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

This time, we interviewed Mr. Futagi, CEO of MediAir Co., Ltd.

MediAir Co., Ltd. wanted to leverage their accumulated know-how to strengthen their Instagram presence when launching their own D2C fashion brand.

At Orinas, we also provide support in branding, including launching a new brand's Instagram account and designing ways to acquire followers.

We asked her about how she decided to enter the blue ocean field of “yoga wear fashion” in Japan, as well as her thoughts on her actual results, the secret to her success, and her outlook for the future.

Official online store: LITHEE

From Launching Instagram to Branding

Orinas: Thank you for joining us today. First of all, could you please tell us about your company's business?

President Niki: MediAir Co., Ltd. is a company that provides e-commerce consulting and management services for fashion brands.

We provide site operations, marketing, analysis, etc. for online stores directly managed by various fashion brands, as well as fulfillment and customer support. We focus on either of these services and support and strengthen the e-commerce sales of famous domestic and international brands.

In that sense, we have the know-how to operate and market online stores, and we also have relationships with various fashion brand companies, so we decided to use this to start our own D2C fashion brand.

This is a privately-owned yoga wear brand that we launched in October 2022. Starting from scratch, we decided to focus our branding efforts on Instagram.

Initially, we wanted to start by targeting the acquisition of fans and followers, but we did not have the know-how or knowledge within the company. We were looking for a consulting firm that could provide guidance in this area while also achieving results, and we were introduced to Orinas.

Orinas: Some companies will first tackle the issue in-house and then incur the costs, but was there any reason why you decided to look for external consultants from the start?

President Niki: The reason is that when we were creating the business plan, we wanted to forecast the figures and ensure that we could achieve results. We wanted to proceed in a planned manner without any losses.

Choosing Yoga Wear and Defining the Target

Orinas: With so many different fashion genres out there, why did you decide on yoga wear? And who was your target demographic?

President Niki: The business that we acquired (through M&A) originally involved purchasing and selling yoga wear, so we felt we could make use of that site. The market is small now, but in North America there are many well-performing brand companies and the market is large, so we thought it might spread in Japan as well. We expect the market to expand in the future.

Our target demographic is the wealthy market in their 30s and 40s, as the average price range for our products is 20,000 to 30,000 yen, which is relatively high for yoga wear.

From Account Launch to Growth

Orinas: We have been supporting you from the launch of your account to the present. Could you please share your honest thoughts on the work you have undertaken?

President Niki: I thought that having a certain number of followers on Instagram was the minimum standard for judging brand recognition and value, so my goal was to "build an account with a solid following." The follower acquisition is at the planned level and meets our expectations.

However, I thought that having followers would lead to users making purchases from organic posts, but in reality this did not lead to an increase in purchases, so I felt that this was not proportional.

Instagram Growth and Future Goals

Orinas: As you said, while account management is successful, transitioning to e-commerce could improve. Do you have any plans for the future?

President Niki: We want to continue increasing followers—currently at 20,000 to 30,000—and eventually reach double digits. That will help us raise awareness further.

Orinas: Is there any reason why you would like to ultimately make it a double-digit number?

President Niki: Ultimately, we would like to have more followers. Basically, we would like to use the number as an indicator, and in fact, sales have increased by 200% compared to the previous year. We feel that sales have increased as awareness has increased. Therefore, I believe that focusing on increasing the number of followers is what strengthens the brand.

Instagram Branding: Creating a Path to 200% Sales

Orinas: For Instagram advertising, you first redirect people to your account and then have them visit your e-commerce site. How effective is this?

President Niki: We are currently collecting data on this, and I feel that it’s more suitable for users to browse the account and find what they want there, rather than linking directly to an e-commerce site. In addition, you can expect to gain followers, so I think it's more cost-effective.

Future Expectations from Orinas

Orinas: Lastly, could you tell us what you think of Orinas and what you expect from it in the future?

President Niki: They taught us exactly what we wanted, including numerical management. They guided us until we understood and helped us create a plan for acquiring Instagram followers. In the end, it turned out exactly as we wanted, so I think the branding was perfect as a path to results and success.

I think that what users want, such as the number of followers, will change in the future, so I would like to continue strengthening the solutions and designs to meet these needs, and I hope to continue to ask Orinas for help in the future.

Finally

We were closely involved from the launch of Instagram to branding, and as a result, we are pleased to have been able to help, as purchases via the account are continuing to occur. Additionally, by incorporating the Instagram account into the advertising design, we were able to draw the attention of various products to users, creating a path that led to success for the target demographic.

We will continue to support Instagram's growth and move to the next stage, working hard to make the products of yoga wear brand LITHEE known to as many people as possible.

This was brought to you by the customer case interview team at Orinas Co., Ltd.

In addition to managing social media accounts, Orinas also supports companies with the most appropriate measures to meet their challenges, such as social media advertising and influencer marketing.

If you are a company that is having trouble with SNS marketing, please feel free to contact us.