JAYID

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Managing Director of MagicalTrip, a service that matches local people with travelers to provide unique local tours to inbound travelers in various cities in Japan and Thailand. It is the fastest growing service with the most reviews in the "Tours & Activities in Japan" category on TripAdvisor in 2019..

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire JAYID, and what were your goals?

Although our service has been offering a very unique product, we were unknown in Japan and abroad as we used to be an emerging service. Our business needed to raise awareness and build trust with both potential customers outside of Japan and potential local guides in Japan. We also needed to tell about the quality of our service both domestically and internationally through the media.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Because the following selection criteria were met

• The vendor must have a communication path to influential media in Japan and a good understanding of their habits
• Ability to communicate internationally and build media relations
• Strong business understanding
• A proven track record of working with a number of major corporations
• Friendly and supportive attitude

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Scope is to develop and support the implementation of PR strategies for Japan and abroad. Execution support includes thematic design of information to be disseminated, media communication support and assistance in handling interviews.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

1 project manager who is a professional with many years of PR experience in a huge global company. She also studied at a prestigious university in the UK, so she spoke English very well. We are a Japan-based business, but with multinational members, so it was very helpful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Japan Several TV programs on huge Japanese TV networks such as NTV and TBS, and many interviews in online media Outside Japan Exposure on NHK world, Japan's national broadcasting program for foreign audiences, and coverage on BBC, CNN Travel and other reliable international travel media. As a result of the above, we were able to achieve a top-tier position as a tour supplier in Japan in one year, despite being a start-up service. According to our own research, we are the most reviewed operator in the category of "Japanese tours and activities" on TripAdvisor during the year 2019 (when all reviews from our managed accounts are combined).

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Communication tools are mainly slack and online MTG, but education to internal members is conducted in person. They were flexible and friendly.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They built an excellent message design to build good relationships with influential media. We as service providers try to send out messages with all of our charms, but they have sharpened those messages from the media's perspective and restructured them into stronger messages that are more interesting. They also provided training for our internal members so that we could drive PR on our own in the future, which was very much appreciated.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I can't think of anything in particular that could be improved. We are very satisfied. They are very popular PR company due to their strategy and strong media relations, so if the scope of the request is unclear or the client is overly demanding, they may not be able to take on the project.