CREATING CONTENT THAT RESONATES WITH A TARGETED AUDIENCE
TOYO TIRE is a company that manufactures and sells tires for passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and other large vehicles. In particular, large-diameter tires for pickup trucks are very popular in North America.
Mr. Ryosei Morikuni, General Manager of the Brand Communication Department at the company, says, “I think that tires are a product category that is difficult to differentiate, except for core car enthusiasts. The frequency of tire replacement is about every three years, but after purchase, not many people are strongly aware of the brand name of the tires they have installed. In other words, I think they are a product category with low involvement.
For consumers, the three main factors that influence their decision to purchase tires are price, brand, and the recommendation of a salesperson. It is difficult to judge the difference in performance of tires by looking at them, and there are also almost no opportunities to actually try out tires. “For this reason, I think it is important to raise brand awareness, especially in terms of pure recall,” he says.
Tires are a product that everyone who owns a car will definitely purchase, and TV commercials are essential for achieving widespread recognition. At the same time, in order to communicate deeply with specific target groups and increase engagement, the company is also focusing on digital communication using web videos. This initiative, which began around 2014, involves creating video content centered around the company’s motor sports sponsorship activities, and distributing it on YouTube and Facebook. While distributing a large number of videos, the company has found that if the video resonates with the target audience, they will watch even long videos to the end. At present, the company produces 50 to 60 videos a year.
I WANT TO DISTRIBUTE ALL OF MY VIDEOS TO MY OWNED SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AT ONCE.
It’s only been a few months since we started using this system, but I can already feel that it has reduced the amount of work I have to do by about 30%. The stress on the production side has been greatly reduced, and we now have an environment in which we can easily use a single video in a variety of media.
Yoshiyuki Morikuni
General Manager, Brand Communication Department, Corporate Planning Division, TOYO TIRE & RUBBER CO.However, we soon encountered a problem. The amount of internal management work required to deliver our videos was increasing. When we first started using digital video for branding, it was enough to just post videos on YouTube. However, as the number of video contents gradually increased, the number of media that could effectively use video also increased, including owned media and social media. This was because we had been working to “aim for one content, multiple uses” (according to Mr. Morikuni), turning various communication activities into video content and using that video on multiple media. However, each time a video was posted, it took time to upload it and tasks such as embedding tags had to be done. The workload of the person in charge was increasing.
“For example, if you create a video report of an event, it will not be a one-off event, and you can expand the opportunity to experience the brand to people who did not participate in the event. Also, even if it is a single video, by creating different lengths and optimizing it for each medium, we think that the contact points will also expand. However, as the number of media posting that video content increased, the burden on the person in charge also increased.” (Same person)
In 2018, the company learned about Brightcove Video Cloud. They were attracted by the function that allows them to store videos in Brightcove Video Cloud and automatically distribute them to various social media with simple procedures by using Brightcove Social. They were also attracted by the fact that the video portal site, which was previously a static site, could be changed into a dynamic site by using Brightcove Gallery, and that the site could be automatically generated by linking it with Brightcove Video Cloud. Above all, they felt that the biggest attraction was that this would greatly reduce the workload of the person in charge.
“I feel like it has reduced the workload by about 30%.”
The new video platform went live in December 2018. By storing all video content in Brightcove Video Cloud, the video distribution work has been greatly streamlined. This is because it is now possible to manage the posting of videos to YouTube, owned media, and multiple SNS in one go.
Mr. Morikuni says, “It’s only been a few months since we started using it, but I can feel that it has reduced the workload by about 30%. Also, we no longer have to repeatedly log in to each social media site to check that we haven’t forgotten to press the publish button. The stress on the front line has been greatly reduced, and we now have an environment in which we can easily use a single video in a variety of media.”
The renewed video site “TOYO TIRES MOVIE” was designed so that videos can be updated simply by selecting whether to publish or unpublish them in Brightcove Video Cloud. The site, which uses a grid layout and allows users to access videos through an interface that is easy to understand and easy to see, uses a template from Brightcove Gallery.
The company has a security policy in place that prevents YouTube from being viewed within the company. However, sales representatives sometimes discuss videos with customers, and the company also wants its internal employees to see its brand content. With the start of operations using Brightcove Video Cloud, employees can now freely watch videos from the company’s internal network, and this has also had the effect of internal branding. In addition, because there are no advertisements displayed in the videos shown on the company’s website, this also helps to protect the brand.
The company plans to continue to expand its video content to attract more fans and create fans of the brand.
