[Topic 299] Earth Corporation's resolve to change 'Insecticide' to 'Insect Care'. 'New Value Creation' for SMEs

Many business owners stare at the numbers on their screens, holding their heads in their hands, wondering, 'Is it because the data is bad?' or 'Is it because the market is shrinking?'

However, the answer is never inside a computer screen. By the time you finish reading this article, you should be freed from the lonely anxiety of 'data analysis' and feel excited to solve the real pain your customers are facing right in front of you.

Article Summary

Katsunori Kawabata, President of Earth Corporation, explains the importance of creating new value through the 'multiplication of effectiveness, design, and naming' rather than price-cutting in an era of increasing frugality. The company captured customers' hearts by renaming 'insecticide' to 'insect care' and transforming the design to blend into living spaces. Mr. Kawabata emphasizes that data should only be used as a reference, and that it is crucial to observe the real behavior of consumers at the 'point of sale' until a product sells. He states that providing the 'two thrills'—the thrill of being chosen at the store and the satisfaction of using the product—builds brand trust, and that the Japanese market, despite its shrinking population, offers further growth opportunities by honestly continuing to solve customer problems.
Source: Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei MJ), June 29, 2026, Morning Edition, '(Ask the Top) Earth Corporation President Katsunori Kawabata: Thrilling Hoi Hoi with Design'

Three Points

• Change the words and appearance: From 'insecticide' to 'insect care'. Eliminate technical jargon and foreign words, and thoroughly align with the customer's everyday language (such as using hiragana).

• The gap between data and the field: There are hints in the 'actual behavior' and 'emotional movements' of customers at the store that go beyond surveys and numerical data.

• Design for 'two thrills': Focus not only on the thrill of the purchase, but also on fully resolving the customer's problem so they feel 'I'm glad I had this' after actually using it.

The 'customer pain' behind the news

President Kawabata's words at Earth Corporation are packed with the 'essence of business' that I was drilled in while working in the customer complaint department.

Many companies use the fancy foreign term 'marketing' and are desperate to collect data on customer age, gender, and purchasing behavior. However, customers do not buy things based on 'data'.They open their wallets precisely because they have a desperate pain or desire to 'somehow solve this problem.'

Hidden behind the word 'insecticide' was the customer's underlying pain of discomfort and fear that 'a dangerous poison for killing bugs is in my house.' The moment it was rephrased as 'insect care' and given a design that doesn't look out of place in a room, the product was elevated from a 'dangerous tool' to a 'safe lifestyle that protects the family.'

Finding the gap between data and reality. This is a perspective that SMEs, which do not have the financial power of large corporations, should practice. The survey numbers saying 'I want to buy' and the actual process of 'hesitating and comparing with other companies' products before buying' at the store are completely different. Finding the 'slight discomfort' or 'inconvenience' that customers feel in their daily lives faster than anyone else, and doing the gritty work to find it—this is where the greatest opportunity for SMEs to overtake large companies lies.

Practice: Things you can do in the field starting tomorrow

You don't need large-scale market research or external consultants. I propose a 'gritty first step' you can take as soon as you go to the office tomorrow.

The president himself should sit and observe the 'field where the company's products and services are used'

If your products are sold in stores, stand in the corner of the sales floor for just one hour and watch the 'movements of customers' hands.' If it is a B2B business, go and see for yourself how the employees at the delivery destination handle your products and what expressions they have when using them.

First, open your company's brochure or website, and just as Earth Corporation changed its 'Marketing General Planning Headquarters' to 'New Value Creation Headquarters', let's start bythoroughly eliminating 'self-centered language that is difficult for customers to understand'.starting now.

A cheer from the President's Chief of Staff

Data is merely a record of the past. The hearts of future customers exist only within the ever-changing atmosphere of the front lines.

If you were to close your computer screen today and head out to the real 'sales floor' or 'usage site' of your customers, what is the 'small sense of discomfort that customers cannot put into words' that you would want to discover first?

Let's put an end to those lonely nights spent chasing numbers. The gritty sweat shed on the front lines brings a much more certain future than any polished strategy on a desk.

Let us sweat together.

#PresidentialAdvisor #OwariIchinomiya #NewBusiness #SMEmanagement #EarthCorporation #DesignManagement #CustomerPerspective #ValueCreation #FieldFirst #MarketingEssence