Testimonial

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

This time, we interviewed Mr. Watanabe (hereafter referred to as "Watanabe"), Deputy General Manager of the Sales Promotion Department at Tomod's Corporation.

Tomod's Co., Ltd. is closely connected to the greater Tokyo area and operates stores rooted in the local community. Orinas supported Tomod's with YouTube video ads and Instagram ads with the goal of acquiring new members for their official Tomod's app. We spoke frankly about their thoughts behind the measures, which aimed to reach out to existing customers while also getting new customers to know about Tomod's, as well as the effects and results of the measures they implemented.

Official website: Tomod's Co., Ltd.
Official online shop: Tomod's ONLINE SHOP

Requesting Instagram and YouTube Ads Aimed at Young People – From Their Effectiveness

Orinas:

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

Watanabe:

Tomod's operates mainly as a drugstore with a pharmacy.

In October of last year, we opened "Tomod's Lab," where a registered dietitian is on-site to provide total support for customers' health. We aim to make our stores more convenient and easy to use for local customers by installing various professional measuring equipment for health checks, providing advice on health management to customers who take measurements, and providing nutritional counseling by the registered dietitian.

Orinas:

What kind of people make up your majority of customers?

Watanabe:

Most of our customers are housewives in their 40s and 50s and families. However, going forward, we would like to expand our target audience to include the younger generation of Generation Z, who we have not been able to actively approach.

In the drugstore industry as a whole, the customers tend to be older, as those who get sick and need medicine are inevitably older.

Some of our competitors are focusing on the younger generation by promoting cosmetics and other products, but Tomod's also wants to target this younger generation in the future. Therefore, this time we asked Orinas to implement effective measures using Instagram and YouTube, which are popular among this generation.

Orinas:

By the way, what role do you play in the Sales Promotion Department?

Watanabe:

In terms of analog tasks, I create flyers and in-store POPs to help attract customers to stores. In terms of social media, I'm in charge of a wide range of tasks, from LINE and Instagram to the website and e-commerce. Although my role is more of a behind-the-scenes one, I'm in a department that has touchpoints with customers outside of stores, so I think one of my missions is to increase the number of Tomod's fans.

Orinas:

How has your company approached social media up until now?

Watanabe:

We didn't have a social media platform, and we also lacked internal resources, so social media had been put on the back burner.

However, as voices began to rise saying, "We need to adopt new things that keep up with the times," other companies also began to take up the challenge, and there was a movement to try using social media. However, the headquarters staff is older, so it is difficult for them to understand what younger people want, and there are no staff members who are knowledgeable about social media. Therefore, we decided to leave it to professionals who are experts in social media, and this time we were introduced to Orinas.

Orinas:

As a company, there has been a big change in your thinking about proactively adopting new measures.

Watanabe:

Yes, I think that with the times, we need to broaden our horizons to include social media as an overall direction. Also, since the year before last, there has been a movement to get serious about focusing on DX, and a project to promote DX has been launched.

The Effectiveness of Instagram Ads and the Challenges of YouTube Ads

Orinas:

What are your honest thoughts about the numbers you actually obtained from this YouTube and Instagram advertising campaign?

Watanabe:

Until now, I thought it was difficult to see the cost-effectiveness of social media such as Instagram and YouTube, but we introduced a system within our official app that sends surveys to registered members, which has made it possible to see the cost-effectiveness of our measures to a certain extent.

This time, although the number of people who registered as members because of Instagram is not large, we found that it had the highest average purchase price among all the media for the PR measures we implemented in parallel. By age group, the largest number of people who registered as members through Instagram were in their 30s, accounting for over 30%. Although we wish we could attract more people in their 20s, it seems to be working as intended.

Orinas:

What do you think about the content and results of YouTube video ads?

Watanabe:

It was difficult because there were so many elements we wanted to include in the video that we couldn't convey them all well in 30 seconds. This was our first attempt, so I think next time we'll need to narrow down the target audience and make it more concise and easy to understand. Even if we're trying to convey the same thing, we need to be more creative in how we present it — that's what we're discussing internally.

Orinas:

Now that this initiative is complete, please tell us what you think about our company.

Watanabe:

There were some parts that really made me realize they were professionals. They taught us from scratch about areas that we weren't familiar with, such as how to present videos and the targeting settings when delivering ads, saying things like, "You should improve this part like this," so I feel like I want to continue working with Orinas on social media initiatives.

Orinas:

Finally, is there anything you would like to see us do in the future?

Watanabe:

As a drugstore industry, I would like to know what we can do and how much potential there is to acquire new customers and increase sales figures. I would be very grateful if you could give me some advice like, "You can use this and do this."

Orinas:

I understand. You said that you want to actively target Generation Z from now on, so I think there is potential for initiatives using TikTok, for example.

Watanabe:

Thank you. I don't have much knowledge about TikTok and haven't implemented any initiatives yet, so I'd like you to keep teaching me new things.

Orinas:

Promotions to Generation Z are one of our specialties, so we will continue to propose any good measures we come up with in the future! Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.

Finally

Due to internal organizational reasons, Tomod's has not been able to actively engage in social media initiatives until now, but we have heard their strong desire to disseminate information on social media to the next generation of young people and create new Tomod's fans. We hope to continue working with Tomod's to acquire new users.

In addition to managing social media accounts, Orinas also supports companies with optimal measures tailored to their challenges, such as social media advertising and influencer marketing. If you are a company that is having trouble with social media marketing, please feel free to contact us.