Why Your Product Is 'Not Being Chosen'—Concept Design Starting from Your Passion (Part 1)

Introduction:

Do you feel this way?

• 'I created a great service, but for some reason, I'm not getting any traction.'

• 'I'm working hard on social media and ads, but the response is weak.'

• 'I feel like the value I want to deliver is slipping through the cracks somewhere.'

This note is written for those who are 'carrying that sense of unease while going about their daily work.'
No matter how many strategies you build or marketing measures you stack, it is meaningless if it doesn't 'truly strike a chord' with someone.

To properly deliver what you truly want to share.
The power of 'concept' is what we want to pause and re-examine once more.

Therefore, based on my knowledge and experience to date, I am proposing a framework I call the Concept Story Sheet (CSS).
This time, I will introduce it as simply as possible, divided into a first and second part.

Step 1: Why did you start it?

'Triggers' and 'passions' are not the 'white space' of a business.
In fact, they can even become theforefront of the reason why you are chosen.

However, in our busy daily lives, we tend to put that on the back burner.
Have you ever cut it from your materials, thinking, 'That's too emotional'?

But customers don't choose based on rationality alone.
When they think, 'I want to buy from this person,' there is usually a 'story' there.

For example, the story of an unknown coffee shop

There was a small coffee shop in a rural area.
The owner was originally a salaryman who broke his health in his late 20s and said he realized the importance of 'living carefully' while recuperating.

Coffee was just a means; what he wanted to deliver was 'time to cherish yourself.'
That passion became the core of the brand, and regulars began to visit almost every month.

✅ 'Why is this product here, right now?'
✅ 'Why are "you" the one delivering it?'

Facing these questions is the first step toward a concept.

Step 2: Try to seriously envision 'someone's happiness'

In marketing terms, this is 'target setting,' but what I want to seek here is the 'emotions of a real person.'

Please imagine

Someone who sighs while swaying on a crowded train in the morning, wondering, 'How many more years will this go on?'
Someone who stares at a PC screen while their heart feels left behind, just letting time pass by.
Someone who works hard for their family, but secretly thinks, 'I want to cherish myself just a little bit.'

When that person encounters your product or service, what kind of 'change' will occur?
And how do you want them to 'feel' that change?

Designing for the 'Person You Want to Reach' Based on Emotion

When putting into words the person you want to reach, try drawing a 'story' rather than just 'attributes'.

Example:

• Gender/Age: A 38-year-old woman, working full-time while raising two children

• Emotion: 'I'm working hard at both home and work. But I want someone to tell me, "You've done a great job."'

• Ideal Experience: 'The miscellaneous goods I bought at a shop I happened to stop by on the weekend lit a spark in my heart.'

In this way, the 'contours of the heart' that were not visible through mere 'attribute information' begin to emerge.

Step 3: The Persona is Your 'Base for Empathy'

A 'product that sells' always has a clear vision of 'for this person.'
And at the center of that is the Persona = a symbolic individual customer profile.

If such a person existed—

• Name: Shota Tanaka (36)

• Job: Sales position at a mid-sized construction company

• Personality: Serious and considerate. But not good at asserting himself

• Trouble: The pressure to 'do things right' at both work and home is piling up, and he feels a bit suffocated

• What he wants: Time where he can think 'I'm doing well' by himself, even if no one else acknowledges it

When he encounters a certain product,
whether it ends as 'just a product' or becomes a 'turning point in his life' depends onour design.

Summary: The Starting Point of Empathy is 'Your Own Origin'

What I have conveyed so far is the initial phase of concept design.
But the real theme is the root of the emotion of 'Why do you want to deliver this?'

Before identifying your customers' "anxieties, dissatisfactions, and inconveniences," do not forget the
"reason you want to deliver" that lies within you.

In the second part, we will explain in detail:

• How to perceive competitors and the concept of "benefit competition"

• How to find your "own strengths" rather than focusing on differentiation

• Tips for distilling a "concept" into simple words

and more.

May this text be a time for you to touch upon your own "gentle origin."
Please look forward to the next installment.