What We Can Learn from FamilyMart's PR Strategy: What's Needed to Keep Generating Buzz

Rather than flooding the market with ads, the "FamilyMart 40th Anniversary Project" focused on creating newsworthy initiatives that delighted customers, then amplified them through PR and social media.

Mr. Hikaru Adachi, CMO of FamilyMart who led this project, and Ms. Rinko Kato, PR Planner at Dentsu Inc., discuss the theme "PR-Driven CX (Customer Experience) Design." In this second part, we hear about the key points for creating newsworthy facts and what they prioritized to release 100 news items (initiatives) over the course of a year.

Part 1: Learning from the Famima 40th Anniversary Project: What is "PR-Driven CX Design"?

About the FamilyMart 40th Anniversary Project...
From March 2021 to February 2022, the project ran under the slogan "Famima-ru. (Encouraging visits to FamilyMart stores through various opportunities)." Centered around five keywords (① More Delicious, ② Fun Savings, ③ What Makes "You" Happy, ④ Food Safety & Security, Earth-Friendly, ⑤ Exciting Places to Work), numerous initiatives titled "40 Great Things!?" (ultimately totaling 100 initiatives) were executed based on each keyword. The campaign generated significant buzz, with sales exceeding the previous year's figures in nearly every month of fiscal 2021. FamilyMart also ranked first in the convenience store industry in the "Customer Experience Value Ranking 2021."

What are the key points for creating newsworthy facts?

──For FamilyMart's 40th anniversary project, you created 100 facts that delighted customers, and these became news stories covered by various media outlets. First, please tell us the key points for creating newsworthy facts.

Adachi: I believe the key to creating facts that become news, get picked up by media, and become topics on social media is encapsulated in " PR IMPAKT®," a concept proposed by PR Consulting Dentsu Inc.

Kato: I believe it's crucial to stay attuned to the prevailing mood of society by engaging with diverse information daily. Staying updated on recent trending topics and even casual conversations are important!

Adachi: If I may add one more point, while many of us work in Tokyo, we avoid thinking solely from a Tokyo-centric perspective. FamilyMart has stores nationwide. We constantly consider the lifestyles of customers living in regions far from Tokyo and what might resonate with them. We also think about whether the language used is appropriate for those living in regional areas, whether the content is familiar to them, and whether it will spark their interest.

──Could you share how you consciously work to increase news reach?

Kato: We place immense importance on the "title, lead text, and top image" of our releases. I believe many people rely on web articles as their primary source of information. When I search for articles myself, I almost always decide based on the title and thumbnail image. Therefore, we are very conscious of how much we can convey through the lead text and image, which serve as the entry point.

For example, for our initiative changing the Famichiki bag to rainbow colors during Pride Week to symbolize sexual diversity and LGBTQ support, I felt the key was making the rainbow transformation immediately obvious. So I communicated that simply.

Adachi: When sharing news, visuals make it more likely to become a topic of conversation and get picked up compared to text alone. I was always conscious that images are key to spreading the topic.

Allowing ample lead time to build internal consensus before release

──Releasing 100 news items (initiatives) in one year must have been quite a pace?

Adachi: First, we allocated a considerably long lead time to implement initiatives. With a short lead time, you're forced to focus solely on immediate tasks, trapped in a cycle of constant scrambling. In retail, launching initiatives typically starts three to four months in advance, but we planned ours at least six months ahead—sometimes even earlier.

Kato: Working on this project changed my perspective on the necessity of lead time. While extending lead time can bring uncertainty—like whether a proposal will still be timely and relevant when launched—short lead times often lead to rushed, time-over situations. This project made me realize there are mechanisms only possible because you have the time.

Adachi: That's right. Plus, I believe that if we don't make decisions quickly and decisively, the agency's workload increases as more and more options pile up. Our job on the client side is to help reduce the number of options the agency has to consider. Doing so allows the agency to work more efficiently and choose the best approach cost-wise.

──How did you build consensus internally?

Kato: The key item was the "press release." Typically, press releases are written after campaign details are finalized, but for the 40th anniversary, the press release came first. This made it clear what was decided and what wasn't, and it was easier to share facts with those not attending meetings. If the press release was solid, it also made it easier to recover from minor issues that arose.

Adachi: As you said, the release was extremely effective. Even just the headline conveyed the core message. Agreeing on the release early on clearly established our strategy—what we wanted to communicate to which customers—both internally and externally. This allowed us to proceed with minimal deviation.

Our advertising budget is smaller than competitors'. We need the courage to make new proposals and decisions.

──For FamilyMart's 40th anniversary project, you launched 100 news items (initiatives) continuously over a year. Behind the success, were there also challenges?

Kato: Having many initiatives means many people are involved. Our core focus was keeping the initiatives aligned with our five key messages. Amidst the pandemic, limiting in-person meetings, it was also crucial to manage the enthusiasm and pace of the many people involved.

Adachi: For us, many of these were unprecedented initiatives. The "Summer Curry Festival," "FamilyMart Sweet Potato Digging," and "Crispy Chicken" were all new products. Getting internal buy-in for these new ventures was perhaps the most challenging part.

People often ask how we got that agreement, but honestly, it mostly came down to laughing it off (laughs). We'd say, "You won't know if it's new unless you try it, so let's just give it a shot." If it's based on past examples, it's not new, and if it doesn't look new, customers and the media won't react. Convincing the company to get involved and say "Let's try it once" was probably the hardest part.

For example, when we increased the size of a popular product by 40%, some internally questioned, "Will customers really respond to this?" But when it actually sold well, that built trust within the company. As new initiatives gradually started hitting, we entered a cycle where it became easier and easier to try new things. Proposing and deciding requires courage.

Kato: Mr. Adachi, your courage and decisiveness are truly remarkable.

Adachi: One more point: FamilyMart has a smaller advertising budget compared to competitors. So, if we just do the same things the same way, we'll never catch up or stand out. With our limited advertising budget, what we do must generate more buzz among customers. Unless we pursue stronger or newer approaches, we can't keep pace with competitors' overwhelming financial resources. So this past year was about having the courage to fully commit to new and buzzworthy initiatives.

──Finally, please share your outlook for the future.

Adachi: I believe FamilyMart's image has improved slightly by consistently promoting the five messages we launched for our 40th anniversary. However, we're still far from having those messages recognized as FamilyMart's defining characteristics. People's perceptions don't change overnight, so we need to keep promoting the same messages consistently and effectively. We'll keep the five messages as they are, but we want to execute the initiatives more powerfully and on a larger scale. For that, we're counting on ideas from Mr. Kato and everyone else.

Kato: You're absolutely right. While we'll certainly strengthen what we've done so far to enhance its news value, we also want to challenge ourselves with new initiatives. In a way, the 40th anniversary isn't over—it's more like "to be continued."