THE CHALLENGE
Shirohato, a leading Japanese manufacturer of face mask products, wanted to expand into Western markets and kickstart a global growth journey. In order to do so, Shirohato recognised that they needed to devise a customer strategy that was relevant to Western markets.
THE APPROACH
Mapping Emerging Opportunities Through a Comprehensive Market Scan.
The Strategy Group used Design Thinking methodologies to conduct research into Australian mask-wearing beliefs and habits. Various research methodologies were used – from face-to-face interviews and encouraging interviewees to keep a ‘journal’ of their experiences to conducting street observations and ‘vox pox’ interviews.
The purpose of the research was to identify insights relating to face masks in the Australian market and to see if we could uncover personas of both users and non-users. The Insights and Personas then helped formulate customer value propositions; how exactly would Shirohato appeal to the different market segments in Australia. Along with the customer value proposition, The Strategy Group helped build business models that would bring to life how the business would act on the identified customer value propositions. This helped Shirohato understand the different customer channels, key activities, resources, costs and revenue model that need to be executed in order to be successful.
OUTCOMES
Formulating a Customer Strategy for Global Expansion.
From the research, The Strategy Group identified various insights relating to face masks in the context of the Australian market. Along with these insights, we also identified five distinct personas of users and non-users of face masks.
In conjunction with Shirohato, we developed three business models that gave them the opportunity to enter the Australian market. The outcome of this phase will deliver a validated customer strategy that Shirohato will be able to execute, kickstarting their global expansion of their business.
