Kotobukiya Shareholders Meeting 2019 Report [Akihabara Company Shareholders Meeting Series]

You say you do extensive market research on product development.
Isn't there no point in marketing for a niche manufacturer like Kotobukiya?

Now that we've gone public, we need to reach out to a larger audience.
If you only offer niche products, you will only be targeting a small number of customers, which will prevent your sales and profits from growing.
This time, we hired a consultant and started reviewing it from scratch.
I would like to do two things: something that can be accepted by many customers and something specialized, something that is both broad and deep.
While products that are geared towards enthusiasts are important, research is necessary to develop products aimed at a wide range of people, including those into plastic models, American comics, and women.

I'm a Kotobukiya fan.
Please leave a message for your fans.

Usually, figures cost 1 to 2 yen for our internal projects, but we have a 10 yen figure.
I'm telling them to create something that only Kotobukiya can do, something that will show fans the potential they have.
Also, if you have any questions, please let me know by email.
Without it, you can only judge things by numbers, such as sales.

I'm waiting for your passionate opinions!

Wouldn't it be better to actively provide topics on TV and in the media to raise awareness of anime, hobbies, etc. among the general public?
There was a lot of talk about Inada, the Hakone Ekiden runner, in the past.
By the way, Kotobukiya started a track and field club, but what's going on with it now?
Also, I feel sad that there is no Udora.

Inada had been injured but has recently recovered.
There are five members of the track and field club, but Inada is the only athlete.
He says it's hard to maintain motivation when he's alone, so he wants another person.
It seems that Inada is currently in charge, and if the number of people increases, they may be able to do more advertising.
Kotobukiya tends to be bad at active advertising, but that's not good enough, so we want to make the most of it in various ways.

Regarding overseas expansion, it appears that in North America they will be focusing on other companies' IP, so their own IP seems to be taking a back seat.
I often hear that giant robots aren't popular in North America, but some of your company's IP, such as Hexa Gear, incorporates FPS elements that could be well-received overseas, so why not try promoting them?

Until last year, sales in North America were exclusively handled by a single distributor, but since that contract expired, the company has decided to do it itself.
This preparation is putting pressure on profits.
When Kotobukiya exhibited alone at Comic-Con in July, the response to FA Girls was better than expected, which made me think that plastic models might be popular in North America as well.
Hexa Gear seems like a good option, but I'm still thinking about how to develop it.
I can't say anything yet, but please look forward to it. (Apparently it won't be made into a Hollywood movie.)

This year is negative, but is your growth strategy progressing as planned?
Let me know the progress.

To be honest, I was optimistic when we made sales in the previous period.
Figure sales were not good, down 8 to 9 million yen from the previous period.
Until now, I've been doing things at my own pace, so it's been difficult to change gears.
Also, the products have become all about increasing sales.
Now we send out progress reports every week.
In addition, it is expected that it will take about one to two years before results become visible for the services currently being promoted that handle digital data.
We are currently at a growth plateau, and I think that when we go from 80 billion to 100 billion, we will do so in one go.

Until now, individual people have been in charge of planning and creating products, but some of these products have ended up being a drag on the business.
Instead of putting together the plan by myself, we started the process of thinking about it together in March.
I think the results will be available around the end of this fiscal year.
However, that alone would not be interesting, so we will also be creating challenge-type products in a ratio of about 8:2.

I'm a fan of FA Girls.
If you have any plans for anime or games based on your company's IP, please let us know, not just for FA Girls.

We've asked FA Girls to provide us with this for the next 10 years, so we'll be taking measures to keep them alive, not just in anime and games.
I plan to make a living from this for the next 10 years, so I'm going to make it exciting.
We hope to carry out promotional activities that can be expanded horizontally, not just for figures and plastic models.

Anyway, I'll do my best for the next 10 years, so please keep it up!

The sales forecast for figures this season is pretty bullish, but what's the basis for that?

The team is recovering from the significant drop in the previous period, with China focusing on figure skating.
Since plastic models are doing well, we set this figure as our main goal to regain sales of figurines.

Last year you said you wanted to get away from China because labor costs were rising, but what happened?

We are also exploring new markets outside of China.
However, while things like gacha can be made anywhere, high-end figurines are hard to find outside of China.
Products that can be sold even if they are expensive as long as they are of high quality are produced in China.
I'm also exploring the interior of China.

I'm happy to receive the complimentary Q-card, but it doesn't feel special.
Trading volume is low, so we want the benefits to be a hot topic.
Give me a figure!!!!!

Many of the shareholders are Kotobukiya fans, but even among them, their tastes vary.
We thought about what would make everyone happy, and decided on a Q-card for the time being.
It would be difficult to come up with a system that allows people to choose their benefits, so I would like to think about it.
I feel that there are many long-term holders who are fans, so I would like to consider offering benefits to long-term holders.
By the way, figures are out of the question.

Compared to last year, the stock price has been terrible, so I think there should be some kind of perk that would encourage people other than fans to buy the stock as a way to address the stock price.
Maybe it would be a chance for them to get points to use when shopping on the site, or to pick up a product and get interested?

Thank you for your valuable opinion.
検討します。

Is user support poor?
It had been a month since I applied for the Zodiac Contest, but I still hadn't received any photos, and I didn't know when the results would be announced.
Some fans have speculated that there are so many products being released that they may not be able to keep up.
Are there any improvements there?

I really didn't have time.
Until now, the planning department was also in charge of marketing, but we have improved it so that the planning, development and sales teams are working together.
We have created an environment where we can support each other and work together from the customer's perspective.

You have opened stores on a major Chinese e-commerce site, but do you have plans to do so in other countries?

Cross-border e-commerce is currently only available in China.
This will also be converted into a domestic Chinese operation by a local subsidiary.
They used cross-border e-commerce to raise awareness, and made a full-scale entry through their own e-commerce site.
I would like to try this method if there are any areas where it can be used.

You say you're strengthening digital content, but are you taking security measures?

We want to work on digital through alliances.
We don't do this in-house, so security is an issue that our alliance partners have to deal with.

I went to see the movie FA Girl 8 times! It was great!!
But aren't there too few theaters?

Pony Canyon decided how many theaters to screen the film at, and it started out with 30 theaters.
We realized that there were people who watched the film multiple times, so we later added eight more theaters.
Based on this experience, I would like to take the next step.

It's tough for fans because the items released are concentrated in certain months.
I wonder if we are fighting over a piece of the pie within our own companies.
It would be great if you could plan your sales taking into account the user's budget.

Due to issues with factories in China or publishers, release dates are often delayed by two months.
This is something that is being said within the company, but it's quite difficult because we have to make up for the sales that occur when there is a delay.
I'll bring it in and tell the person in charge.
I will make efforts to improve.

Ferrari is literature!!!!!!
I hope Kotobukiya will also think about the meaning of owning it.

The best thing is to hear, "I got you!"
The worst thing would be to be told, "Oh no, Kotobukiya."
We want to constantly improve and refine our products to create new ones that will inspire people and give off the unique Kotobukiya vibe.
I also think that there is a need for products aimed at enthusiasts, so I would like to create something unique.

You actively participate in hobby shows such as WF, but do you plan your own events?
Kotofes 2017 was fun, so I hope they do it again.

At Kotofes, we felt there were some issues, especially the lack of space for customers.
I would like to plan another original event.