fibona is a place full of speedy challenges. New members think about the "innovation of beauty" required today.
2022.07.5Shiseido's research institute has been promoting "fibona," an open innovation program that has aimed to "fuse external knowledge and people" since 2019. 2022, the third anniversary of the program, will see the addition of a record number of nine new members.
Why did the new members decide to join fibona? In today's rapidly changing world, what are they interested in, and what are they trying to achieve through fibona?
Yuzuri Koujima, who leads one of the co-creation projects with a startup company, Takeshi Ohtani, who spoke at "Around Beauty Meetup #11," and Yoshiaki Kyou, who was involved in the development of Lämmin" which was launched in 2020 through crowdfunding, shared their true feelings.
Why did you decide to join fibona?
――Please tell us about your day-to-day tasks, how you came to join fibona, and the projects you are in charge of.
Koshima
I work in the Brand Value Development Laboratory, where I am involved in the development of product fragrances and applied research related to fragrances.
I became interested in fibona right after I joined the company. I attended events and was approached by my peers who were already members. At first, however, I had the impression that fibona was a place for people who were in charge of advanced projects.
In the meantime, SCENTMATIC which I had been focusing on for some time, was selected for the "SHISEIDO OPEN INNOVATION 2021" project, and we began co-creation efforts with fibona. This led to my desire to participate in the program, and I applied for membership.
Fibona is involved in two initiatives: Co-Creation with Startups, which promotes co-creation with startups, and the planning and operation of Cultivation, which creates the “soil” in which innovation is born.
Ohtani:
Since I joined the company, I have been engaged in basic research on cosmetics. From this year, I will belong to the Mirai Development Institute, a department that explores a wide range of research possibilities beyond the framework of cosmetics.
I am one of those who has attended fibona events in the past. In fact, I have been asked twice before if I was interested in participating in fibona events. Once I declined because I was busy with work, but then I thought, "Isn't it rare to be approached twice? I thought better of it and volunteered during the open call. I also participated in Co-Creation with Startups and Cultivation.
Gong:
I was originally engaged in out-licensing products to China and expanding the bulk drug business for overseas markets at the head office and was transferred to the research institute several years ago. Currently, I am in the Mirai Development Institute, promoting operations in areas other than cosmetics.
I joined fibona once as a member when I was transferred to the research institute and was involved in the development of "Lämmin", a product born out of "Speedy Trial." It was a short but very stimulating experience, and I volunteered during the open application to become a member. Once again, I am involved in the planning and management of "Speedy Trial," which is a quick beta version of a product to be introduced to the market.
――What do you find attractive about fibona?
Ohtani:
What I found unique and appealing about participating in fibona events was the opportunity to be exposed to information and experiences that are different from my usual work and to connect with people inside and outside the company. I was particularly impressed with the 2019 "Next-generation Beauty Session", where I was able to see the real lives of people in Generation Z, get information about them, and hear their real opinions. I remember feeling from the bottom of my heart that what they were seeing was completely different from what I was seeing.
In my daily research, I am required to focus on the work at hand, but at the same time, sometimes it is difficult to see what is going on around me when I am too absorbed in my work. fibona exposes me to new perspectives and connections, which broadens my horizons and has a positive impact on my daily work. I still have connections with people I met at events in the past.
Koshima:
Through co-creation using SCENTMATIC's "KAORIUM," I am realizing that I am experiencing fun things and difficulties that I would not normally experience. In normal operations, it takes one to two years to launch a product through a series of hypotheses and verifications, but our work with SCENTMATIC is progressing faster than I imagined.
Also, this is the first time I have had the experience of not only researching fragrances as a researcher, but also working through an entire project, including deciding who will deliver what form of value at launch, where and in what form, and who will be involved in the launch, etc. So, I am learning a lot.
I have been interested in KAORIUM as a user for a long time, but now that I am actually able to work with them through fibona, I am excited to be able to work with them on a daily basis. I realized that what drives things is the feeling that something is interesting and the empathy between people.
Gong:
When I was involved in the development of "Lämmin," I was surprised at how fast "Speedy Trial," which is a program where members bring ideas from across the company and flexibly brush them up while reflecting on customer feedback, is.
Since the laboratory is usually the furthest away from the customer in the flow of making and delivering products, it is not easy to hear the customers' opinions directly. However, as the times change more quickly than ever, the development of products and services should not be done in a cautious manner, as if we had to plan, plan, plan, and then come up with a product. But rather, as soon as we have an idea, we need a sense of speed to make improvements while incorporating the customers' viewpoint. As a member of the "Speedy Trial" planning and management team, I think it is important for me to create a system to properly absorb the ideas of the researchers and the opinions of our customers, and reflect on them quickly in the development process.
Thinking about the "beauty innovation" required nowadays
――Society has been undergoing significant changes over the past few years, partly due to the pandemic. What do you each pay attention to now? What do you think are the "innovations in beauty" that are required in this day and age?
Ohtani::
Personally, I am very interested in the SDGs. Environmental issues themselves have been discussed for decades, but I feel that in the last decade or so, the volume of information has increased and that society as a whole is engaged in deeper and broader discussions. The general public is also consuming products with perspectives such as "under what kind of working environment were they manufactured?", "what percentage of plastic was reused?", and "they claim to be eco-friendly, but are they really eco-friendly?”
I see these as new needs of the times, so to speak. How can Shiseido contribute to fulfilling those needs? I believe that this is also innovation related to beauty.
Koshima:
It is said that as society diversifies, so does beauty. In an age when beauty is not defined in a certain way, I am interested in what kind of feelings people have toward a certain thing when they perceive it as "beauty.” In the case of fragrance, it is not a question of which fragrance people like or appreciate as beautiful, but rather, what kind of words do people use to describe a fragrance when they smell it, like "like" or "beautiful.”
I like Shiseido's message for 2018, "LOVE THE DIFFERENCES," and I believe that the approach of how beauty is created for each individual is a search for beauty that is uniquely Shiseido.
Gong
As information and goods abound and social networking services spread, the age of mass has come to an end and people's values are diversifying. At the same time, customers' criteria for selecting products may be shifting from "what everyone else thinks is good" to "what I can find out for myself and think is good.” The key word here is personalization. However, the personalization of beauty is ultimately difficult. This is because the goal of beauty is different for each person.
This means that approaches to improvements such as "let's inject hyaluronic acid if we get wrinkles" or "let's cover up blemishes with foundation if we get spots" are no longer applicable. Now that people are more concerned about their health, we must provide solutions from a preventive perspective to help people stay healthy both physically and mentally. This is the kind of innovation in beauty that is required today.
fibona is an open place. What we want to achieve in the future.
――Lastly, what do you hope to accomplish through the activities of fibona, and what are your ambitions?
Koshima:
As a member of fibona, I have two goals that I would like to achieve. I deeply empathize with what Mr. Keogh said, but I think that in this day and age, personalization is something that is "standard equipment" for customers when they purchase products.
These days, it is easy to get things such as "personal color diagnosis" or "skeletal style analysis" online to find what suits you best. However, on the other hand, there are many people who feel, for example, "I was diagnosed as a 'blue-beige/summer’ type, but does it really suit me?
The keywords for what I consider "personalization that is uniquely Shiseido" are "real feeling" and "science-based,” and I believe that Shiseido can provide personalized beauty that makes customers feel “I am this,” as well as confident and radiant from the inside out.
The second goal I want to achieve is to create a place and mechanism for our internal members to keep a positive mindset. First, we would like to provide a place where researchers and people from other departments can casually exchange opinions and collaborate with each other. Then, I would like to expand this circle to outside of the company as well.
Ohtani:
I would like to provide opportunities to challenge myself and others in the company to do things that are "out of the ordinary.” I feel that this kind of behavior broadens my horizons.
In fact, I participated in fibona with the intention of challenging myself in an area in which I was not very good at, but now I realize that I am surprisingly not averse to participating in such activities and that my sense of weakness was my own assumption.
I have learned that fibona is more open than I had imagined. fibona still seems a little intimidating, so I would like to support it so that more people will have the courage to join.
Gong:
Whether it is fibona or our usual business, we want to realize "n=1 beauty." The main actor is each individual customer, and we are their supporters. I would like to realize the ultimate in personalization, providing solutions that suit each individual, rather than solutions that suit everyone.
I love Shiseido's corporate message in 2014, "Be beautiful for a moment and for a lifetime," and it is also connected to our vision for 2030, "PERSONAL BEAUTY WELLNESS COMPANY." I deeply empathize with Shiseido's attitude of being close to each and every person's life.
If we consider the "beauty of a moment" of a person as "n=1 beauty," then the beauty sought by each person is not one and the same, and it may change with age. If we can support all of them, we may be able to support beauty for a lifetime.
（text: Yue Arima edit: Kaori Sasagawa）