NEC Corporation began holding online events and webinars in response to the spread of the new coronavirus. It has been over two years since they first held an online event. In that time, they have set up their own in-house studio and put in place a system for video distribution, complete with equipment and staff.
Now, in addition to online events and webinars for marketing purposes, video distribution is also being used for internal communication measures and internal marketing.
We spoke to Ms. Asako Uchida, Manager of the Marketing Service Innovation Group in the IMC Management Division, and Mr. Hidetake Oki, a senior member of the same group, about how the distribution system was set up and what kind of content is being distributed.
_Left: Mr. Hidetake Oki, NEC; Right: Ms. Asako Uchida, NEC; Center: Mr. Mori (interviewer), BRIGHTCOVE_
## Attracting more than 10 times the number of participants than at previous online events
NEC is a company that provides a wide range of value to customers in a diverse range of industries around the world, from the ocean floor to outer space, including the development of some of the world’s leading submarine cable services and serving as the constructor of the asteroid probe “Hayabusa 2”. In particular, the company is the world’s No. 1 in face recognition, iris recognition, and fingerprint recognition technologies. In addition to supporting the distribution of data on a scale of 100 million people, the company also has 1,800 AI personnel on its payroll, and it is promoting DX in society and industry by leveraging its world-leading cutting-edge technologies.
The IMC Management Department is responsible for promoting the company’s digital marketing. They create customer demand by connecting data from each touchpoint, including press releases, advertisements, social networking services, and word of mouth. In particular, in the field of digital marketing, they follow up with customers who have few points of contact with field sales, and work to create and cultivate leads from awareness, and connect them to inside sales and field sales, so that they can contribute to sales. Their activities are so well-regarded that they have won the “Nikkei BtoB Marketing Award 2021” Excellence Award.
The team that Uchida-san and Oki-san belong to is in charge of managing online events and regular webinars. Their activities are positioned as lead generation and nurturing in the marketing funnel.
“The main reason we started holding online events was because we had to cancel our real-world events due to the spread of the new coronavirus. We had been actively holding real-world events such as ‘iEXPO KANSAI’ in July 2019 and ‘C&C User Forum & iEXPO’ (Tokyo) in November, and we were planning to hold similar events in 2020. So, in July 2020, we decided to hold our first online event, taking the Kansai area as a whole as the target audience” (Uchida).
In the end, a total of around 30,000 people participated, which was more than ten times the number of people who had participated in the past. Furthermore, the number of people reached in the target demographic increased by 10%.
“With real events, salespeople often invite existing customers, but by holding an online event, we were able to increase the number of new customers and attract three times as many people as in the past” (Uchida)
## In order to regularly deliver webinars, NEC set up its own studio and distribution system
With the prospect of achieving certain results, NEC began to shift to online events.
“As we were doing digital marketing, my boss told me that we should create a system that would allow us to regularly hold webinars that would lead to proper closings, not just large events, so we decided to build a full-fledged distribution system” (Uchida).
The first step was to create a studio where webinars could be regularly broadcast. The company turned a meeting room into a studio by adding panels to the walls, installing a bar, and hanging lights, without spending a lot of money on renovations. They set up the studio in less than three months after holding their first online event in July 2020.
_The first studio to be completed_
“We got advice from TV industry technicians and got all the equipment we needed, including cameras for filming, PCs for distribution, recorders, mixers, and switchers. We were told that we risked embarrassment if the quality of the video was too poor, as our company also handles broadcast equipment. Of course, we didn’t want to make a full-scale video, but we knew we needed to ensure a certain level of quality.” (Mr. Oki)
The distribution staff consists of three teams, including in-house members who are familiar with equipment, related companies and group companies, and teams that were pioneering online distribution.
We do not edit videos in advance, but record them in a way that is close to a live broadcast. We prepare a script in advance and shoot the video in one take. This method is based on the knowledge we have gained from past distribution data, which shows that videos that have been edited too much are not as popular as you might think.
“The ultimate goal is to contribute to NEC’s business. This is not a branding video, so we are not concerned with making it look pretty, but rather we are focusing on the content. In that sense, we have no intention of compromising on quality at all” (Uchida-san)
However, as they pursued quality, they came to feel that “a simple studio built in a rush was not enough”. So they upgraded the design of the studio and set up another studio, improving the hardware side of things. At the same time, they also prepared guides for online events for internal use and guides for using the studio.
“The reason we’ve been able to continue with our webinar initiatives so consistently is because they’ve been so successful. As the coronavirus situation begins to subside, we’re gradually resuming in-person events, but we still want to continue holding online events and webinars as well” (Uchida)
## Utilizing distribution know-how to implement internal initiatives
We started video distribution as part of our digital marketing strategy, but gradually we also began to hold online events for internal use. With the addition of a studio and other facilities, we have been able to come up with a number of ideas that we hadn’t originally envisaged.
“We hold a town hall meeting for dialogue between senior management and employees once a month. When we didn’t have a studio, the corporate department would rent equipment and space and set up a set to hold the meeting. Now that we have a permanent studio and equipment, we can streamline distribution costs and focus on the quality of the content” (Uchida).
Based on the town hall meeting, there have been many requests from within the company to use the studio to hold similar events.
In addition, they are producing and distributing an original information program called “DX Academia” for employees, which is broadcast during their lunch break. The program is based on the DX theme that NEC is focusing on the most, and it was started with the aim of deepening employees’ knowledge of DX.
“The program is hosted by members of the IMC Management Department, and features appearances by DX business experts and other employees. The program is designed to deepen viewers’ understanding of DX in 15 minutes through dialogue with the host. Many employees are watching it, and the response has been even better than we expected.” (Mr. Oki)
## Video is more advantageous for business content
DX Academia is an original program currently being developed for internal use, but the company is also considering developing it for external use in the future.
“We also use Brightcove’s Video Cloud to distribute videos on our business information site, ‘wisdom’. We’d like to be able to use media and distribution platforms like this to distribute not only large-scale seminars, but also lighter programs. In order to successfully deliver information both internally and externally, it is very important to have a well-developed video distribution platform.
In today’s world, there are lots of interesting videos and live broadcasts about business and politics, and I personally find myself reading fewer and fewer text articles. Even if you don’t watch the video properly, you can listen to it. You can deliver content even in situations where it’s difficult to watch videos. I think videos are more useful for delivering content to busy businesspeople in particular” (Uchida)
NEC has established its own studio, distribution equipment and systems, and it seems that this has made it easier to implement various measures that make use of online distribution. The fact that they are steadily achieving results with each measure means that they have created a good cycle in which one measure leads to the next. This may be an ideal case study of video operation.
