2021 AIC x Otsuka Pharmaceutical Workshop Activity Report

2021/10/25

Keio AIC collaborated with Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. and Otsuka Foods Co., Ltd. to hold a four-week workshop titled “Market Analysis Planning through Visual Thinking” from September 8 to September 29, 2021.

The workshop focused on understanding and using visual thinking, with the goal of developing a solid plan before analyzing data. Participants learned about visual thinking from employees of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. and Otsuka Foods Co., Ltd. Each group then developed a market analysis plan using the visual thinking techniques they had learned and presented the results.

The contest was held as a team competition, with 20 participants divided into four teams, each working on a market analysis project for a specific product and region. Initially, some of the participants were unfamiliar with the concept of visual thinking, but with the help of the employees and after some discussions among the teams, their understanding of it deepened and they became more proficient in its use.
 

<During the Contest>

At the presentation session, each group presented the results of their market analysis project. They then received feedback and advice from Otsuka Foods Co., Ltd. employees who are in charge of actual product development. The students were able to gain a better understanding of the market and a better perspective through the employees’ astute points and well-thought-out advice that took various factors into consideration.

The results of the contest and details of the participating teams are as follows.

Contest Results

Winner: Team D

Master’s program first year (Undergraduate fifth year student) Faculty of Pharmacy (Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences) Hiromu Sugiyama

Master’s program second year (Undergraduate sixth year student) Graduate School of Health Management, Emi Hiraga

Master’s program second year (Undergraduate sixth year student) Graduate School of Health Management, Akane Kajita

Master’s program second year (Undergraduate sixth year student) Faculty of Science and Technology (Graduate School of Science and Technology) Ryusuke Saito

Market analysis conducted: The goal was to promote Otsuka Foods Co., Ltd.’s zero-meat products based on three factors: the Otsuka Group’s belief in the challenge of pursuing new values, addressing current environmental issues, and expanding the vegetarian market. The areas and age groups targeted for promotional campaigns, and sales promotion strategies based on local surveys were identified as issues to be addressed.

Evaluation: The way the results were presented was good. The presentation touched on Otsuka’s vision and significance, and the story of Otsuka Foods’ mission was engaging.

We were glad you mentioned the philosophy and goal of Otsuka Foods. It would be better if you had proceeded with a regional analysis on veganism.

Team A

Undergraduate first year student, Faculty of Economics (Graduate School of Economics), Rintaro Hiramatsu

Undergraduate first year student, Faculty of Economics (Graduate School of Economics), Go Okuno

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Soya Nakayama

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Takuma Nobutoh

Undergraduate first year student, Faculty of Policy Management, Hiroshi Koyama

Market analysis conducted: The goal is to make everyday Japanese food readily available to people overseas. France was chosen as the target region based on its GDP and the prevalence of retort pouch foods. Finally, milestones were set for the new retort pouch food market planning based on a comprehensive consideration of economic, cultural, and technological issues.

Evaluation: It is good that the use of retort pouch foods in France is high. If you had provided a reason to believe (or hypothesis) that Japanese food could easily penetrate the French food culture, your presentation would have been more convincing.

Team B

Undergraduate first year student, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Yuuki Ichida

Undergraduate first year student, Faculty of Economics (Graduate School of Economics), Kento Yanai

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Science and Technology (Graduate School of Science and Technology) Takahiro Takahashi

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Science and Technology (Graduate School of Science and Technology) Keisuke Ooki

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Tatsuya Furukawa

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Policy Management, Koaki Shimizu

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Science and Technology (Graduate School of Science and Technology) Kanato Takeuchi

Market analysis conducted: We came up with a marketing plan to sell a brand of long-grain rice, called Mannan Hikari, in the Chinese market. We investigated the feasibility of the Chinese market using not just hypotheses, but official data from international agencies. We established milestones by conducting regional and food surveys, narrowing our target consumer group, while bearing in mind the issues faced by both buyers and sellers.

Evaluation: Good job researching the background data and statistics. It was valuable to see both the individual consumer’s viewpoint (micro viewpoint) and the statistical viewpoint (macro viewpoint). The workshop examined a wide range of issues, such as the shape of containers, which we thought was interesting. It was also good that the characteristics of the products discussed as the subject of your market analysis were thoroughly investigated.

Team C

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Business and Commerce (Graduate School of Business and Commerce ) Ei Kurakami

Undergraduate second year student, Faculty of Policy Management, Yumeto Yamakawa

Undergraduate third year student, Faculty of Science and Technology (Graduate School of Science and Technology) Yurie Hirata

Market analysis conducted: The goal was to use Bon Curry’s retort pouch technology to popularize the food culture in ASEAN countries, where it can be enjoyed easily and deliciously. As a preparatory step to achieve this goal, we decided to expand the project to Malaysia for six months and collect data. The issues were the possibility that the data from the local consultants could not be interpreted correctly, and whether actual conditions that could not be found from theoretical data could be captured.

Evaluation: The reasons for choosing Malaysia for its spice consumption were clearly stated and easy to understand. It would be better if you could focus on the detailed characteristics of each ethnic group residing in Malaysia.

Participants’ Comments:

I learned a lot about visual thinking in a practical way. I feel that the learning would have been enhanced if I could have received more feedback, etc., because there was a lot of output. When I posed questions to the representative from Otsuka Foods, I was glad that they responded sincerely.

I was able to learn the business skills necessary for data science!

I was able to gain experience in planning that I would not have been able to otherwise as a student, and it was a great learning experience.

I learned a lot because even though I usually do individual analysis to solve questions. Prior to this, I did not have much experience in drawing the overall picture, which is to put in motion a series of analysis to solve a problem.

After the presentation session, a group photo was taken with all the participants in the award ceremony, including employees from Otsuka Foods, Keio AIC staff, and students.

For the participating students, using visual thinking to identify issues and plan analysis from a larger perspective was a valuable experience. Since planning data analysis is a very important first step in data science work, we hope that the experience of this workshop will be leveraged by the participants in their research and other activities.

In the future, real-life market analysis will be conducted that will be based on this event. Interested students will also participate in this project.

Thank you to everyone who planned and managed the contest, and to all the participants who participated in the contest until the end while balancing their studies!

The winning team of the contest received the first prize, and the participants were also sent a participation prize at a later date.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Takuya Okamoto, Makoto Sano,  Toshinori Mikami, Hitomi Kawaguchi, Tatsuya Minami and many others at Otsuka Holdings Co. for their tremendous support.

Keio AIC Coordinators

Takahiro Yakoh, Shigeki Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Ito, Hizuru Igawa, Mayuko Takesako

Student Administrators

Hiroaki Okuma, Chu-Wen Shi, Mikinao Tsugawa, Moemi Kashiwagi, Reiko Takagi