[Beyond the 20th Anniversary Milestone, Towards the Next 20 Years] Joycal Japan Co-creates Autumn Campaign Strategy with Gen Z Student Team

Joycal Japan Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Yukio Hayakawa; hereinafter: Joycal Japan), in collaboration with "BloomUP! Lab (B-Lab)," a practical program where students and companies work together to solve problems, held a Presentation Day on Saturday, March 28, 2026. Student teams selected from prestigious universities across Japan conducted intensive short-term research over three weeks and presented their planning and recognition strategies for a campaign scheduled for autumn 2026, the year after the company's 20th anniversary milestone. This campaign aims to raise awareness among end-users through affiliated maintenance factories nationwide and create new encounters with cars through company-wide sales promotion and awareness measures. Both participating teams received an "A" rating, indicating their proposals had commercialization value, and each team was awarded a prize of 250,000 yen. The proposals from both teams will be considered for implementation in the autumn campaign, scheduled to run from September 1 to November 10, 2026. ■ Background of the Event Joycal Japan has built a franchise chain with automobile maintenance factories and car dealerships nationwide. Under a BtoBtoC model that delivers value to end-users through its加盟店 (affiliated stores), the company has developed a variety of automotive services, including car leasing, vehicle inspection support, and supply chain management, celebrating its 20th anniversary in December 2025. Now, having passed this milestone, designing a large-scale autumn campaign is a crucial theme to further accelerate its vision for the next 10 years: "More freedom in the relationship with cars. Making 'choice' a given for people." The autumn campaign is one of the main awareness and sales promotion measures implemented throughout the year, and it was required to be designed to naturally engage the next generation, including "young people in rural areas," while further deepening relationships with existing key customers. To embody its values—"Lighten the first step, accelerate the challenge. Listen to true feelings, unravel the essence"—Joycal utilized the B-Lab program to incorporate "the unvarnished actions and values of young people" into its strategy. Eight business-minded students from universities such as the University of Tokyo, Keio University, Waseda University, Hitotsubashi University, International Christian University, Tokyo University of Science, University of Tsukuba, Niigata University, Musashi University, and Teikyo University were divided into two teams and undertook thorough research and proposed implementable solutions. ■ Program Outline Organizers: Joycal Japan Co., Ltd., BloomUP! Lab (B-Lab) Theme: Planning and Recognition Strategy for the 2026 Autumn Campaign Period: March 8, 2026 (Orientation) – March 28, 2026 (Presentation Day) Participating Students: 10 students selected from 10 universities nationwide (composed of two teams: "Mokaru Japan" and "Percy") Evaluators: Representative Hayakawa and responsible executives of Joycal Japan Co., Ltd. Mentors: Mr. Masaki Arakawa, Representative Director of AHGS Co., Ltd. / Mr. Kuniaki Ozaki, Representative Director of GA Partners Co., Ltd. ■ Highlights of the Presentations Both teams, "Mokaru Japan" and "Percy," made concrete proposals based on a deep understanding of Joycal Japan's business structure (BtoBtoC), from the following perspectives: * Organizing and articulating challenges of existing campaigns * Campaign planning leveraging 20 years of achievements and trust (period, benefits, participation conditions) * Media and channel strategies leading to awareness → understanding → action * Design to naturally engage young people in rural areas with existing targets ■ Comments on this Event (Mr. A) I was pointed out that my logical thinking was too biased, and I was missing the perspective of the field and customers. From there, the team rebuilt, thoroughly conducted interviews, continuously pursued numbers, and the greatest achievement was being able to work together as one until the end. I never thought I could gain so much in three weeks. (Mr. B) Until now, I had only experienced that most things would go well if I put in the effort, but this time, for the first time, I directly hit a wall where things didn't go as expected. Through that experience, I deeply realized my immaturity and naive way of thinking, and at the same time, I learned the difficulty and importance of team building. I want to use this early experience as nourishment for the future. (Mr. C) I continued to grapple with the difficulty of the BtoBtoC business model until the very end. To grasp the reality of the affiliated stores, I painstakingly read every review and registered for all official LINE accounts. Through such gritty work, my conviction for the proposal finally solidified. This experience of thinking so deeply in an environment close to actual work was unprecedented. This time, we learned many ideas and perspectives from the students that we alone could not have reached. Both plans had a very high degree of completion for each individual part, and there were also parts of the story that made us groan in admiration. That is why I do not intend to decide the winner or loser here today. I believe the true winner will be decided when the results of this autumn's campaign are in. How each plan is reflected and what results it produces—that is the real challenge. For the teams that want to win, please accompany us until autumn. I want to achieve true victory together with all of you who have poured your passion and time into this. Thank you very much for taking so much time and pouring your passion into this. ■ Evaluation Results On Presentation Day, a performance-based evaluation was conducted by Hayakawa and three other responsible executives of Joycal Japan. The evaluation criteria were five items (10 points each): ① Depth of business understanding, ② Specificity and feasibility of campaign planning, ③ Appropriateness and consistency of awareness channels, ④ Value creation for existing targets, and ⑤ Utilization of a youth perspective. The judging was conducted under a performance-linked reward system. As a result, both teams, "Mokaru Japan" and "Percy," received an "A" rating, and each team was awarded a prize of 250,000 yen. While both proposals were highly unique and attractive and deemed desirable for the company to adopt, it was determined that further scrutiny was needed for the specific operational design for implementation. Furthermore, the proposals from both teams were equally strong, and the final decision on superiority was left to "the results of actual campaign implementation." ■ Future Outlook Joycal Japan plans to actively incorporate these student proposals into the planning of the 2026 autumn campaign (scheduled to run from September 1 to November 10, 2026). The aim is to appeal to new customer segments that previous campaigns had not sufficiently reached, using the ideas of the younger generation, to create opportunities for business negotiations, and to encourage the action of switching cars. On Presentation Day, Hayakawa expressed his expectation to the participating students to "continuously be involved in the execution of the autumn campaign and create results together," indicating that the proposals are not merely presentations but will connect to the implementation phase. "Everyone can [ ] a car."—As the new slogan for 2030 suggests, a strategy that combines the sensibilities of the next generation with existing trust is indispensable to make the relationship with cars freer and to expand choices as a matter of course. Through initiatives of "co-creation with young people," Joycal will steadily promote the enhancement of brand value for all affiliated stores and the creation of new touchpoints with next-generation customers, including young people in local communities.