Two brothers played a key role in turning the family business which was struggling into a globally recognized company

When they were children, Kuni and Tomo Hijikata knew that their family company was worthy of fighting for. Founded in 1936 by the Hijikata family in Nagoya, Japan back in 1936. In 1936, the Hijikata family's foundry , made out of cast iron was renowned for its incredible precision. In the beginning of the year, the future of the company was uncertain. As the descendants of the firm that had been around for a long time, Kuni and Tomo knew they had a responsibility to keep their casting iron craft intact.

Two brothers worked in stable jobs at Toyota as well as Toyota Tsusho They saw an opportunity in the design of cast iron cookware that could last generations. The brothers each quit their regular jobs and committed themselves to saving the family's business. Brothers learned on the floor of the foundry, as craftsmen before starting the business in 2010. Vermicular was born. When their first cast iron pan hit the market, it increased to an astonishing 15 months of backorders, driven mostly by the mass dissemination of information.

10 years on, 10 years later and more than a decade on, Vermicular is now a decade old. Vermicular team has set their objectives for growth across the globe and currently selling the products in their own home in the U.S., China, and beyond. To best communicate the advantages of their cookware to the developing markets around the world, Vermicular has invested heavily in video content to promote its products. "Without our videos, we'd struggle to maintain the expanding our business," says Mark Hayashi, Vermicular's Head of the U.S. Office. We spoke to Kuni, Tomo, and Mark to get more information about the company's plan to grow internationally using video. You can watch their video below, and read their complete interview here.

"We often look at our video assets as the extension of our company's image and the products we offer. The effectiveness of video is undoubtedly higher when compared to written text. And this is true especially when it comes to cooking." Mark Hayashi, Vermicular's Head of the U.S. Office

What inspired you to create this concept?

Tomo: "I thought that we could benefit from the experience of our company with casting iron to create enameled cast iron vessels that come with lids which are suitable. There was nothing precedent to this process in Japan. It was clear that we'd need to develop the process completely on our own.

In an effort to find out all we could on the of the issue, Kuni and I were situated in the middle of the casting plant. Kuni was an experienced crafting craftman, and I became an expert in precision equipment. We needed 3 years, and over 10,000 iterations to develop an idea that was able to meet the needs of our clients."

What was your process in creating the image of your brand for Japan?

Mark: "Brand storytelling has always been at the core of our communication and marketing strategies. Sharing stories that reflect our distinct heritage and our commitment to quality attracted the attention of our audience, allowing us to engage with them on a more personal size.

Initial steps were to develop video ideas around the mission of our business. If we're creating the branding story video or other video content related to products, we must ensure that our content reflects the persona we represent. In the beginning the company didn't put all too much on sales in the short term rather, they focused more on increasing the client's satisfaction in the long-term."

What was your biggest difficult obstacle while trying to establish the Vermicular brand outside of Japan?

Mark: "Our biggest challenge was communicating. From the time we introduced Vermicular in the year 2010we've faced numerous difficulties. When the brand name "Vermicular" was first introduced in the year 2010, and we've developed the brand's presence Japan however, nothing has been transfered to the outside world of Japan. The biggest challenge was creating the Vermicular brand completely on the spot, which proved to be a challenge and took a long time to prepare."

Where did you invest first to secure the image of the brand globally?

     The content you have created for your business is stunning. How did you get to this stage?

Mark: "We worked with an agency that was responsible for the branding of the video. We spent many discussions on the appearance and feel of the lighting, casting and the food and clothing design. Also, we spent lots in discussions about the development of video storyboards , which became the primary focus of the whole procedure, which included shooting for several days.

There are so many individuals who participate in the shoot, there's an increased chance of unplanned delays or setbacks which create delays right from the beginning. A well-constructed narrative coupled with a clear shoot schedule helps set clearly defined goals and guide all working on the shoot to stay on the same track. The narratives we developed became an accurate map of how we shot during the time we had to rush through, but they also helped us avoid post-production issues. This is crucial to small-sized businesses operating on small budgets."

What are you doing with the money you earn while you're growing?

Mark: "Our hypothesis was creating a promo video that included a set of instructional videos for our customers to get the most out of the capabilities of our induction cookware. We have a policy that says we do not stop once customers have made an order for the cooking appliances we sell.

We want to make sure that customers enjoy cooking with our cookware that is Vermicular for the most time. There are numerous benefits of the videos. They will not just help to inform cookware users, but help the customers in knowing how to use the cookware."

Video is a key element in the development of an image of Vermicular around the world?

Mark: "Definitely! Many. Our videos are always viewed as an extension of our company's brand as well as our product. While we might not have the biggest budget, we do often spend hours trying to figure out the structure and narrative of the videos that be most effective in telling the tale of our brand. Videos are superior to words on their own. that is particularly true when it comes to cooking."

What are the motives for the team to embed and to host your video?

Mark: "We prefer for numerous reasons, with the most important reason being the ability to customize embedding video. An uncluttered, non-advertised user experience provides seamless user experience on the web and preserves the "touch and feeling" of our brand.

In addition, it allows us to share documents among our teams from the U.S. and Japan, giving us the ability to easily receive feedback , even though we're only five thousand miles away."

HTML0 What's the next stage to Vermicular?

Kuni: "More innovative products are being developed in the process of expanding our selection of goods that we provide across the U.S. and across various Asian nations."

Mark: "We are currently developing the video strategy media for our company that includes everything from brand-name videos which features chefs as well as farmers, as well as explanation videos and instructional videos, which will become the primary asset we will be using in the next few years."

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