Exploring New Territories

It is a well-known fact that the base technology of the Internet was developed as a military technology in the United States. The e-commerce market is expanding every year. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the BtoC e-commerce market size was 17.984 trillion yen in 2018, growing 8.96% over the previous year.

Under such circumstances, companies that have been engaged in BtoB business are now beginning to expand their business to BtoC by utilizing e-commerce. Examples of BtoB-based BtoC businesses include medical intravenous solutions for efficient intake of fluids and nutrients. Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s Pocari Sweat, which developed a soft drink based on its expertise in intravenous solutions for medical use that enable efficient intake of water and nutrition, and Fujifilm’s Astalift cosmetics, which uses advanced technology cultivated through years of development of photographic and X-ray films, are two examples of BtoB-based BtoC businesses. Since there was no sales channel for Astalift, it was launched through e-commerce in 2007, and a year later, when the product went on sale in stores, a TV commercial featuring Seiko Matsuda and Miyuki Nakajima, two big names in the Japanese music world, was aired.

The commercials were aired in the same way as the original ones: “The way you choose cosmetics will change. Many people were shocked to see the copy “Fujifilm’s skincare cosmetics” and wondered “Why is Fujifilm making cosmetics? Many people must have been shocked. However, now that people understand how Fujifilm’s superior nano technology allows particles to penetrate and cleanse the skin, the company has grown to become a staple brand of high-quality anti-aging cosmetics. Today, photographic film has long since disappeared from daily life. While the company’s relationship with consumers has been fading, Fujifilm has succeeded in establishing a new business axis in cosmetics while at the same time strongly promoting the company’s advanced technological capabilities and presence. In Japan, where there are many BtoB companies with superior technologies, which company and which brand will surprise consumers next?

In-flight meals are indispensable for comfortable air travel. Company A, which BRAVIS supported this time, is a catering company of a major airline that provides high-quality in-flight meals by creating dishes with a dedicated first-class chef. The company was planning to launch a new food brand to be sold to the general public and to make a full-fledged entry into the B-to-C business, taking advantage of the skills and know-how of Company A, which has been making delicious food. Braavis was selected as the branding partner.

Company A already had a small portfolio of food brands that were being sold in the B-to-C market. Braavis held a series of discussions with Company A about the ideal brand structure, simulating the relationship between existing brands and new business brands. As a result, it was decided to create a new master brand to replace the existing brand, and to place the existing and new business products under the new master brand.

The project involved helping to create a brand identity for the master brand and the product brand. We held several workshops to elicit participants’ opinions on the uniqueness of Company A and their desires for the new brand, and extracted the elements that should be incorporated into the new brand. The weapon derived from this process was the idea that “Company A can provide delicious food from every corner of Japan, which it knows only because it flies around the country by airplane. Based on this idea, we defined the concepts for the master brand and product brand, and developed the naming, catch copy, brand logo, product packaging for existing and new businesses, sales promotion tools, and even web pages in a unified manner. The brand logo and packaging were designed to convey a sense of first-class quality in every detail, so that consumers would perceive the brand as a special brand of a first-class restaurant in the world’s most expensive place, so to speak, served in the first class of airplanes, rather than a brand of an ordinary food manufacturer. The thoughts of the people in charge and many employees are present in the foundation of the expression, so the brand is a strong reflection of Company A’s character everywhere.

The launch of the new brand attracted a lot of attention, and the company set a big goal of increasing sales by about 10 times compared to the existing business. In addition to stores and e-commerce sites within the group, plans are in place to sell the brand on external e-commerce sites and in department stores. A high-grade brand has been created that allows customers to enjoy delicious food from all over Japan and the richness of first class at the same time, all from the comfort of their own home.