What kind of business does LoiLo operate?
Mr. Sugiyama
In 2013, we started LoiLoNote, a classroom-support tool used in schools. It was effectively released in 2014, so it has been about ten years. Before that, we were making video-editing software.
YouTube: LoiLoNote School introduction video, a classroom-support app for the next GIGA era.
Murohashi
So the first service was completely different. Was it video software like Adobe Premiere?
Mr. Sugiyama
Yes. We started with video-editing software in 2007, so the company is now in its seventeenth year. We built the software using game technology, specifically GPUs, and that became our core competence.
I was making games at Sega, and my younger brother, Koji Sugiyama, now CEO of LoiLo, was at Bandai Namco Amusement. We used game technology to create video-editing software, and the project was selected for METI's Exploratory IT Human Resources Project. With that subsidy from METI, we founded the company.
When we announced the video-editing software in the United States, NHK discovered it and asked us to build video-editing software for children. Eventually, NHK needed a tool for editing many educational videos at its Broadcasting Center, and we provided software that could be edited through touch rather than on a conventional PC. This was before the iPhone and iPad, so we provided it on Windows 7 multitouch PCs and similar devices.
Because our strength was game technology with fast response, even at that time we were able to create software that let people edit video intuitively through touch.
Thanks to NHK, we became more involved with education. We started to feel a strong issue with the state of CX in schools and the difficulty of advancing DX there. We felt that leaving it as it was would be a serious problem. Looking at other tools, I felt they had not changed or evolved from the tools I used when I was in elementary school. There was no classroom-support tool with a touch-based, easy-to-use interface for everyone, so we developed a new educational app: LoiLoNote. Looking back, I am truly glad we could provide this product.
What issues did you have before introducing Wellridge's services?
Mr. Sugiyama
We were running Facebook Ads and Google Ads by ourselves through trial and error, but each platform has its own characteristics. We could not deliver ads to the right targets properly, campaigns would stop, and operations did not go well. We did not have digital advertising know-how internally. I was also running Facebook Ads myself, and I strongly felt that we needed know-how.
In terms of the innovation adoption theory proposed by Stanford sociologist Everett M. Rogers, LoiLoNote's user base was moving from early adopters toward the majority. At that timing, we wanted to try web advertising again, not with the Facebook Ads we had been using, but by advertising on generally searched Google Search keywords. We were looking for someone who could help with ad operations.
Murohashi
At that timing, we happened to be in the same office, Whatever SHIMOGAMO, and the Whatever team introduced us. That led to this initiative.
What made you choose Wellridge?
Murohashi
There must have been the option of working with other advertising agencies. Why did you decide on Wellridge?
Mr. Sugiyama
We actually consulted people who had invested in our company, had several agencies introduced, and took comparative estimates.
What was good about Wellridge was that the style of working together was clear. I think there are two types of companies that support advertising operations: those that fully take over the work, and those that come inside the company and support operations together. Wellridge was the only one in the second category. The other companies only offered outsourced ad operations.
1. A type that fully takes over ad operations
2. A type that enters the company and supports ad operations together
Wellridge was the only company whose service matched our need to accumulate know-how internally, and that is why we chose you. Once we started working together, I think you understood that many people are involved in advertising. It is not just PR; sales is involved too, as are members in India and the United States. If strategy changes, the tactics change too, so I think sales members should also understand marketing initiatives. For that reason, rather than outsourcing ad operations completely, we wanted to accumulate know-how within the company, and that is why we asked Mr. Murohashi and Wellridge. We were looking for someone who would give LoiLo employees the weapon of digital customer acquisition. Being able to consult with Mr. Murohashi in this consulting and PR style is valuable.
Also, we would like support for Taiwan too, so could we have time later for a meeting with the Taiwan members?
Murohashi
Understood. Japan, the United States, India, and next Taiwan. Thank you. How do you feel about the ability to support not only Japan but also overseas markets such as the United States and India?
Mr. Sugiyama
That is certainly another reason. With Japanese companies alone, English-language support can often be difficult, but with Wellridge we can ask for support in the United States, India, Taiwan, and elsewhere. The fact that you can handle overseas markets as well as Japan is another reason we chose you.
Murohashi
Because I studied in China, I can also support Taiwanese, so I would like to contribute in Japanese, English, and Taiwanese.
Please tell us about LoiLo's future business development and goals.
Mr. Sugiyama
Overseas markets are much larger than Japan. The United States and India in particular are huge countries, and I truly feel how difficult it is to meet people there. Because meeting people in person is so hard, we want to strengthen digital customer acquisition and spread LoiLoNote around the world.
When you use LoiLoNote's function for collecting every student's answers, the classroom changes. Previously, students had to raise their hands and speak, but now everyone can submit assignments by drag and drop, and we hear that it has become easier for everyone to share opinions. Each person becomes less afraid to express themselves. Some students have commented that they used to be scared when the teacher called on them in class. Rather than saying, please raise your hand, the class can say, please think of your idea and put it into LoiLo, and far more ideas come out. People who have studied with LoiLo since elementary school may surpass me completely.
Murohashi
With LoiLoNote, classrooms where only outspoken students stood out can become places where everyone can stand out, and students with truly good ideas can be noticed.
I also think it is very important to create and expand pilot schools overseas. To do that, we want to understand which customer-acquisition routes are appropriate in each country. On LinkedIn, is it DMs or lead ads? Or should it be Google Ads instead of LinkedIn? We want to clarify the best customer-acquisition channel by repeating trial and error with Wellridge.
Thank you very much for sharing your valuable story.
We will continue improving so that Wellridge can be useful to you.