Allied Architects Supports Manda Fermentation's Hypothesis Verification for Youth Market Development with "Kaname.ax®" CEPs Listening® × N1 Interviews

Allied Architects Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Masato Muraoka; Securities Code: 6081; hereinafter "the Company"), which designs marketing communications with the power of data and creativity and supports corporate marketing AX, provided support to Manda Fermentation Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture; hereinafter "Manda Fermentation"), which operates businesses in a wide range of fields such as health foods, cosmetics, and agricultural materials with its unique fermentation technology. This support included the design and facilitation of CEPs Listening® (Category Entry Point Listening) and N1 interviews (*1) using the Company's data platform "Kaname.ax®". Through this initiative, we have contributed to visualizing Manda Fermentation's strategic challenges and its positioning in the inner care market, and building a foundation for strategic design based on customer voices. Service details page: https://service.aainc.co.jp/kaname-ax ■ Hypothesis unverified issue surfaced while aiming for youth market development Manda Fermentation has nurtured its brand for many years, primarily through offline advertising such as television, newspapers, and inserts for its flagship product "Manda Koso". However, its customer base is mainly in their 50s and 60s, and they felt challenged in new customer acquisition among younger generations in their 30s and 40s. Against this background, they launched a new product "MANDA CARE PLUS" for the inner care market and are seriously working on youth market development. In this context, they also engaged in SNS and influencer marketing as an approach to younger generations, but faced the challenge that while reach was achieved, it did not lead to conversions. Content viewing time was short, and many cases showed early abandonment after landing on the LP. They believed that to further improve the accuracy of their measures, it was necessary to back up their target and appeal hypotheses with data. ■ Choosing to understand customers and the market before implementing measures, CEPs Listening® × N1 interviews were conducted In response to this situation, Manda Fermentation decided to prioritize understanding the market and customers based on data before moving on to the next measures. The Company was chosen as a partner specializing in analyzing large volumes of SNS posting data to provide support. The Company first conducted CEPs Listening® using "Kaname.ax®" to collect and analyze real SNS posting data, thereby visualizing the overall trends in related markets such as inner care, fermented foods, and fermented supplements, as well as their relative positioning against competitors. Subsequently, we provided consistent support from the design of N1 interview questions to facilitation, thoroughly grasping the actual purchasing paths and expectations for products among regular purchasers and trial purchasers. ■ Data and customer voices backed up hypotheses, gaining grounds for the next strategy As a result of CEPs Listening®, the validity of the positioning of inner care × fermentation was confirmed by data. It was objectively shown that there was no significant discrepancy between the market direction set by Manda Fermentation and actual consumer needs, providing grounds for the next step. In addition, the fact that a certain number of mentions about taste, often overlooked in health foods, were observed, became a new insight unique to fermented foods. In N1 interviews, customer realities that could not be captured by hypotheses were revealed, such as a behavioral pattern where customers experienced enzyme drinks at an aesthetic salon, then searched for them themselves, and purchased after multiple ad exposures. ■ Client representative's comment "Through this initiative, it was a great achievement to confirm with data that the direction we have been pursuing is not out of sync with market needs. Also, the fact that customers' raw voices became a common language within the company and were naturally cited in discussions about measures is one of the points where we felt the effect of the survey. We believe that the insights gained this time can be fully utilized in future developments, and we intend to continue conducting surveys. We are re-convinced that maintaining an attitude of building strategies based on customer voices is the shortest path to correct marketing." (Mr. Saito, Direct Marketing Department, Manda Fermentation Co., Ltd.) CEPs Listening® is a service that analyzes customer voices from SNS UGC and e-commerce reviews incorporated into "Kaname.ax®" using proprietary AI technology (patent pending *2) to derive triggers for purchasing/using products and brands (CEPs: Category Entry Points). By analyzing consumers' actual experiences and impressions based on CEPs, it enables the discovery and evaluation of consumer insights and the formulation of more effective marketing strategies.