Customer-Centric Product Development for Unknown Use Cases

This provides a detailed analysis of customer-centric product development and marketing through two primary business examples. The first case study examines Morinaga & Co.'s "in Jelly," illustrating how the company utilized social listening during the COVID-19 pandemic to discover previously unknown customer usage scenarios and expand its product line and marketing strategy beyond its original athlete focus. The second case study focuses on Oguri Shiko’s "mahora" notebook, a stationery product developed specifically to address the difficulties faced by individuals with developmental disabilities who found standard notebooks challenging to use. Both examples emphasize the critical business process of identifying and resolving specific customer problems or needs to drive innovation, market growth, and the creation of tangible customer value. It teaches that understanding deep customer insight is essential for effective product development and marketing communication that resonates with consumers.