Yoshiki Fujiwara, Executive Vice President, Coca-Cola Customer Marketing Co., Ltd.

Always have the eyes to see what is happening on the ground and the heart to take on challenges in a positive way

■ Profile

After graduating from the Faculty of Letters at Kansai University in 1985, he joined Kinki Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Ltd. in the same year. In 2010, he became an executive officer at Coca-Cola West Co., Ltd., and was appointed director of the company in 2013. In 2019, he was appointed General Manager of Vending Business at Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc., and in March 2022, he was appointed Representative Director and Vice President of Coca-Cola Customer Marketing Co., Ltd., a position he holds to this day.

Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Group is one of the world's largest bottlers, handling Coca-Cola products that are a part of everyday life. Within the group, Coca-Cola Customer Marketing Co., Ltd. specializes in strategic marketing activities for nationwide chains. Fujiwara, who joined the company with the intention of quitting after three years, has been with Coca-Cola for 37 years. We spoke to Fujiwara, who serves as the company's vice president, about various aspects of his work, including the rewards and commitment he places to his work.

■ A deep-rooted desire for business

When I was a student, I honestly thought that I wanted to start my own business rather than go to university. However, my parents told me that they wanted me to go to university at least, so I persisted until the very end and finally decided to go to university. During my university life, I didn't study very hard, and I often spent my days playing and working part-time jobs.
After graduating, I had a dream of running a restaurant business in Southeast Asia or Hawaii, but my parents were against it and I didn't have any capital. I thought it would be better to work somewhere for a few years first to save up some money, so I started working part-time at a pizza restaurant. After working there for a while, the manager recognized my potential and, as Pizza Restaurant was a group company, recommended Kinki Coca-Cola Bottling (one of the bottlers that became Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc.) as a potential employer. This incident led me to start working at this company. At the time, I was thinking that once I had saved up enough money, I would quit my job and train to become independent in the restaurant business.

■ Commitment to on-site work

After joining the company, I was assigned to the vending machine department, where my job involved driving trucks to deliver products to vending machines and refilling them, as well as working on contract renewals and finding new locations to install vending machines.
Before long, I started going to the recycling bins next to vending machines to collect empty containers even when I didn't have any business with them. As I collected customers' empty containers, returned to the sales office, spread them out, and looked at what was selling, I began to accumulate data in my head about what products were selling with what frequency, location, and type of job.
"These items were found in actual recycling boxes, so this product will sell for this much." Having evidence from seeing it with my own eyes, my proposals for installation locations to customers became more persuasive. As a result, I started to see results, and before long, I was recognized within the company. Since I was planning to quit, I felt no pressure and had nothing to lose. And the salary was good. I guess that blinded me (laughs). I still had dreams of working in the food service industry, but gradually I began to feel that "this job is interesting, I want to continue." I had planned to retire after about three years, but before I knew it, I had been doing this job for seven years.
This experience gave me the habit of thinking, "What I see is the truth." Even now, I still visit sales offices and sales floors and often speak to customers, focusing on the actual site, actual product, and current situation. Because we are in a business that has many points of contact with consumers, we are always thinking about what consumers want and what we can do for them, from the work environment to package design, and we try to improve where we can by taking inspiration from the voices of the people on the ground.

■Future-focused human resource development

There's nothing more rewarding than watching people grow. I'm particular about properly training the next generation of people to succeed me. Even if I can train someone to take my place, it's very important that that subordinate has the ability to support their boss. I was actually promoted at a young age, and there was a 15-year age difference between me and my boss, which worried me. I'm sure it was tough for my boss, and I caused him a lot of trouble. I'd be very happy if, by the time I retire, I was able to train him to be able to do the job at the required level, whether it be planning or sales, without any problems like that. In this way, I try to look beyond my time.

■ Maintaining a positive attitude that continues to challenge

The vending machine market is shrinking every year, making it increasingly difficult to achieve business results. Add in the COVID-19 pandemic, and we could sense that people were working with uncertainty about the future. To motivate employees and encourage them to work hard, we started promoting them by giving them positions and creating incentive and reward systems.
Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan has adopted a point-addition system where employees are evaluated based on their achievements. Everyone is happy when their good points are noticed and praised. A point-deduction system would make employees reluctant to try new things, so we don't blame them even if they fail.
What we value at our company is "making our customers happy" and "winning in the market," so we are open to taking on challenges that are considered taboo. 37 years have passed since I started working at the company, but this spirit has not changed. What makes our company so appealing is our willingness to take on any challenge without fear of failure. That is why I want to work with people who are curious and have a positive attitude towards their work. "Curiosity" and "positivity" are two important keywords!

■ The future shape that changes with the times

Recently, we have been developing an app called "Coke ON®" that makes using vending machines more fun and affordable. With over 34 million downloads (as of March 2022), it has been used by many people, and we feel that it has become a strength for our company in terms of service. We are also seeing an increasing number of customers telling us that they chose Coca-Cola vending machines because of "Coke ON®." In the future, we would like to be able to compete even if companies with strong digital capabilities enter our field.
Going forward, we will be working even harder than ever on SDGs such as environmental and diversity issues. In particular, our company uses energy and resources to sell soft drinks. For example, in addition to the contents of Coca-Cola products, we also use water in various processes, such as for cleaning and heating. Therefore, we are working to return the same amount of water used in the production of our products to nature. We are also working to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by cutting the power consumption of vending machines and to find ways to reduce vehicle exhaust gases, as part of our responsibility to fulfill in our business activities.

■Message to students

In today's world, it's hard to dream about your future, and there seems to be a sense of stagnation. Many things will continue to happen in the fields of economy and politics, and it may not be an easy time of steady growth.
However, I believe that the world is changing with major innovations, and an era of opportunity is coming where people can compete regardless of seniority or educational background. If you have high aspirations and approach various things with a strong sense of curiosity, you can have dreams whether you work for a company or start your own business. I would even like to try again. Let's live positively!

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on April 4, 2022 by Momoshi Shibano, a third-year student at Nihon University