Press Conference PR leads to a successful establishment of Japan’s First Subscription Service Association.
Company Name: Japan Subscription Business Association
Industry: Industry Group
Description of Business: Increase awareness and adoption of subscription business across all industries
Interviewee: Mr. Yoshizawa, Secretariat of Japan Subscription Business Association (Executive Manager, Public Relations, Corporate Planning Office, TEMONA Co., Ltd.)
Interviewer: ShapeWin, Yusuke Kamimura
The Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association, which started in January 2019, is an industry promotion organization launched by six companies, including the top runner companies in the subscription business, with the aim of spreading the subscription business model widely among Japanese companies. In a PR campaign to gain recognition and membership for the association, a “press conference” was held, which was attended by more than 40 media outlets. The event succeeded in gaining exposure in a number of media, including major business media. In addition to media exposure, the press conference also contributed greatly to the promotion of new members. We asked the secret behind the success of the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association.
Photo: Mr. Yoshizawa (left), Mr. Makabe (right)
Making Subscription Business the Norm
ShapeWin Kamimura:
–Please tell us about the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association.
Mr. Yoshizawa (Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association):
This association was established in December 2018 by a group of companies that have been involved in the subscription business for a long time in Japan. The term “subscription” became popular in Japan about two years ago, but there are still many issues such as “how to start” and “how to introduce”, and the term is still ahead of others. We are working mainly on seminars and workshops with the aim of having companies of various industries and sizes in Japan recognize and adopt the subscription business model.
Kamimura：
–What kind of background did you have when you started the Promotion Association?
Yoshizawa:
I belong to Temona Corporation, and we are engaged in the business of providing and supporting services related to subscriptions, or so-called fixed-period sales (subscription store is our main service). Temona is a 12-year old company that started out as a contract developer of IT systems. In the contract business, you can’t help but feel happy and sad when you lose orders. In particular, when a company loses a contract with a major client, it is often heard that sales are cut in half but fixed costs remain the same.
Temona gradually switched to subscription (called “stock business” at that time) in its third year of business. If we suddenly switched to subscription, we would not be able to cover the initial fixed costs, so we increased our share of subscription sales while doing existing contract development.
The reason we launched the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association is based on our desire to give back to the subscription business model. By switching to the subscription business, Temona was also able to keep the company alive for more than 10 years and achieve continuous corporate growth. Thanks to your support, we were even able to be listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in April of this year (2019).
Mr. Kamimura:
–I wondered if it would be possible to spread subscriptions by developing business in TEMONA, but what was the reason for establishing the Promotion Association?
Yoshizawa：
Temona is also supporting the launch of subscription business, but there is a limit to how much we can spread it as a business. We decided that the best way to promote subscription business is to gather companies who are actually at the forefront of subscription business, share our experience and know-how, and boost business among member companies.
Mr. Kamimura:
–Normally, I think the purpose of an industry association is to receive joint orders or business matching, but what about the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association?
Yoshizawa:
I think the Japan Subscription Business Development Association is a little unique compared to other industry associations. Usually, people are in the same industry or in the same position, but in this association, people come from various industries and positions to participate in the association. The aim is to build a new business model, rather than just doing business within the association through joint orders and matching. The sharing of knowledge, such as case studies and know-how, is a feature of this group, and the excitement of the monthly study sessions is a reflection of this.
Kamimura:
–Thank you very much. Now, I would like to talk about public relations.
Public relations requires a “living media list”.
ShapeWin has been providing consulting support for Temona’s marketing efforts for several years now. We also assisted and supported the public relations activities in the establishment of the Japan Subscription Business Association.
Kamimura:
–We were contacted about launching the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association around the summer of last year (2018).
Yoshizawa:
This was the first business promotion group for Temona, so ShapeWin gave us a lot of ideas for marketing other groups and boosting the group itself.
Kamimura:
–We announced to the media that we would establish the Japan Subscription Business Association in January 2019, and participated in the project from around October 2018 to publicize and publicize it. Looking back on that time, what were some of the challenges you faced in terms of PR and public relations?
Yoshizawa：
We wanted to reach out to a variety of industries, so we positioned PR as an important tool. What became an issue for us was the fact that we did not have any media relations of our own. We had relationships with mail-order and health and beauty media, but in order to spread the subscription more widely, we needed to approach media with which Temona did not have relationships.
Kamimura:
–Building new relationships is quite difficult, and it’s not something that can be done in a few months. In such a case, it would certainly be faster to use a PR company that is strong in media relations.
Yoshizawa:
The Nikkei Shimbun and business magazines have lists of people they have interviewed in the past or exchanged business cards with at other meetings, but since we haven’t always been able to make contact with them, they are, so to speak, “dead lists. I’m glad I asked them to help me because I have a “living list”.
Mr. Kamimura:
–One of the differences between corporate PR and PR firms is that they can bring a variety of stories to you, so it is easier to maintain contact.
Creating a PR story is like a “’sparring exercise”
As a PR measure for the announcement of the establishment of Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association, we held a media conference (press conference, press conference), which is a PR method to convene the media and make an announcement in one place. In order to get people to come to the presentation, it is essential to create a PR story. We reflected on how to create a story.
Kamimura:
–Before we talk about creating a PR story, how was it working with ShapeWin to help with the PR for your presentation?
Yoshizawa:
I was very impressed with the way they treated me as an equal partner. I was originally from the marketing support company side, but I think the best thing about ShapeWin was that they didn’t feel like a subcontractor at all (laughs).
Yoshizawa：
We’re professionals in our own business, but we’re not professionals in public relations. I think it is very important to be able to work with a sense of distance that is comfortable for both parties. They worked with us on the strategy, but they also pointed out what we needed to think about and asked us questions from an outside perspective, which we really appreciated. Also, in terms of tactics (work), it was easy to proceed because they clearly divided the work areas and respected each other’s work areas.
Kamimura:
–Before we started, I remember that we talked about the fact that it was quite a difficult project. If two major corporations formed an association, the media would cover it regardless of the content, but this was not the case, so I thought it was important to create a PR story. The “idea” for the establishment of the organization was solid, so I thought it was necessary to solidify the social environment and theoretical armament.
Yoshizawa:
I was given a lot of homework on the PR story, and I had a lot of trouble with it. It was a lot like boxing sparring with Mr. Shape-Win (laughs).
Kamimura:
–People in the media study a lot, so if you have an easy or a generic story, they will immediately argue with you. So I made sure not to be a yes-man and dared to react harshly in order to obtain critical, detailed and media worthy information.
Yoshizawa:
I think that’s a good thing.
The objective opinions and media perspectives that ShapeWin gave helped me to create a strong story, and now I am able to use them in my interviews to better pitch to the media. The way ShapeWin taught me how to communicate with the media has helped me understand the characteristics and thoughts of the media. This has led to actual media exposure. This PR storytelling experience was invaluable and is still useful to me today.
The unique presentation had a powerful impact
Photo session at the press conference
Kamimura:
–The presentation was quite a success, how do you look back on it?
Yoshizawa:
We had a lot more media coverage than we initially expected. We were covered by 40 media outlets, including business and IT media. There were also more than 300 people from the general public who attended the event, and it was a great success.
Mr. Kamimura:
–This presentation was a little unique, I think. Usually, presentations are held separately for the media and the general public, but this time, the presentation (press conference) was held with the prospective member companies and the media sitting in the same place. What do you think of the results?
Mr. Yoshizawa:
I have produced several presentations myself, but this is certainly a method that is not done very often. However, the good thing about this method is that it works like a body blow later on.
Kamimura:
–What do you mean, like a body blow?
Yoshizawa:
When the general public saw more than 40 media covering the presentation in one place (especially the aggressive photo shooting at the photo session), it seemed to increase their satisfaction with the presentation and arouse their need to start doing something right now. Companies that did not join immediately after the presentation are now joining one after another as if they remembered.
Mr. Kamimura:
–There are probably very few people who have ever attended a media conference, so it must have been an overwhelming experience for them.
Yoshizawa:
Many companies want to join after reading the articles in the media that covered the presentation, so I think it was a great PR success.
Kamimura:
–It’s been a few months since the presentation, but it seems that there is still no end to the media coverage.
Yoshizawa:
Was the presentation, which had more than 100 general visitors, a highlight for the media as well?
Kamimura: Yes.
–After the presentation, I followed up with the media, and they gave us very high marks. Seeing the success of the presentation, there seemed to be an atmosphere that people would consult the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association for coverage and stories about subscriptions.
Mr. Yoshizawa:
I think it was a good decision not to separate the media and general session. I wondered what would happen at first, since the content for the media and content for the general public require different information, but ShapeWin was also able to help us organize the content for the presentation.
Kamimura:
–It was a lot of work, but when you put it that way, I’m glad we were able to implement it together.
A community of companies that really want to start a subscription
Regular meeting of the subscription promotion association
Kamimura：
–Please tell us about the future of the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association.
Yoshizawa:
I would like to create local chapters in the future. There are several member companies that find it difficult to go to the meeting every month if it is held only in Tokyo. I think we need to improve the situation where people are interested and want to participate, but cannot go due to geographical problems.
First of all, we are planning to establish a chapter in the Kyushu region, where the mail-order industry is thriving. Personally, I would like to expand from there to regional cities and make it a nationwide community.
Kamimura:
–What is the current status of your activities?
Yoshizawa:
We have monthly case study meetings with member companies, and now we are also active in subcommittees. For example, we have a meeting of SaaS model providers to discuss billing methods and promotion. All the members have a common theme of subscription, but their issues and objectives are different, so I think the role of the secretariat is to prepare for common recognition and matching of the upstream part.
Kamimura:
–Is there anything in particular that you don’t want people in this type of industry to participate in?
Yoshizawa:
I don’t think there is any industry (or company) that cannot do subscriptions. In that sense, I would like all industries to participate. Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association is not a place to come to study, but a place to build up business together with members.
Kamimura:
–You don’t have to make all of your business subscriptions, but you can gradually introduce subscriptions, right? Temona and other companies on the board of directors also have experiences of conversion from contract business, so I think it is very valuable for them to share their experiences with us.
If you are interested in the subscription business or want to try it, I would like you to open the door.
Thank you very much for your valuable story.
Yoshizawa：
Thank you very much.
Editorial Note
In recent years, it is said that it is difficult to invite the media to a press conference (press conference/media conference), but people often consider whether or not to hold such a conference in terms of cost effectiveness. In the past, many companies may have decided to hold a press conference for a new product or service, just to make sure they are on the right track. As is true for PR in general, the important thing is the story. While it is important to create a story as the content of the presentation, it is more important to create a marketing story on how to position the presentation and how to utilize it in subsequent marketing. For the Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association’s launch, the key to success was the communication design that considered the mutual influence of media and general companies.
The Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association also allows you to observe its activities before joining. For information on events and how to join, please visit the Association’s website.
Website: Japan Subscription Business Promotion Association
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