Shiseido's Research Institute “Global Innovation Center” promotes an open innovation program called "fibona" that started in 2019. One of the activities of the program is the "Speedy trial," in which beta versions of products are developed from technologies originating from the institute and quickly introduced to the market. The goal is to develop innovations that are meaningful to many people by using crowdfunding and other means to communicate with customers from the early stages of development.

Several products are currently under development, including “Lämmin”, a film-type supplement focusing on facial impressions, which was launched through crowdfunding as the first product in 2020.

Members of Shiseido's creative team, including designers, have played an important role in shaping the Speedy trial products. How did they perceive the Speedy trial and the activities of fibona? Kotaro Oda, a fibona member of the Shiseido Global innovation center, moderated this interview with Mika Ishii, Maria Hirokawa and Rena Uemura, fibona members belonging to Shiseido Creative Co., Ltd.

Researcher and creator, different ways of thinking are stimulating

Hirokawa:
Like Ms. Ishii, I have been involved in fibona as a product designer since the development of Lämmin. In my daily work, I am mainly in charge of the product design around packaging.

Uemura:
I am a member of the second term. Although I am a designer like Ms. Hirokawa, I am usually in charge of experience design based on store design, etc. As a member of the product development team at fibona, I am responsible for creating the story of the products we deliver to our customers.

──From a creative standpoint, what motivated you to participate in fibona?

Ishii:
Shiseido is a company that values the fusion of science and art. I have a background in product development, so if there is an opportunity to create a highly original product that fuses the two, I have always wanted to support it.

Shortly before fibona was formed, we held a study group where designers and researchers discussed new services together. A member of fibona heard about this and invited me to join fibona as a member of the Creative team.

Hirokawa:
Product development usually originates from marketers, in other words, from customer feedback and market trends. In contrast, I felt that fibona's approach, in which researchers take the initiative in bringing new ideas into reality, was very unique and fresh.

Uemura:
It was a new form of initiative for researchers and creators to team up and expand ideas without marketers, wasn't it? How would it develop if we simply combined technology and ideas? It was very interesting to see that process.

Ishii:
Researchers have a completely different perspective. We creatives are involved in the part of the product that customers can see and hold in their hands, but the researchers are looking at the seeds of the product, which are still unseen. From the idea-generation stage, I was stimulated by their way of thinking, the time span, and their interest.

──Do you usually have few opportunities to interact directly with the researchers?

Hirokawa:
Yes. In our usual work, the marketing team often works in between the researchers, so we don't have many opportunities to exchange opinions and feelings with each individual researcher. I think that the fibona activities gave us a chance to see the project from an angle that is not usually seen in the company.

──We also heard some members of the research institute say that they were unable to answer thought-provoking questions from the creative members and were reminded of their own naivete. I feel that being forced to verbalize their research had a positive impact on the researchers so they could reevaluate the fundamentals of their own research.

Uemura:
Even for a single presentation, a large part of the presentation materials we create starts with developing an image of the design concept. At fibona, however, the researchers backed up the elements of the image, which made the presentation much more persuasive.

fibona is an opportunity to experience different creative work

Hirokawa:
The crowdfunding project for Lämmin was a great learning experience. The customers who buy items through crowdfunding are probably a slightly different demographic than the customers who usually pick up Shiseido products. What kind of users are on the crowdfunding platform, and what kind of product would be acceptable by them? How do we give shape to the passion of the researchers? The work of bringing seemingly distant entities closer together is something I don't get to experience very often in my daily work, and I think I was given a great opportunity to do so.

Uemura:
The researchers were very positive. I could feel their enthusiasm for how to incorporate their research results into products.

Ishii:
That said, we didn't have the air of competing creatively with the researchers at all. As in our daily work, we have people from different generations and people with different personalities working on the same team, and we also work with people from outside the company, so we may not be aware of departmental barriers. I think that with Lämmin, the researchers and creative team members worked as one team, exchanging ideas and opinions each time, and we were able to develop the main idea and launch the product.

Uemura:
People in creative professions like us go back to the "concept" when we are unsure of a decision in the process of making something, but the researchers go back to "What is the core of this research?”. This difference was also refreshing.

Ishii:
With Lämmin, the product itself was unique, so we tried to convey that uniqueness up front. But now, in the second product development project that Ms. Uemura and I are working on, we are in the process of devising a unique crowdfunding approach to add to that.

At fibona, we can experience things that are difficult to do in our usual creative work, such as devising plans and collaborating with other departments. I believe that there are still more possibilities to be realized.

Strengths in being able to try out "off-the-beaten-path" ideas that are different from the classic way

Hirokawa:
I realized through fibona that there are many seeds of ideas in the research institute. The researchers like to do research, and we like to make things. It would be interesting if there were more opportunities to share such differences.

I think the existence of fibona, which can bring something different from Shiseido's traditional road and something that is off-the-beaten-path to the world, is challenging and, objectively speaking, interesting.

Uemura:
Ms. Hirokawa described it as a "off-the-beaten-path," but in a good sense, I think fibona is a place where we can try things that are not typical of Shiseido without being too conscious of the market.

I am proud that fibona is the result of the collaboration of these two divisions, science and art, which are two of Shiseido's strengths. I would like to continue to create new products by combining these two fields, which have always been important to Shiseido.



(Text: Hanae Abe; Edit: Kaori Sasagawa / Emi Kawasaki)