guest talk

――Looking back on your branding initiatives to date, tell us what has left a lasting impression on you.

Sato

What struck me was that when we created the CI and changed the company name to beauty experience, we had not yet decided on "One beauty experience" (we had a company system at that time), but when I met him the following year, he told me that he had decided on "One beauty experience".

Fukui

At the time, we had many different products and many corporate brands because we were running separate companies, but we thought it would be better to concentrate on one of them, so we decided to unify them.

Sato

I think that was a dynamic decision. That process is also important for change. Normally, if you change things drastically, there will be problems. I feel that it is very good to proceed in stages, one step at a time.

Fukui

Sometimes you cannot see things until you act.

Sato

I agree. I think that integrating management and creativity will make for a stronger company.

――What are your honest impressions of the change in the company name?

Sato

He said he wanted to go to the next level beyond what he had been doing at MoltoBene, so the process started with deciding "what to do" and came up with a slogan of "designing new beauty experiences". As a result, the concept of "Beauty Experience Designing Company" was decided. I think Mr. Fukui must have been very comfortable with this concept.

Fukui

Yes, that's right. I had a hard time deciding how to express this, but I decided to use the name "beauty experience" as the company name.

Sato

I've been involved with various branding projects as well, and the norm is for there to be a company name, a mission/vision/slogan, and a product that embodies that. However, in your company's case, the company name and mission are the same. The concept itself is the company name, which allows you can cut out a layer of explanation and communicate with a sense of speed. I think that's a really new way of doing things.

――How do you feel about the results of this branding?

Fukui

Since our mission is directly in our company name, I think it has become easier for us to effectively communicate our consistent mission and vision to our customers.

Sato

I worked with them to put together the b-ex way, which consists of "Mission", "Vision", and "Value". I think it was a good way to organize the corporate philosophy and the actions of each and every employee.

Fukui

Now, the b-ex way is directly used as a standard for personnel behavior evaluation, which makes it easier for the corporate philosophy to penetrate among employees.

Sato

How is the response from people outside the company, such as hair stylists?

Fukui

Many hair stylists are fans of Mr. Kashiwa, so they are often surprised to learn that you did our branding.

Sato

Is that so? I'm honored.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Fukui

The response has been amazing! I am often questioned why we were able to do this, and they even ask me to introduce them to you (laughs).

　　　　　　　　　　　　　

――Why did you decide to change the company name to "b-ex" on March 29, 2021?

Fukui

I've often heard people say that "beauty experience" is too long. Some people, especially the older generation, found it difficult to say "experience". In our company, "b-ex" was widely used, so we thought that using the abbreviation as our company name would speed up communication.

Sato

I had been informed that the abbreviation "b-ex" was used within the company, so I was not surprised when Mr. Fukui told me about it, but I guess I was surprised that he was really going to change it (laughs). However, it was the first time for me to try something like this, so I was very excited.

Fukui

I consider this to be an update of CI.

Sato

That's right. Keeping the mission and slogan the same, but make the company name more iconic to match the trend. The image is that if you open "b-ex", you will find "beauty experience". I think that b-ex has already penetrated into the company and its stakeholders, so I think it is a new strategy to speed up the communication by making it symbolic. It was the first time for me to update the CI with a company name change, so I was very excited. Originally, b-ex was prevalent as an abbreviation, so there was no need to worry about it within the company.

Fukui

Yes, I have no particular concerns. As long as the name is well known within the company, I think there will be no problem. We have been using the abbreviation "b-ex" in our presentations to our customers, and when they ask, "What should I call you?" we would answer, "b-ex, please". I don't think there will be much resistance if we change that name to our company name.

Sato

I feel it is literal ways of communicating in the post-internet era. It's very different to the past and updating one's company name like that is the nucleus of communication strategies. I believe that using one's company name as communication media is a new method that has come with the SNS era.

――What is the reason for adding the hyphen?

Sato

We had a lot of discussions about that, too. bex could be read as "bex (bekkusu)" by people who don't know it, and that's not good.... We debated whether to use a hyphen, a space, or just capitalize the b. After thinking about various design options, we came to the conclusion that a hyphen would be the most natural. I also changed the color of the symbol to be a little stronger, but since the number of letters in beauty experience and b-ex are quite different, I spent a lot of time adjusting the balance between the symbol and the logo. I tried to make the symbol look the best so that the logo looks the best.

Fukui

The design popped into my eyes, and I felt that Mr. Sato had updated it as an icon.

Sato

It has a fresh feel to it, doesn't it?

――What kind of company do you want the company to be in the future?

Fukui

We've always focused on digital, and now that we're in an era "with Covd-19", we want to continue to focus on digital. In that sense, I thought that the company name b-ex would better convey our image, so I changed the abbreviation to our company name this time. Also, since our company is B to B and B to B to C, I would like to develop B to C in the future.

Sato

I like the idea of B to C, because it allows us to create a communication strategy that is easy to understand, which will increase awareness of b-ex and help people understand what we want to do. I think it will be easier to evolve the "new experience of beauty".

Fukui

It's only been about six years since we started branding, so we don't have any plans to make any major changes within the company, but we would like to create more of a movement within the employees to communicate our branding.

Sato

The speed of evolution of b-ex is really fast, including this case. I think it was a good thing that we spent one year discussing this six years ago. The development of the company has been very fast since then, and it has become a completely different company from the one I first visited six years ago. Mr. Fukui himself is working there every day, so you may not be able to feel the change that much, but I think the company has evolved at a great speed. This time, the company name has been updated to further speed up communication, and if, for example, a B to C store is opened next, the change will be even faster. I think we are living in such an era now, but I hope that b-ex will continue to evolve with a sense of speed that is always twice as fast as others.

Fukui

Although I want to try opening a shop too, from now on I would like to, spend more effort on tackling societal issues—SDGs, and especially the environment as part of this company. Since COVID-19 has heightened people's awareness of the environment, I would like to work on a project to solve some kind of problem related to the environment together with Kashiwa-san. What do you think?

Sato

You're right. Environmental problems have been around for a long time. We've really come all the way to the point of no return, and for the past few years, there has been a big change with increasing awareness of sustainability. With a global pandemic like COVID-19, and amid a lot of other global-scale societal problems, we've entered into an age where companies are being asked what they are doing to address these problems. We're being asked more strongly to consider not only our own profits, but also the benefit to society. I think that design is a process of solving many types of problems, so as a creator, I would be happy to work together in a way that leads to solutions to societal issues.