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2024.06.27
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The trials and errors of a rookie in their first year: Behind the scenes of the massive promotion for the eagerly awaited new title 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion'.

Hello, I'm Akaiwa from the Corporate Planning Department at Reazon Holdings. Today, we had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Sasaki, who as an entrepreneur during his student years, joined us as a new graduate in April of 2022. Currently, Mr. Sasaki is involved not only in promoting existing titles but also in the promotion of new titles. Most recently, he has been in charge of promoting the new title 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion,' which has surpassed 2 million downloads. During this interview, we discussed various topics from Mr. Sasaki's student days to his feelings about being involved in dynamic projects in his first year at the company, and also his journey leading up to the release of 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion.' We hope that this interview provides insight into the promotional aspects of our work for those who are usually engaged in other areas.

Taku Sasaki Promotion Department, Adrea

Graduate of Keio University, Faculty of Business and Commerce. Founded a startup during his studies and launched a mobile gaming business. In 2022, he joined Adrea, a subsidiary of Reazon Holdings Group, as a new graduate, where he is engaged in marketing for in-house games. Primarily involved in launching new titles, and most recently responsible for promoting 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion'.

On the topic of 'coolness', and experiencing the challenges of competing at the forefront

Akaiwa

Mr. Sasaki, you joined us as a new graduate in 2022, so I assume your memories of your student days are still fresh. I've heard that you started a student business in game development, could you tell us about that time? What prompted you to start a business in the first place?

Sasaki

I simply wanted to achieve something on my own, and I vaguely thought, "Starting a business sounds cool."
During my student days, I had a strong desire to grow as an individual and was exploring how I could achieve that. I think people have various ways of understanding and valuing growth. While there are different methods such as part-time jobs, studying abroad, or pursuing graduate studies, I chose entrepreneurship.

Akaiwa

You mentioned that you decided to start a business for personal growth, but why did you choose the mobile gaming business?

Sasaki

At the end of 2018, I learned that the market for 'Hyper Casual Games,' a type of mobile game, was rapidly growing. I found it to be an interesting market. Hyper Casual Games refer to simple and minimalistic games, but with the growth of the video advertising market, it became possible to generate significant revenue by inserting video ads between these simple games. At that time, the Hyper Casual Games market had a clear indicator of success, which was the CPI (Cost Per Install) being below 50 yen per install. If you could clear this indicator, it meant you could recover your investment through advertising revenue from the game. I kept creating and closing games in order to release a game that could clear the CPI of 50 yen or less. Eventually, after trial and error, I was able to release a game that cleared the CPI of 50 yen or less. This marked the phase where we started advertising, but I struggled here...

Akaiwa

What specific challenges did you face?

Sasaki

For about two months after the release, we were able to advertise without any problems, and we had around 150,000 installs. I thought we could continue advertising at this pace.
However, afterwards, competing companies released similar games and deployed advertising campaigns several times larger than mine. As a result, the number of installs quickly decreased, and the game lost its momentum. It was at this point that I realized the importance of promotion and felt keenly that without promotion skills, I couldn't compete at the forefront.

Deciding to join Reazon was in order to acquire those promotional skills

Akaiwa

So, you wanted to acquire promotion skills and started job hunting. I assume you considered companies other than Reazon, so what made you ultimately decide to join Reazon?

Sasaki

Compared to other major companies in the gaming industry, I felt that Reazon had a stronger venture feel. I thought I could experience the excitement of building both business and organization here.
Moreover, during the interview, I heard about how Reazon conducts promotion for businesses, and scales each business with reproducibility. This perfectly matched the skills I wanted to acquire, so I found Reazon very attractive and decided to join.

Akaiwa

Having joined the company, did you notice any differences between your expectations and the reality of working at Reazon?

Sasaki

I was surprised to see that despite being a small team, Reazon executes on a large scale. The level of discretion I was given and the scale of promotion were much larger than I had imagined. I was hoping for an environment where more opportunities would come my way, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Akaiwa

Certainly, at Reazon, regardless of whether you are a new graduate or a mid-career employee, there are plenty of opportunities available. Since joining Reazon, what specific tasks have you been responsible for?

Sasaki

The main task I initially worked on was the promotion for a new title called 'Baki King of Souls.' Unlike existing titles, it started from the so-called awareness phase of pre-registration, where we had almost no advertising data to start with. Specifically, I was in charge of directing creatives such as videos and static image ads, operating the official Twitter account, and managing advertising.

Akaiwa

While working on the promotion of new titles, what discoveries did you make?

Sasaki

I realized the importance of preparation. Before the release of the game, there are various factors at play, and things often don't go as planned. Based on this premise, it was necessary to prepare for promotion in advance. I think the characteristic of promoting a new title is the need to think about Plan A and Plan B and take actions accordingly depending on the situation.

I experienced 'The Real Reazon' once again through the promotion of 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion'

Akaiwa

Exceeding 150,000 pre-registrations in about a month is no small feat. It's impressive! After the release of 'Baki King of Souls,' did the preparation for the promotion of 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion' begin towards the end of last year?

Sasaki

Yes, that's right. Around mid-March 2022, we released 'Baki King of Souls' and I was in charge of its promotion. After that, in June 2022, we began preparations for the release of 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion.' Reflecting on the past release of 'Baki King of Souls,' I felt that we could have done better with more preparation time, so we started early.
The 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion' project had a different atmosphere from before, and it was a project that carried a significant mission to elevate the company to the next level. I feel very fortunate to have been able to play a major role in such a large-scale mission and promotion.

Akaiwa

Over the approximately six months since you started, I believe many stakeholders gathered to consider various measures. In that context, what main tasks did you undertake?

Sasaki

Although there were numerous promotional measures being implemented simultaneously, my main responsibility was operating the official Twitter account. Before the promotion began in earnest, I felt a lot of pressure because we were dealing with the immensely popular IP of 'Blue Lock', and I had the authority to handle a large advertising budget.
Once we announced the game's release and started operating the Twitter account, the popularity of 'Blue Lock' was very high, and there were mostly positive reactions on Twitter. So, despite the pressure, I really enjoyed my work. During the pre-registration period alone, there were many topics such as the start of the 'Blue Lock' anime broadcast, the World Cup, and the great success of the advertisement featured character, Mitsumine. My role was to translate these many topics into heightened expectations for the game.

Akaiwa

It seems that continuously sharing topics without interruption ultimately led to achieving the goal of exceeding one million pre-registrations. Could you tell us about any innovations or ideas that were implemented?

Sasaki

I was conscious of paying attention to details. The direction of promotion, which included promoting the buzz around 'Blue Lock' and providing advertisements during the World Cup broadcast slots, was fantastic. So, the foundation for awareness was already established. Therefore, I believed that what I could do was to improve the quality of each measure. I think in large-scale promotions like this, it's essential not to waste each tweet or day of advertising delivery.

Akaiwa

Indeed, more attention to detail was required than ever before. Looking back, what do you think is the reason why Reazon can collaborate on such big titles as 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion'?

Sasaki

The strength of game development is one factor of course, but speaking from a promotional perspective, I believe Reazon's aggressive attitude, which is characteristic of the company, is the reason why IP owners choose us and the secret to our success. The speed of decision-making is incredibly fast, and the boldness and intuition to push forward once a decision is made are Reazon's overwhelming strengths.

Akaiwa

Through 'Blue Lock Project: World Champion,' you were able to further experience the essence of Reazon. Now that the release has been successful and you're moving on to the next phase, do you have any current concerns?

Sasaki

I feel frustrated that I haven't been able to come up with bold initiatives yet. While I believe it's important to continue advertising properly, I also want to become a marketer who can come up with bold initiatives that can be executed dynamically.
In Reazon's promotion organization, there are many excellent seniors who oversee multiple measures simultaneously and create dynamic measures with extraordinary budgets. I want to learn and absorb a lot from these seniors and gradually become a marketer who can create promotions that impress the world.

Challenging to make the current project a success and preparing for the next challenge

Akaiwa

We look forward to seeing you take on bold promotions in the future! Finally, after being at Reazon for about a year and a half, including your part-time job, how would you describe Reazon as a company?

Sasaki

I think Reazon is a company where you can take on one challenge after another. With a vision to become the world's best company, it's necessary to challenge not only for great achievements but also for things that are not bound by the usual frameworks.

What's great about Reazon is that even if a challenge for a significant achievement fails, it gives you the opportunity for the next challenge. Even if a challenge fails, the feedback you receive is about how you can utilize it for the next opportunity. This culture allows you to continue to aspire for greater achievements regardless of the outcome, so I really like it. For those who want to take a proactive approach to work, I think Reazon is the best environment.

Akaiwa

As you mentioned, at Le Reazon, I feel there are many people who always support challenges. Therefore, I believe there is also an atmosphere that makes it easy to take on challenges.

I look forward to meeting Mr. Sasaki, who will further level up in the future!

Thank you very much for your time today.

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