the advice I received. At a recent meeting, I was suggested to include a sentence linking to the URL in my profile. I learned that just adding one sentence can produce results that can be seen in the numbers. It's something you wouldn't notice unless someone told you about it.

Orinas: The other day you introduced us to Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory. Could you tell us what Kurotaki appreciates about our company?

Kurotaki: I personally think that Orinas' distinctive feature is that they listen carefully to our needs beforehand. With other companies, they often tell us more than they listen to our opinions and challenges. With your company, it was the opposite. When we first consulted, we had two or three meetings, and they understood in great detail what challenges we were facing and thought about how they could help us there. Orinas is very supportive and takes action, so it's easy for us to consult them and share our opinions.

Orinas: Thank you for your kind words. We will continue to work hard.

Orinas: Finally, could you tell us what you would like to see from us in the future?

Kurotaki: Right now, I'm asking them to help with strategy-related matters such as consultations and reviews, but in the future, I'd like them to work on some initiatives with me and help me with Instagram advertising management, which we haven't started on yet.

Orinas: I would love to join you there as well. I look forward to your continued support.

Finally

Keishiishii was already well-known for their physical store, and as a result, their follower count had grown to a certain extent, but they felt they had reached a limit in how much they could utilize it, so they came to us for advice. With the premise of in-house development, we provided support in terms of analysis and planning, based on a "thoroughly practical" approach. As trends on social media change rapidly, we believe that quick advice is necessary at any given time, so we will continue to strive to be flexible in our response!