How two brothers helped turn their family's business that was struggling to a worldwide brand

While they were young, Kuni and Tomo Hijikata knew that their family business was worth fighting for. The company was established by the Hijikata family in Nagoya, Japan back in 1936. The Hijikata family's foundry made of cast iron was renowned for its meticulous accuracy. But by the early aughts the future of the firm was uncertain. Since they were the inheritors to the company that had been running for so long, Kuni and Tomo knew that they were responsible to ensure that their cast iron production process in operation.

Two brothers were employed in stable employment at Toyota along with Toyota Tsusho However, they saw a potential with the development of cast iron cookware meant to endure generations. the brothers quit their regular job and jumped into saving the family's business. They received training at the bottom of the foundry, as craftsmen then, in the year 2010, Vermicular began to take shape. After their first cast iron pot came out to the market the pot racked up a whopping fifteen months of backorders that was helped by the enthusiastic spread of word.

10 years onand more than a decade later, the Vermicular team has set its sights on global expansion Presently, they are selling their product across markets like the U.S., China, as well as beyond. In order to best convey the benefits of their kitchen equipment to new international markets, Vermicular has invested heavily in video content to promote their products. "Without the videos it would be difficult to grow the size of our company," says Mark Hayashi director of Vermicular's U.S. Office. We spoke with Kuni, Tomo, and Mark to find out more about the company's plan to grow worldwide using video. See their stories above as well as read their full interview here.

"We typically imagine the video content as the extension of our product and brand. Videos are more powerful than the written word. And this is especially true for cooking." Mark Hayashi, Vermicular's Head of U.S. Office

     How did you arrive at this idea?    

Tomo: "I thought that we could utilize the expertise and know-how of our casting company to make enameled cast iron vessels that contain lids that perfectly fit. However, there was no precedent for that process in Japan. We knew that we'd have to come up with the procedure on our own.

To learn as much as that we could about the topic, Kuni and I took a class on the floor in the findry. Kuni was an experienced casting crafter while I became an expert in machinery. It took us three years and 10,000 times, before we had the idea that would meet our expectations."

     How did you go about the process of setting up your company's brand in Japan?    

Mark: "Brand storytelling has always been at the core of our communications and marketing strategies. Telling stories that represent our unique tradition and commitment to excellence was an instant hit with our customers and allowed us to engage with our public on a deeper level.

We started by brainstorming ideas for videos around our brand mission. If we are creating videos about branding or how-to product videos, we ensure they reflect our values as well as who we are. In the beginning, we weren't so focused on selling in the short-term rather, we focused on increasing customer satisfaction with regard to the longer term."

     What was your most difficult issue in developing Vermicular? Vermicular brand beyond Japan?

Mark: "Our biggest challenge was the barriers to communication. Since the launch of the Vermicular brand in the year the year 2010, we've had the brand's presence Japan but none of that could be transferred outside of Japan. The only thing we had to do was start building the Vermicular brand completely from scratch which was challenging and required intense preparations in the beginning."

     What was your very first purchase to help establish your name international?    

     The content you have created for your brand is clearly stunning. What is the process that brought you to this quality?

Mark: "We partnered with an agency to create the branding video. We were constantly debating the overall style and feel of lighting as well as wardrobe and the casting process and food style. Then, we also spent some time working together on creating storyboards for the videos, which were the primary guidance throughout the whole procedure. This included shoot days.

Since there are many different people in the shoot There is the chance of sudden setbacks that could result in delays from the start. The creation of a storyboard that is well-constructed with a thorough shot list helps set clear expectations and guide everyone involved in the shooting to follow the identical direction. The storyboards we create not only serve as an accurate map of the shoot, but they also saved our post-production stress. This is particularly important for smaller companies with limited funds."

     What are you planning to do with the earnings you make as you continue to expand?    

Mark: "Our hypothesis was to create a promotional video using an instructional series that would allow customers to fully experience advantages of an induction cooker. As per our company's brand declaration, our mission doesn't come to an end when customers have made an investment in the cooking appliances we sell.

We would like to see our customers enjoy cooking with the Vermicular cookware in the longest duration of time possible. There are clear results from these instructional videos as they aid in the education of cookware users, and also aid the shoppers gain more understanding about the usage of cooking equipment."

     Video was a key factor in the creation of a name for Vermicular around the globe?    

Mark: "Definitely! Many. Video assets are an extension of our branding as well as our product. We may not have the biggest budget, we're working for hours to determine the format and the narrative that are most effective in telling our story. Images can have more impact over words. This is certainly relevant to cooking."

HTML1What's your main reasons the team employ HTML0 to host and embed videos?

Mark: "We prefer for many reasons, the primary is the customizable capabilities to embed video. This ad-free and clutter-free interface allows for seamless navigation throughout the website , and also protects the "touch and feeling" of our logo.

Also, it allows us to share documents we've created among teams from Japan and the U.S. and Japan, which makes it easier to get comments even when you're thousands of miles apart."

     What's next to be the next step of Vermicular?    

Kuni: "More exciting products are being developed and we'll expand our product offerings in the U.S. and across various Asian nations."

Mark: "We are currently developing our video content strategy that ranges from branded videos featuring diverse chefs and farmers, to explanation videos and how-to-videos which will be our most valuable assets for years to come."

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