Testimonial

April 14, 2023

Food/Beverage

Hello, this is the customer case interview team at Orinas Inc.

This time, we interviewed Mr. Murakawa of the Publicity and Advertising Group in the Sales Promotion Department at Ozeki Co., Ltd. We supported Mr. Ozeki with a follow-up campaign for their official Instagram account. Although he had previously conducted campaigns in-house, he faced challenges such as “the number of followers gained was low compared to the advertising costs and amount of work invested, making it poor value for money,” and “due to a lack of personnel and know-how, he was only able to focus on day-to-day operations and didn’t have time to focus on additional features.”

With the desire to raise awareness among younger generations of products other than their long-loved flagship product, One Cup, we spoke frankly with Orinas about why they commissioned the project, as well as the effects they have felt since the initiative began.

Official Website: Ozeki Co., Ltd.

The challenges are a lack of personnel and know-how. We want to deliver product information to younger generations!

Orinas: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. First, may I ask you again about your company’s business?

Murakawa: Ozeki Co., Ltd.’s main business is the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, primarily sake. In addition to beverages, we also manufacture and sell food products that utilize fermentation technology and develop and sell cosmetics.

Orinas: First and foremost, One Cup Ozeki is probably the flagship product.

Murakawa: Yes. Our main business is the production and sale of sake. In recent years, we have also been focusing on liqueurs, such as fruit nigori sake and mixers in our “Wagaie no Sour no Moto Series.”

Orinas: What kind of work do you do in the advertising group where you work?

Murakawa: I advertise our products. My role is to back up sales activities. We’re a small team of three, so the responsibilities aren’t clearly divided, but I’m mainly in charge of digital matters like social media.

Orinas: Are you also in charge of TV commercials and website management?

Murakawa: That’s true. However, recently the company has been reducing its media advertising. Instead, we want to focus on less expensive methods such as digital and publicity, so I’m mostly in charge of digital-related tasks.

Orinas: There is a trend to focus on digital marketing.

Murakawa: There has been a shift in direction in the last few years. Other sake breweries and manufacturers are increasingly focusing on digital marketing using social media rather than relying mainly on mass media such as TV commercials. This trend has led us to feel that we have to get involved as well.

Orinas: When you first started to transition to digital marketing, what challenges did you face?

Murakawa: The challenge was a lack of personnel and know-how. Even though we wanted to focus on digital marketing, there was no one in the company who could take charge of it. I joined the company around that time, and although we had social media accounts, we didn’t have a clear purpose; our goal was just to operate them. In addition to regular operations, we wanted to do follow-up campaigns and ad distribution, but we didn’t have the resources to handle the extra aspects, so we decided to ask for your help.

Orinas: You first found out about our company through a webinar, right?

Murakawa: That’s right. I looked at the case study of Hakutsuru Sake Brewery. They were supporting other companies in the same industry, so I contacted them to ask for more details.

Orinas: I remember you saying at the time that you didn’t feel much effect from mass media.

Murakawa: Mass media can have a big impact if you spend a lot of money on it, but we were finding it difficult to allocate a sufficient budget. At the same time, in order to continue our business, we needed to reach younger generations as well. Our customer base is largely made up of people in their 50s and 60s who are avid One Cup Ozeki drinkers. There is a strong image of our company as “One Cup Ozeki,” and our other products and initiatives are not well known, which is an issue, so we started to focus on social media to reach younger generations.

The deciding factor was their flexible response and extensive support track record. They realized a campaign that not only gained followers but also increased awareness of the product.

Orinas: There are many marketing companies out there, but what made you choose Orinas?

Murakawa: The deciding factor was that they offered flexible support when we needed to consult on a one-off basis, such as during campaigns. Due to budgetary constraints, we wanted to handle the basic operations in-house. Also, after reading case studies about their support for a wide range of social media platforms, including LINE, Instagram, and Twitter, we felt they could provide support according to our needs.

Orinas: Thank you! We’ve helped with two Instagram follow-up campaigns so far. What were the results?

Murakawa: Our follower numbers doubled during our first campaign. Before asking Orinas to help, we had run a campaign on our own, but we didn’t gain many followers compared to the advertising costs and work we put in, so it wasn’t cost-effective. With their support, we were able to gain a solid number of followers, so we felt it was effective. In addition to the number of applications, the number of saves on campaign posts also increased. We also saw several posts saying, “I was interested in the product, so I bought it,” so we think the campaign also helped to increase awareness of the product.

Orinas: In the first campaign, we gained 6,500 followers and our CPF (cost per fan acquisition) was about 90 yen.

Murakawa: “It would be a good idea to post about the giveaway products during the campaign period,” was the advice I received, so I tried posting and got a great response. The number of saves for regular posts also increased. I’m grateful that I was taught this technique.

Orinas: Thank you. Are there any other points that you appreciated?

Murakawa: The quality of the creative work is high. They can create banners and other designs that match the image of the product. They also provide thorough pre-consultations and quick replies, which is very helpful.

Orinas: On the other hand, please let us know if there are any areas for improvement.

Murakawa: Nothing in particular. They conduct their work thoroughly based on the interview sheets, and the follow-up reports are easy to understand, so we can use them for internal reporting. It also reduces the time spent on work related to the campaign.

Orinas: I’m honored, thank you very much.

My goal going forward is to build a deeper relationship with my fans.

Orinas: What has been the reaction from people within the company?

Murakawa: There has been a growing understanding within the company about social media management. I think this is because the number of followers has increased and our foundation has been solidified. Many employees used to ask, “What is social media?”, but now we are hearing more and more people saying that they are looking at their own company’s accounts. Interest is on the rise.

Orinas: That’s great.

Murakawa: Our clients are also looking at the videos, and it seems that it sometimes becomes a conversation starter for our sales staff. It has made my job feel more rewarding.

Orinas: It really does provide backup for your sales activities. Are there any other social media initiatives you would like to implement in the future other than campaigns? Please be frank and let us know if you have any requests for our company.

Murakawa: Going forward, I’d like to post content that will build even deeper relationships with customers. I think we’ve created a foundation for delivering information through Instagram, so going forward I’d like to increase communication so that we can receive comments on our posts, and also plan campaigns that will increase even more UGC.

Orinas: We aim to increase awareness of your company, and ultimately we would like to engage in fan marketing to help more users settle in.

Murakawa: I believe your company can respond quickly, so I would like to consult with you again in the future.

Orinas: We hope to continue to support you. Thank you very much for today.

Finally…

Instagram was not originally a high priority within the company, but we are very pleased to hear that the results of the follow-up campaign we supported have led to an increase in positive responses from users and a gradual change in attitudes towards social media within the company.

In the future, we would like to further communicate with the users we connected with through the follow-up campaign and work together to create more fans of Ozeki.

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