What is the Marketing Division? Interviewing beBit’s CCO Yasufumi Fujii
This year, the Japan region of beBit has been reorganized into three Divisions: the UXI (UX Intelligence) Business Division, Software Business Division, and Marketing Division.
For this installment, we interviewed Yasufumi Fujii, CCO (Chief Communication Officer) and Executive officer at beBit, about the newly established Marketing Division that he is leading!
He told us in detail about why this new team was established, and how this team will be positioned within the company.
ー Why was the Marketing Division established?
beBit offers a variety of services, including UX Design, UBS (UX & Business Strategy), UX Growth Ops including USERGRAM, and Omnisegment, but we felt that these services were not yet fully integrated with each other.
In particular, consulting services do not necessarily need to gain widespread recognition as the focus lies on winning repeat projects from recurring clients and the maximum number of projects that can be conducted is determined by the number of consultants we have. As a result, we have never put much emphasis on marketing to acquire projects. However, the Marketing Division was established in order to create an integrated movement for the entire range of services offered while also strengthening the marketing activities for consulting services such as UX Design and UBS as well. This means that beBit itself will focus more on our own marketing model, which I’ll talk more about later.
The activities that the Market Creation Office (MCO for short, the organization that reports directly to the CCO) had already been working on such as organizing speaking at events, media interviews, executive discussions, book publications, and event development, were originally intended for branding and market awareness rather than marketing the company’s services. However, there were examples of the MCO’s activities leading to consulting projects, and it also played a role similar to marketing for the UX Design team. In addition to this, the MCO has always valued the power of content, such as books, articles, and design, and has continually refined the quality of the content produced.
Consulting services tend to be expensive, so our content is only valuable if it resonates deeply with the user, has a solid logic or methodology, and has a sense of exclusivity that these stories cannot be heard anywhere else. Based on the hypothesis that the content capabilities developed by the MCO could be applied to marketing, the MCO members and UX Growth marketing members joined together to form the Marketing Division.
ー What was the most difficult part of establishing this organization?
Starting the organization itself wasn’t too difficult, but my schedule has become extremely jam packed. It’s been hard to find time to work on this! Now that I have responsibilities directly related to sales, I have to decide what work to focus on as I can’t just say “there wasn’t enough time”. At first, I definitely thought it was too much responsibility for me haha.
ー And yet, why did you decide to establish the organization anyways?
While I was able to support the Japan Region’s business through my work in Shanghai and the work the MCO does, I was never able to be involved in the meaningful decisions being made. Therefore, this was a great opportunity to integrate and manage the quality of content within the company. Thanks to the efforts of the MCO members, we have refined our content capabilities. I was very happy when Endo-san (CEO) and Nakajima-san (EVP) asked me to launch content driven marketing activities.
In addition, when trying to efficiently execute business processes, it is easy to limit the scope of UX growth to marketing and advertising, set KPIs that are easy to track, and execute activities that are easy to repeat. This leads even small organizations to become vertically divided. I also felt that this would also be a great opportunity to bring beBit’s own model closer to the UX Growth Model and provide a more unified experience for our customers.
ー What kind of issues will the Marketing Division work to solve?
Our team’s concept is to “put the UX Growth Model into practice”. In other words, the idea is to make the beBit customer journey one that deepens the relationship with customers rather than a product vertical journey.
Until recently, beBit has operated on a product-by-product basis, collaborating only when necessary, resulting in an After Digital like journey. For example, people who read our books and newsletters and attend our seminars end up utilizing our UX Growth and UX Design services as well. There was definitely a loose connection, but it was not something that was intentional. I hope to make those connections intentional. For example, sending out emails with more valuable information and inviting them to seminars where they can learn how they can utilize beBit in many ways.
We also recognize that it is the role of the Marketing Division to create loyal customers. This is exactly what the UX Growth Model is all about. If our team thinks only about our KPIs and projects, the growth model will not work. I hope we can always keep our customers’ success at the heart of everything we do. This is the most difficult part, but it is also what we have been telling the world is important, so we must be able to put it to practice ourselves.
― What do you want others to say about this organization?
Internally, I want everyone to be able to say “Thanks to the Marketing Division, I was able to become closer with my clients”. I hope that they will invite their clients to our events in order to build better relationships.
As a result, I would like for our customers to think of us as something like comrades. To get the market to believe in the power of UX, we need to talk about how UX can drive business results. But, even if that is where our relationship begins, I want them to find the information intellectually stimulating and wanting to learn more, or to think “Wow, their thought process is amazing!” If we’re able to have our clients feel this way, it will lead to better business results while providing interesting and valuable information as well.
― What kind of specific activities do you plan on conducting?
In simple terms, there will most likely be three types of activities: seminars, web content, and networking events.
Seminars
●Seminars directly related to beBit’s products
●Seminars that provide insight such as the UX Horror Story Trilogy
●Speaking at clients’ internal workshops and other external events
Web Content
●Articles
●White Papers
●Videos
●Emails/Newsletters
Networking Events
●Exclusive closed meetings and discussions
●Meetings you can consult with beBit at
●Events where customers can connect with each other
ー What new challenges would you like to take on?
I want to emphasize the importance of focusing on quality and creating great content.
For example, the quality and expression of the title may increase the number of seminar participants, and if the quality of the seminar content is great, people may bring their colleagues and teammates. I would like to improve the quality of content so that the content can lead to the next step.
I also want to try different approaches. For example, the UX Horror Story Trilogy. Firstly, the combination of UX and horror stories is very strange and unbusinesslike. Talking about Jujutsu-Kaisen in a newsletter is not very businesslike. Those who are truly interested in UX would be interested in how UX relates to seemingly unrelated things such as content and lifestyles outside of Japan, and would be curious to be told that they might be wrong. Of course, we will also continue to create content related to specific business operations that we have been focusing on, such as “how to put ●● into practice,” but we would like to use different approaches to make new individuals feel that “if it’s UX, it’s beBit.”
I also want to prove that breaking down vertical divisions with the customer’s success at the core is the best way to drive business results. While some say that “focusing on customer success” and “horizontal integration” is a pipe dream, I want to prove that this will deliver more results, ensure happier customers, and that businesses will be thriving.
ー A message to our employees
We’re going to create a lot of good content, so I want you to use what you can! I hope that you can tell your customers about our books, newsletters, events, discussions, and case studies while feeling that it can truly provide value to them.
We will keep continuing to engage our customers. We want all our employees to see our content, as you may receive messages from clients stating “The UX Horror Story event was great!” The content should be fun and educational for you as well!
ー Finally, a passionate word to the members of the Marketing Division
Getting to know our customers, solving problems, and providing value for them is a lot of fun. Work is more rewarding that way too. It would be amazing if we could prove that we can deliver results! It will be a bit of a struggle at first, but I hope to work together to make this happen. Let’s work together and believe that the future ahead is a bright one!