Interview

Our Jobs and Careers
at the Planning Function

Corporate Market Intelligence Division

S.Y.

Assistant Manager

Mid-Career recruitment in 2016

My career

I joined a foreign market research firm as a new graduate to become a marketing professional. After about 7 years, I decided that I wanted to work for an operating company, not a consulting firm, to develop its own products and brands, so I joined Nissan, a global company but headquartered in Japan. I joined Nissan, which is a global company but headquartered in Japan. Since joining Nissan, I have been working in the Corporate Market Intelligence Division.

Knowing the customer is the first step in making a good car.

We conduct what we call "milestone surveys" to get to know our customers.
Milestone surveys are a general term for surveys conducted to listen to our customers' opinions during key phases of product development, from upstream to post-launch review.Through surveys and roundtable discussions, we learn about customers' views on life and values, and learn about hidden needs (customer insights) that customers themselves are unaware of.
We receive requests from departments that wish to conduct surveys, such as Product Planning and Design function, and design and implement the survey methodology. In conducting surveys, we take care to pick up and convey neutral opinions as much as possible. Unbiased survey design requires specialized skills in market research. In addition, when the Product Planning department creates customer personas, we are present from the concept creation stage to gain an understanding of the customer image. Since many departments are involved in the development of a car, it takes time and effort to reach a consensus among all parties involved, but it is rewarding when we are finally able to move in the same direction.

The results of that survey could have an impact on management.

The results of our research and analysis often influence the direction of Nissan's business. Sometimes management uses the results of our analysis when they talk about us in the media. The appeal of working in market research is that we can make suggestions and explanations to management and contribute to business decisions even if we are not part of the management team.
It takes several years for a new car to hit the market, and we conduct market research to predict what society will be like 5 or 10 years from now, to derive what will be required for future cars, and to input this information into the image of cars. Predicting the future is difficult, and expectations and evaluations may differ from country to country and region to region, but that is why this work is so rewarding.
Automobiles take longer to research than other consumer goods, and few companies put as much effort into customer research as Nissan does. Compared to my previous job at a research company, data was the most important part of my job, but there are situations in which an operating company with its own products must make decisions based on fragmented information for which there is no complete data. Therefore, I am able to formulate my own hypotheses and express my opinions even when information is insufficient.

VISION

I feel that working at Market Intelligence, where I am close to customers, is a good fit for me. I would like to continue to improve my skills in my current department. I joined Nissan because I wanted to experience global business and am involved in it, but eventually I would like to experience regional work in the future. This is because I believe that experiencing regional work, no matter where it is in the world, will make my work in global Market Intelligence smoother.
I had always wanted to become a marketing professional but working at Nissan has made my goal of contributing to society by providing customers with more attractive products and brand experiences by uncovering customer insights even clearer. I am striving to achieve this goal every day!