Online Seminar on Creating Strong Product Concepts and Criteria for Research & Planning to Mobilize Stakeholders, Held May 21 - Marketing Research Association Inc.
Marketing Research Association Inc. will hold an online seminar on May 21, 2026, targeting product planners and marketers. Yasushi Maruyama, a former marketer at Lion Corporation, will explain practical methods for creating concepts that gain consumer sympathy and leveraging research to persuade internal stakeholders.
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Held on May 21, 2026: Creating Product Concepts and Criteria for Research & Planning
An instructor with 28 years of practical marketing experience at a major daily consumer goods manufacturer (Lion) and 12 years of subsequent practical research at a university will explain content directly linked to practice, focusing on the theme of 'Product Planning'.
Seminar Highlights
1. How to advance product planning that 'moves people'
Good product planning requires not only making consumers think 'I want to buy/use it' but also convincing upper management, sales, and business partners to take action. The key to this is gaining 'sympathy'. The interestingness of an idea alone is insufficient; a logical development and structure are required. This will be explained with specific examples.
2. Unwavering decision criteria and how to proceed with research
Responding to the on-site concerns of 'ambiguous criteria' and 'decision axes changing every time, making verification impossible', we will share how to utilize research to smoothly advance decision-making based on actual examples of establishing criteria at major manufacturers.
See Details
Instructor: Yasushi Maruyama
Representative, Office Maru.
Practical marketing experience at daily consumer goods manufacturer LION: 28 years
Educational and research experience as Professor at Prefectural University of Kumamoto: 12 years
Approaching marketing from both practice and theory: 28 years of development & marketing practice in a company and 12 years of theoretical research on marketing and management at a university. After graduating from Tokyo Institute of Technology Graduate School (Science and Engineering) in 1985, he joined Lion Corporation. After working in the R&D laboratory for 5 years, he transferred to marketing, holding positions such as market research, product planning, brand manager, and division director. Professor at the Faculty of Administrative Studies, Prefectural University of Kumamoto since 2013. Retired in March 2025. During that time, he conducted many seminars and courses related to marketing and human resource development for companies and organizations. Established Marketing Workshop Office Maru. in 2025.
Seminar Program:
1. Common phenomena and causes when product planning stalls
1) Lacking confidence in the focused idea; it doesn't resonate with consumers.
2) Difficulty gaining understanding and support from internal and external stakeholders; inability to persuade.
3) [Wall 1] Inability to create a strong product concept that evokes consumer sympathy and motivation.
4) [Wall 2] Internal decision-making doesn't go well; research isn't used effectively.
2. Moving 'Consumers'! How to create strong product concepts driven by sympathy and ideas
1) Product concepts require a scenario that moves people (the target).
* Understand through examples: The format and content of product concepts.
2) 5 points that must be included in a concept:
1 Target 2 Insight 3 RTB (Reason To Believe) 4 Benefit 5 Category from the consumer's perspective
3) Points for 'insight (into consumers)' to move people with RTB.
4) The point of the story is 'sympathy information'.
- People move through sympathy -
3. Moving 'Internal and External' smoothly! Design and utilization of research
1) Uncover consumers' masked needs (hidden needs) and lifestyle sympathy.
- Discover mental models through thorough observation-based lifestyle research.
2) Gain internal and external understanding not through ideas, but through its story & logic.
- Accumulating 'circumstantial evidence' through research strengthens the story and logic.
3) C (Concept) / P (Performance) testing for evidence-based implementation.
- Leveraging internal experience and knowledge for higher probability judgments.
4. About product planning cycles and process design to increase success probability
1) Decision-making flow and research systems to manage product planning.
2) * Actual examples: Introduction of product development systems (brand management & research systems).
- Improving decision-making accuracy and increasing organizational success probability.
[Reference] Common concerns and countermeasures in product planning research.
1 How to set the 'n' number?
2 Setting reference values for judgment.
3 Ordering from research companies.
Event Outline:
Date & Time: Thursday, May 21, 2026, 13:00-17:00 *A limited-time archive viewing is available.
Format: Online Seminar
Tuition Fee: 33,000 JPY per person (tax included)
See Details
Marketing Research Association
[Organizer]
Marketing Research Association Inc.
Since its establishment in 1960, the Marketing Research Association has centered its efforts on human resource and organizational development with a marketing orientation, and creating mechanisms to consistently be chosen by customers, primarily across four domains: 'Marketing Support', 'BtoC Sales Power Enhancement', 'Store Sales Power Enhancement', and 'BtoB Sales Power Enhancement', through public seminars and in-company training.
An instructor with 28 years of practical marketing experience at a major daily consumer goods manufacturer (Lion) and 12 years of subsequent practical research at a university will explain content directly linked to practice, focusing on the theme of 'Product Planning'.
Seminar Highlights
1. How to advance product planning that 'moves people'
Good product planning requires not only making consumers think 'I want to buy/use it' but also convincing upper management, sales, and business partners to take action. The key to this is gaining 'sympathy'. The interestingness of an idea alone is insufficient; a logical development and structure are required. This will be explained with specific examples.
2. Unwavering decision criteria and how to proceed with research
Responding to the on-site concerns of 'ambiguous criteria' and 'decision axes changing every time, making verification impossible', we will share how to utilize research to smoothly advance decision-making based on actual examples of establishing criteria at major manufacturers.
See Details
Instructor: Yasushi Maruyama
Representative, Office Maru.
Practical marketing experience at daily consumer goods manufacturer LION: 28 years
Educational and research experience as Professor at Prefectural University of Kumamoto: 12 years
Approaching marketing from both practice and theory: 28 years of development & marketing practice in a company and 12 years of theoretical research on marketing and management at a university. After graduating from Tokyo Institute of Technology Graduate School (Science and Engineering) in 1985, he joined Lion Corporation. After working in the R&D laboratory for 5 years, he transferred to marketing, holding positions such as market research, product planning, brand manager, and division director. Professor at the Faculty of Administrative Studies, Prefectural University of Kumamoto since 2013. Retired in March 2025. During that time, he conducted many seminars and courses related to marketing and human resource development for companies and organizations. Established Marketing Workshop Office Maru. in 2025.
Seminar Program:
1. Common phenomena and causes when product planning stalls
1) Lacking confidence in the focused idea; it doesn't resonate with consumers.
2) Difficulty gaining understanding and support from internal and external stakeholders; inability to persuade.
3) [Wall 1] Inability to create a strong product concept that evokes consumer sympathy and motivation.
4) [Wall 2] Internal decision-making doesn't go well; research isn't used effectively.
2. Moving 'Consumers'! How to create strong product concepts driven by sympathy and ideas
1) Product concepts require a scenario that moves people (the target).
* Understand through examples: The format and content of product concepts.
2) 5 points that must be included in a concept:
1 Target 2 Insight 3 RTB (Reason To Believe) 4 Benefit 5 Category from the consumer's perspective
3) Points for 'insight (into consumers)' to move people with RTB.
4) The point of the story is 'sympathy information'.
- People move through sympathy -
3. Moving 'Internal and External' smoothly! Design and utilization of research
1) Uncover consumers' masked needs (hidden needs) and lifestyle sympathy.
- Discover mental models through thorough observation-based lifestyle research.
2) Gain internal and external understanding not through ideas, but through its story & logic.
- Accumulating 'circumstantial evidence' through research strengthens the story and logic.
3) C (Concept) / P (Performance) testing for evidence-based implementation.
- Leveraging internal experience and knowledge for higher probability judgments.
4. About product planning cycles and process design to increase success probability
1) Decision-making flow and research systems to manage product planning.
2) * Actual examples: Introduction of product development systems (brand management & research systems).
- Improving decision-making accuracy and increasing organizational success probability.
[Reference] Common concerns and countermeasures in product planning research.
1 How to set the 'n' number?
2 Setting reference values for judgment.
3 Ordering from research companies.
Event Outline:
Date & Time: Thursday, May 21, 2026, 13:00-17:00 *A limited-time archive viewing is available.
Format: Online Seminar
Tuition Fee: 33,000 JPY per person (tax included)
See Details
Marketing Research Association
[Organizer]
Marketing Research Association Inc.
Since its establishment in 1960, the Marketing Research Association has centered its efforts on human resource and organizational development with a marketing orientation, and creating mechanisms to consistently be chosen by customers, primarily across four domains: 'Marketing Support', 'BtoC Sales Power Enhancement', 'Store Sales Power Enhancement', and 'BtoB Sales Power Enhancement', through public seminars and in-company training.