There is a business opportunity in 'not selling'

vol.1766

First, a question.

If you were to develop a new coffee product,develop which customer would you target?

Usually, you would think of A.

On the other hand, if you target A, fierce competition with competitors awaits...

Conversely, what about B?

I can almost hear that voice; do you agree?

The reason for not buying is not 'dislike'

Let's look at B again here.

Since I listed 'like' and 'not fond of', many people probably imagined 'dislike', but not fond of and dislike are different things.

Taking soccer as an example,

there are many people like that.

If so, coffee is the same.

It smells good and has a cool image, so it wouldn't be strange for there to be people who 'are interested' but 'are not fond of drinking it'.

It was Suntory Beverage & Food's "Craft Boss" that captured the hearts of such people and succeeded.

<MarketingNative / July 15, 2026>

They realized that there were more such people than expected and developed the product.

Even though the aroma is rich, they achieved a flavor that isn't too bitter, and it became a huge hit.

What's interesting is that the company has a department called the "New Value Creation Department", rather than just a marketing department.

Marketers, as well as members specializing in understanding consumers and R&D, or in other words, members with a technical background, join forces to create products every day, proposing new value to consumers.

For this Craft Boss as well, they focused on the "70% who don't drink it" and developed a "coffee that even I can drink".

Department manager Takumi Otsuka shows attention to detail not only in the flavor but also in the packaging.

'Non-buyers' marketing can also be seen in other companies.

Thoroughly analyzing the 'reasons for not buying'

For example, istyle.

〈LOCALITY! / July 15, 2026〉

istyle is the company that plans and operates '@cosme', one of Japan's largest comprehensive cosmetics and beauty websites.

What the company is aiming for is not just to collect data related to beauty, but to build

to construct.

To that end, the first thing they worked on was the development of an integrated data infrastructure, which took two years.

With conventional POS data, even if you know 'what sold,'

cannot be seen.

On the other hand, istyle has connected @cosme product browsing, adding to favorites, viewing and posting reviews, and purchase history at e-commerce sites and stores with a single ID, thereby visualizing the process of consumers comparing and considering products.

For example, even if a single user compares 10 products and purchases only one of them, they can now analyze the decision-making process, including the reasons for not choosing the remaining 9 products.

In addition, we have made it possible to explain the causal relationship behind why a product sold.

The content of reviews, the flow of comparison and consideration, and behavior before and after purchase are combined to articulate the success factors that differ for each brand.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all marketing approach, we are now able to propose the optimal strategy for each brand.

Furthermore, possessing cross-industry data is a unique strength of istyle.

Even if a brand thinks its competitors are luxury brands because it is a high-priced product, actual consumers sometimes make purchase decisions by comparing it with mass-market brands in different price ranges.

With only internal data, you can only see people who considered your own products, and you cannot grasp the behavior of consumers who chose other companies.

However, istyle, which has a platform that overlooks the entire industry, visualizes everything from 'true competitors' and gaps in target setting, to ambiguity in differentiation points, revealing issues that the brands themselves had not noticed.

Seeing things clearly by asking the right 'questions'

On the other hand, having a wealth of data does not necessarily mean a deeper understanding of the customer.

At istyle, before starting analysis, we emphasize

—a question that we thoroughly discuss with the brand.

If the hypothesis is vague, the analysis results will be blurred; conversely, if it is too narrow, no meaningful insights will be gained.

Through numerous projects, we have turned this way of formulating questions into a framework, building a system that maximizes the value of data analysis.

By doing so, we create 'new encounters between brands and consumers'.

This is what Suntory mentioned earlier

By asking this question, we were able to create and propose Craft Boss, which can be enjoyed even by those who don't like coffee.

This is the power of questioning.

For beginners, I think it is important to first 'Why isn't it selling?' and delve deep into it.

You might hear that voice, but... 'All Techniques to Update Your Thinking: Why Can Successful People Flexibly Change Their Way of Thinking?' author and Microsoft alumnus businessman Madoka Sawa says that what is important in sales situations is

he says.

I also receive sales pitches from many companies, but they often just talk about the specs or strengths of the product

and it often doesn't come across...

Also, with similar products and services from competitors out there, what kind of major change will be created by choosing that one?

At the same time, that is also a tough question for my company and myself.

That is when it didn't sell—that is exactly when a big hint can be found.

With that as a focal point, I would like to increase the clarity regarding the reasons for being chosen😊

Thank you very much for reading until the end today as well!