Maezawa from the Management Planning Office will answer as well.
> Is that some kind of marketing strategy? I’m not very familiar with these things, so I’m asking purely out of curiosity.
I’m not an expert either, but their mission—as staff members within the same company—is to raise awareness of Universe.
So I suppose that, as long as a method succeeds in increasing awareness, any method is acceptable.
That said, there is one exception: they can’t gain publicity through criminal activity. Obviously (笑).
In that sense, there’s even a term for “publicity through controversy,” so I suppose that if a controversy raises awareness, the people in that department could be considered to have done their job properly.
The controversy at the time wasn’t particularly large, though, so I’m not sure whether that was a good thing or not.
In Universe’s case, the staff on the ground treat both women and men with genuine care. Most of them sincerely hope that people will have a wonderful encounter.
That’s why, even when something happens on Twitter, the more someone knows about Universe, the more likely they are to think, “They’re actually a pretty professional company.”
Until the state of emergency was declared due to COVID-19, the company continued to grow steadily.
I think the people who quit at that time, or decided not to join, were essentially the same as those who let themselves be misled by rumors and ended up harassing even innocent people.
The basic rule is to verify things for yourself before taking action.
That said, I do understand what you’re saying. You mean that if a negative image spreads, increased name recognition is meaningless, right?
Quite a long time ago, Sony launched a major advertising campaign asking:
“Will Betamax disappear?”
Until that campaign appeared, Betamax and VHS were competing on fairly equal terms, at roughly a 4:6 ratio.
But people who saw the ad interpreted it as, “Betamax is going away.” Through word of mouth, the message spread: “Betamax is going away, so you shouldn’t buy one.”
After that, hardly anyone bought Betamax anymore.
It’s a famous story that this ad was the decisive blow that brought an end to Betamax. Incidentally, the ad was actually intended to conclude with the message, “Betamax isn’t going away.” But people didn’t interpret it that way, which is why it’s often cited as a classic example of a disastrous advertising campaign.
Even a company as large as Sony can make a mistake that serious, so there’s no telling when Universe might release an advertisement with a potentially fatal misstep.
In that sense, it would be safer not to do anything too provocative. But without taking bold steps, a company won’t grow either, so it’s a difficult balance.
I’m Paper Airplane, a male member.
For many people, the door to joining the club feels incredibly heavy.
I think you can only see the good side once you manage to open that door.
Until you join, no one could imagine that it’s actually this decent and well-run.
