Ishigaki Island Euglena
Communicate charm
Character
Plan.

"At Euglena may be the only company that mass-cultivates and commercializes Euglena Euglena more familiarly and let people know its charm. "

It was in 2010 that Murana, who was in charge of marketing, had such a conversation with Takuyuki Fukumoto, who was the director in charge of sales (currently Executive Officer).

Euglena Co., Ltd. as one of the first employees except the founding members when she met Izumo, the representative director in 2005. Euglena was successfully cultivated outdoors for the first time on Ishigaki Island, and has held various roles such as financing, general affairs, accounting, and public relations.

It was in 2009 that Murahana shifted her focus to marketing.
Although it succeeded in mass cultivation outdoors in 2005, Euglena Ishigaki Island has emerged as an issue.
One of the measures that came out to solve that problem is the "official character." It was because I wanted to get to know Euglena more closely and to give back to the people of Ishigaki Island who support Euglena

When we started as a venture company from the University of Tokyo, it was financially difficult to have our own pool to challenge Euglena At that time, Yaeyama Sangyo (now Our Ltd.), which produced chlorella on Ishigaki Island, lent a pool for culturing Euglena I cannot thank Yaeyama Sangyo for taking a great risk for the research that I do not know if it will succeed.

This feeling continued and spread even after Euglena It has come to be considered that contributing not only to Yaeyama Sangyo but also to Ishigaki Island, where the company is located, is indispensable for sustainable corporate management. In 2010, I acquired the naming rights for the shopping street on Ishigaki Island and named it Euglena At that time, the Euglena Mall logo was solicited, and official characters were also solicited accordingly.

Murahana after joining the company

The recruitment of official characters was centered on university students attending art colleges and faculties.

The background was the desire to "create a character that will be loved for a long time" by making the most of the sensibility of the younger generation.

At the same time, I also wanted to express my gratitude to Yaeyama Sangyo and Ishigaki Island Euglena

"Even when Euglena wasn't selling well, Yaeyama Sangyo did not abandon it and worked with us. That gratitude led to the desire to contribute to Ishigaki Island."

It is said that more than 100 applications were received during the two-week open call for participants period. The submitted works were lined up in the conference room, and not only officers but also employees participated in discussions and selections.

The final choice was the work of a student at Musashino Art University. In this way, the official character "Yugurin" was born.

"The last deciding factor, Euglena including the" flagella (Binkomu) "you're about head because I transmitted that has me thinking seriously. Character of things, as a biological Euglena a variety of features and movement of It was made with a view to it. There was also an evaluation that the usage scenes would expand, such as the development of animation. "

Yugurin Card

Soma, who joined the company halfway in 2010, was in charge of launching the BtoC business, product planning and development, and marketing under Murahana, and was one of the members who thought about how to use "Yugurin" through trial and error. That's right.

Just because a character was born did not mean that he would be active immediately. There was also a question within the company, "Is the character effective while many Our

"As a marketing person, Euglena itself a character that" sells things "by appearing in the sales floor. Don't take away the future of Yugurin, a new companion. , We gradually improved the rules such as not posting on the sales site. "

Soma looks back on that time.

Where can Yugurin play an active role? Marketing members such as Soma find a way to appear in the event.

"I made a costume of Yugurin and appeared in various events. It almost always appeared at Our Euglena is nutritious and grows up on Ishigaki Island, which is rich in nature. I told the children that

Science experiment class (at an elementary school in Ishigaki Island)

Nowadays, Yugurin's appearance opportunities are increasing dramatically, such as participating in the B League game, which is a professional basketball league on Ishigaki Island, and appearing in a science experiment class held for elementary and junior high schools on the island.

"Sometimes I get handwritten illustrations from local children. I feel that they are happy with the reaction when they appear at the event. Almost all the children on Ishigaki Island know about Yugurin. Isn't it? "

Murahana talks about the response.

In addition, since 2013, Yugurin has appeared at the "Jiyugaoka Sweets Festa" and "Jiyugaoka Megami Festival" held every year in Jiyugaoka, attracting the attention of visitors and expanding the range of activities outside Ishigaki Island. There is.

At Jiyugaoka Sweets Festa (left) ・ At Jiyugaoka Megami Festival (right)

"Up until now, Euglena Ishigaki Island. In the future, I hope Yugurin will take the opportunity to take an interest in future issues such as environmental issues and food issues."

The feeling is the same for Soma.

Ten years after its birth, Yugurin is Euglena 's management philosophy of "making people and the earth healthy."

Euglena Mall sign

Posted in August 2020