CASE STUDY
Kuraray Paper & Packaging
Creating a compelling, customer-centric brand campaign
Challenge
The Paper & Packaging segment of Kuraray Group, a Japanese manufacturer of chemicals, fibers and other materials, plays a central strategic and commercial role in the organization. But because it functioned in business-unit silos, it often missed opportunities to respond directly to customer needs, cross-sell and collaborate with other business units. Segment leaders hoped that with Prophet’s help and a clarified value proposition, the team could better communicate the potential impact of the integrated Paper & Packaging division.
Solutions
First, our team researched the industry and competitors, interviewing Kuraray stakeholders and customers to understand perceived strengths and unmet customer needs. This analysis helped identify value proposition themes. We then refined each of these thematic building blocks, combining them to create a differentiated and unified value proposition.
Next, we developed a holistic brand campaign to allow the company to talk about its many products and cross-sell effectively, and to also elevate the Kuraray brand as a single entity, one with deep expertise, a global network of experts and exceptional innovation skills.
Our campaign introduced a much-sharper, game-changer Kuraray brand to inspire its customers, using attention-getting visuals that further set it apart from competitors – and where the company hopes to go in the future.
To support this new approach, we created strategic tools and assets, such as a sales presentation that all customer-facing employees can use in conversation with existing or potential customers. These tools ensure the new value proposition is implemented consistently and effectively, throughout all levels of the company.
Lastly, we created a playbook to help employees activate the value proposition and execute the campaign, as well as internal efforts to increase awareness and understanding of Kuraray’s new cross-segment approach.
Results
The strengthened Kuraray brand is being rolled out across Kuraray’s social and digital channels, as well as industry conferences where it is distinguishing itself from competitors, breaking through the noise and reaching its customers with a consistent message. The company is integrating the new tools into customer interactions, effectively supporting the new Kuraray Paper & Packaging positioning and leading to positive business outcomes.
“The Prophet team completely immersed themselves in our field, becoming experts on our business and its needs. The work they delivered has been truly transformational and is the uncontested gold standard for marketing communication at Kuraray”
Bettina Plaumann
Head of Communications and Marketing, Kuraray Europe