[Topic 290] A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Transforming 'Forced Feelings' into 'Wanting to Do' and Eliminating Workplace Stress

Management often tends to become a 'clash of logical arguments.' 'You should do this.' 'Why aren't you doing it?' However, this imposition of a sense of duty may be the very cause of chilling the hearts of organizations and customers.

By the time you finish reading this article, you should have acquired a 'weapon to transform the pain of duty felt by customers and employees into the excitement that makes them want to move forward on their own.'

Article Summary

Kao's 'Biore Kids Stamp UV,' co-developed with Aeon Retail, shipped 210,000 units in its first month, marking a hit that is double the planned volume. While the background includes increased interest in children's UV protection due to the intense heat, there was significant parental stress (usage rates for 4-year-olds had dropped to 57%) because 'children dislike the stickiness and smell and don't want to apply sunscreen.' Leveraging insights from their past hit product, the 'Foam Stamp Hand Soap,' Kao developed a nozzle that dispenses the liquid in a 'cat paw print' shape and an oval bottle with the perfect firmness for children to squeeze. By changing the 'duty to apply' into the 'fun of stamping,' it became a hit that involved not only parents and children but also adult cat lovers via social media.

Source: Nihon Keizai Shimbun (June 3, 2026, Morning Edition) 'Eliminating Children's I Don't Want to Apply with Cat Paw Prints: Kao's Sunscreen Reduces Parental Stress'

[3 Insights Gained from This Article]

1. Moving 'Emotions' Instead of 'Logic': Rather than explaining the dangers of sunburn, the fun of 'wanting to stamp a paw print' encourages action.

2. Repurposing Past Assets (Stock): The past asset of the 'successful experience with paw prints' from hand soap was brilliantly cross-deployed to a different category: sunscreen.

3. Narrowing the Target Expands Reach: Because they were thoroughly committed to 'children,' that overwhelming cuteness spilled over to adults and social media.

The 'Customer Pain' Behind the News

I once spent time in a corporate complaint handling department, persistently gathering feedback from the front lines. That is why I understand well that the essence of this news is not just a story about an 'idea product that sold well.'

What should be read deeply here is the universal human rejection reaction to 'things that are correct but troublesome and painful'.

For parents, there is the grand justification of 'wanting to protect their child's skin.' However, for the child, it is nothing more than the discomfort of 'being sticky, smelly, and time-consuming.' What is occurring here is a fierce collision between 'the right thing (duty)' and 'what one does not want to do (instinct).'.

Isn't the exact same thing happening in small and medium-sized business management? 'Please write your daily reports in more detail,' 'Thoroughly organize and clean the workplace,' 'Please introduce this wonderful new service.' These are all logical arguments. However, to employees or customers, they might appear as 'troublesome things that steal their time.'

What is wonderful about Kao is that they did not take a functional approach of improving the sunscreen ingredients to be 'even less sticky,' but rather an emotional approach of 'turning the act of applying it into entertainment.'

The reason customers or employees do not move is not because their awareness is low. It is because the 'process of moving' is overwhelmingly boring.

Practice: Things You Can Do Immediately on the Front Lines Starting Tomorrow

Even without the budget or development team of a large corporation, there is a 'down-to-earth step' that you, as the president, can change starting tomorrow just by saying a word to the front lines.

Find just one 'step (bottleneck) that customers or employees dislike' within your company's products, services, or internal operations. Before increasing performance or efficiency, think about whether you can wrap it in 'fun' or 'playfulness.'

To organize your thinking, I will share a framework that I often use on the front lines.

For example, if internal '5S activities (organizing and tidying)' aren't progressing, stop getting angry and telling people to 'clean up.' Stick 'footprint stickers' on the floor to make people want to place items there as if it were a game. This alone will get the team moving far more effectively than holding repeated meetings.

Bonus: Flavor-changing ideas

If I were to use the essence of this news—'gamifying obligations'—to brainstorm new ideas...

'A bowl that makes you want to eat even things you dislike'

When a child absolutely refuses to eat vegetables they dislike, a mother's stress reaches its peak. This is especially true on busy mornings before nursery school, where every second counts. So, we prepare a set of five special bowls with the child's favorite characters drawn on the bottom. Every morning, the mother puts it on the table saying, 'Who is going to praise you today?' When the child eats everything and finishes the soup or side dish, the character that appears from the bottom praises them with a huge smile, saying, 'Amazing! You ate it all!'

With this, there is no need to scold them to 'finish your meal.' It is a strategy where the child's spontaneous excitement to 'meet the character' instantly turns a living room that feels like a battlefield into a space filled with smiles.

A word of encouragement from a CEO's advisor

Finally, let me ask you, as a CEO, just one question.

'Within the "logical arguments" you are currently forcing upon your employees and customers, isn't there room to mix in just a little bit of "playfulness"?'

Management is lonely. In the rush to achieve results, it is easy to end up giving rigid, formal instructions. But what always moves people is not logic, but the small fluctuations of emotion that make them think, 'I want to try that.'

Let's look not just at the numbers on the desk, but at the 'emotional temperature' on the front lines. It's okay; you can definitely turn that pain into excitement.

Let's sweat and work hard together on the front lines.

#Sunscreen #UVProtection #Biore #ProductDevelopment #HitProduct #CEOAdvisor #OwariIchinomiya #KidsStampUV #SMEmanagement #CustomerExperience