Two brothers helped transform the family business that was struggling into the world's most recognized brand
As young kids, Kuni and Tomo Hijikata realized that their family-owned business was one worth fighting for. The company was established by the Hijikata family in Nagoya, Japan back in 1936 The Hijikata family's foundry for casting iron was famous for its precision. At the start of the aughts its future uncertain. As the heirs of the long-standing business, Kuni and Tomo knew they had a responsibility to ensure that their cast iron casting craft.
In the early days when both brothers worked at Toyota in Japan. Toyota Tsusho but they were able to create cast iron cookware that would be passed down through generations. So, the brothers quit their full-time jobs to go completely focused on the preservation of the family-owned business. They were trained at the lowest levels of the foundry as artisans before, around 2010, Vermicular was beginning to develop. Their first iron cast went on the market, it sold so fast that they needed to make an additional 15 months of backorders, fuelled mostly by the enthusiastic word of mouth.
A decade later, Vermicular is now a decade old. Vermicular team is aiming for expanding globally, and is currently selling their products to the U.S., China, and even beyond. To better communicate the advantages of their cooking equipment to markets outside of the U.S. which are not yet accessible, Vermicular has invested heavily into the production of video to promote their products. "Without these videos, we'd be difficult time expanding our operations," says Mark Hayashi, Vermicular's Head of the U.S. Office. We spoke to Kuni, Tomo, and Mark to gain a greater understanding of Vermicular's approach to growing internationally through video. Take a look at their video as well as read the entire interview here.
"We often consider the videos we produce as serving as part of the brand and products. Video has always been more effective when compared to writing. This is particularly true in the realm of cooking." Mark Hayashi, Vermicular's Head of U.S. Office
What made you develop this idea?
Tomo: "I thought that we could utilize our expertise in casting iron to make enameled cast iron pots which come with lids that are perfectly sized. There was however no precedent for this method in Japan. We knew that we'd have to develop it on our own.
To learn everything that was possible, Kuni and I took a seat on the ground of the foundry. Kuni was a skilled casting crafter and I became an exact machine operator. It took us three years and 10,000 times , before we could come up with an idea that was able to meet our objectives."
Was the procedure to create your own brand name in Japan?
Mark: "Brand storytelling has always been at the core of our marketing and communication strategies. The telling of stories about our distinctive tradition and dedication to quality was a hit with our clients and allowed us to reach out to the public at a higher level.
We started by brainstorming ideas for videos around the purpose of our company. When we create a story about our brand video or instructional videos, we make sure the contents represent who we are. When we first started we didn't focus excessively on the short-term sale rather, we focused on increasing the client's satisfaction from a longer-term standpoint."
What's been the biggest hurdle in building the Vermicular brand beyond Japan?
Mark: "Our biggest challenge was the barriers to communication. When we started Vermicular in 2010 we've faced a number of issues. The Vermicular brand was launched in 2010. We've developed a strong brand identity throughout Japan however, none of it was transferred to outside Japan. What we were able to do was start creating the Vermicular brand by hand. This was quite a challenge and demanded lengthy preparatory work."
What was the very first location you made an investment to create your international brand?
Your content that you've created for your company is beautiful. What was the procedure that has led to this degree of excellence?
Mark: "We collaborated with an branding agency for the video for branding and we was able to spend a significant amount of time deliberating on the style and feel of the lighting as well as the casting, food styling and clothing. Additionally, we took an extended time going in tandem to create video storyboards. They were an essential part of the project including the shoot days.
There are so many individuals involved during the shooting, there are often unexpected setbacks that lead to delay in the onset. Making a well-constructed storyboard with detailed shoot plans will help establish expectations and help guide all who are involved in the production to take the same path. Our storyboards not only provide an outline of the shoot but also helped us avoid post-production woes. This is essential for small-scale companies with limited resources."
What are you doing with your earnings so that you can continue to expand?
Mark: "Our hypothesis was the creation of a product-related video with a series of how-to videos to enable our customers to take advantage of all the benefits of an induction cooker. In our mission, our aim doesn't stop when our customers make an order for our cooking equipment.
It is our goal to make sure that our customers enjoy cooking with the Vermicular cookware to the maximum extent is. It is clear that there are benefits to these instructional videos as they aid in the education of cookware owners and also assist shoppers have a better knowledge of the functions of the cooker."
Did video aid in naming Vermicular around the globe?
Mark: "Definitely! There's a lot. Videos are extensions of our brand as well as our product. Although we may not have the largest money, but we do have a lot of time to decide on the tone and style of the videos that can be most effective in telling our story. Visuals always work better over the written word which is particularly true in the field of cooking."
HTML0 What's the motivation why we use to host and embed your videos?
Mark: "We prefer for various reasons, the primary one being the customizable capabilities to include videos. The clutter-free and ad-free experience ensures seamless user experiences across the site and safeguards your brand's "touch and feel' our brand.
This also lets us communicate drafts with our teams located in Japan and the U.S. and Japan, so it's easy to get feedback, even though we're 5,000 miles away."
What's next that should be next for Vermicular?
Kuni: "More exciting products are being developed and we'll soon be expanding our range of offerings across each of and across the U.S. and across various Asian nations."
Mark: "We are currently developing our video content strategy that ranges from branded videos with various producers and chefs, to explainer videos and instructional videos that will grow into important assets for us over the coming years."
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