Masayuki Izutsu, General Manager of the Sales Department, Yamada Bee Farm Co., Ltd.　

Exploring the possibilities of the web for your health

■Profile

He joined the company in 2004 and graduated from the Faculty of Law. Seven years after joining the company, he was promoted to head of the sales promotion department, then served as business division manager, before becoming deputy general manager of the mail order sales headquarters, which includes telemarketing, in 2018. The following year, he was promoted to his current position, which also includes the store and distribution departments. With his aggressive approach, he is a key player in building Yamada Bee Farm's current "core sales promotion."

Yamada Bee Farm was born from the simple love of its founder's family, "to restore the health of his sick daughter." With a strong desire to "protect the health of even one person," the company delivers products while interacting with each and every customer. We spoke to Izutsu, General Manager of the Sales Management Department, about Yamada Bee Farm's web strategy, which primarily operates through mail order sales.

　As a student, I was job hunting with the desire to contribute to people and society through a job related to health. Witnessing the illnesses of my friends and my father made me realize that aging and illness are inevitable, and I began to think about what I could do to promote health, an essential theme for all people. My mother once gave me royal jelly, and while researching Yamada Bee Farm, the manufacturer of the product, I was deeply impressed by the founder's story: "We began research with no literature or materials to cure our daughter's illness." I then took the company's employment exam. During my job hunting, I placed great importance on the corporate philosophy, as it is the company's compass, and I was deeply moved by the fact that Yamada Bee Farm's corporate philosophy was genuine and not just decorative.

■Challenging the possibilities of the web

　Our customers are older, so to make it easier for them to receive information, we have focused our media efforts on television, newspapers, and inserts.

　However, the proportion of online advertising is increasing year by year, and even older people have smartphones and are increasingly browsing the web. Among the many benefits of the web, the ability to convey a lot of information and its immediacy are particularly notable. We are confident and proud of the products we create, so the web's ability to fully communicate the background of our products is a great advantage. With print advertising, the amount of information that can be included is limited and you have to wait for the publication date, but with the web you can communicate everything you want to say, when you want to say it. You can learn the attributes of your site visitors (information such as age and gender), and it's easier to narrow down your target audience than with print media.

　Our company originally operated as a mail-order business, so we are able to take advantage of the strengths of mail-order sales, such as knowing the attributes and purchasing history of our customers and being able to deliver information tailored to each individual customer. Although we are still in the early stages of development, we believe that expanding online is a good fit for selling health foods. The web is a medium that allows us to communicate in a variety of ways the research process for products and ingredients, evidence, our thoughts on product development, and policies related to our services, so we are excited about the many things we can do.

■ Selling things is difficult, but fun

　My first experience with marketing was writing an advertorial for a local newspaper. At the time, I received one order and felt very happy that someone had purchased a product through the ad I had written. At the same time, I realized how difficult it is to sell something when I only received one order.

　The web has a wide range of possibilities for disseminating information, and there are many technologies that are constantly changing, so it's a very fun and fascinating thing to be involved in. In this day and age, the web and the real world are inseparable, but I also feel that there are parts that should be linked and parts that should be separated.

　Yamada Bee Farm's web marketing is a little behind the industry standard, and we believe we still lack originality and strengths. However, the web gives us the opportunity to have our products purchased by people all over Japan and the world. We don't know who will become our fans and where, and there is no right answer when it comes to web marketing, but we want to keep taking on new challenges.

　Our head office is located in the countryside, surrounded by abundant nature, but within the company we have a spirit of always trying new things and an environment where we do technical work such as mail order sales. This contrast is one of the attractions of Yamada Bee Farm. We would like to continue providing products and services with a sense of social mission and fulfillment in supporting the health of each and every one of you.

■Message

　While you're a student, I want you to speak, read, feel, think to your heart's content, and go wherever you like. Once you enter the workforce, you'll think and worry every day as you come into contact with a variety of work situations, people's words, and environments. This is because when you're thinking and worrying, the experiences, thoughts, and feelings you've had up until now are very useful. I studied law in university. That study isn't directly useful now, but the way I thought when I studied has been very useful. I want you to gain as much experience as you can, feel, and broaden your horizons.

Student Newspaper April 2021 Special Edition by Reina Matsumoto, 3rd year student at Tsuda University