We look at TWINBIRD from two perspectives: those who make home appliances and those who use them.

In Chapter 1, we went to the Twinbird showroom in Nihonbashi to hear from the "makers". We were welcomed by Mr. Yasuyuki Furukawa, Deputy General Manager of the Twinbird Brand Strategy Department, and Mr. Shuichiro Koyama, Art Director of hakuhodo DXD. The two have worked together extensively on the rebranding project, from concept creation to product planning and communication visual direction.

Furukawa:Thank you very much.

Furukawa:. maybe not so good at showing off. Especially the staff at the Niigata headquarters, many of them are craftsmanlike, taciturn, and serious types. . But Mr. Koyama said that they are the ones who should be put in the spotlight.

Small mountain:It is with this in mind that I am working with our copywriter to create "Monozukuri to Monogatari" ("Manufacturing and Stories").

Furukawa:Yes, we are. Our company was founded 72 years ago in Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture . Although we are now known as a manufacturer of home appliances, we were originally a company that plated spoons, nail clippers, and other items. Tsubame-Sanjo is a production center for metalworking. In recent years, the company's name recognition has increased with the development of a vaccine carrier for the transport of coronavirus vaccines, utilizing its proprietary cooling technology. It was right around that time that I started rebranding the company with Mr. Koyama and other people from Hakuhodo.

Furukawa:For example, we changed the logo, mainly in the area of art direction.

Furukawa:Last year, we also changed our company name from "Twinbird Industries" to "Twinbird". We are no longer just a manufacturer of home appliances, but a lifestyle manufacturer that creates lifestyles. This is what we intend to do.

Small mountain:At Twinbird, I think I was able to work while looking at the faces of the people I was working with who made me happy. . That, and the fact that Mr. Furukawa himself, who is working with me next to me, is happy, leads to the product itself and the branding. I think that raising the resolution of people who are happy is a rich thing. . I felt the significance of creating something together with my colleagues.

Furukawa:We both graduated from art universities, and I had originally worked in product design. In this sense, we were able to discuss and exchange passionate ideas from the same perspective on a daily basis. Therefore, we felt that we were more like colleagues in the creation process than clients and creators.

Small mountain:. I went to Niigata many times. I visited sake breweries and drank a lot of sake. We became good friends in our private life, going camping together, singing karaoke, and so on.

Furukawa:For example, when creating a promotion for a single product, we always shoot it in three different environments: at the factory where the developer or maker is located, in the Tsubame-Sanjo area, and in the daily lives of consumers. . I wanted to emphasize the different ways in which the product looks when placed in each of these places. I had a good talk with Mr. Koyama about all of them. It was a very rich time.

Small mountain:We often talked about "affluence. The city is very convenient and efficient, and karaoke is fun, but there is also the richness of camping in Niigata's huge wilderness, and we wanted "Twinbird" to stand on both sides of these concepts.

Small mountain:How can we incorporate the "richness" of daily life into Twinbird products? That is what we have been thinking about, isn't it?

Furukawa:Two brand lines, "Takumi Premium" and "Kando Simple," were born out of this very idea.

Small mountain:Takumi Premium" is a line of home appliances that are imbued with a kind of "tacit knowledge of Takumi. For example, the "Waterproof Head Care Machine" allows users to experience the ultimate massage by a head therapist. The "Fully Automatic Coffee Maker" is designed to make each cup of coffee taste as if it were hand-dripped by a skilled barista who grinds the coffee from the beans.

Furukawa:Koyama-san often describes it as "like Jojo's stand" (laughs).

Small mountain:Yes, the artisan rides over. For example, this "fully automatic coffee maker" is being taken over by Mamoru Taguchi of "Cafe Bach," a coffee shop in Minami-Senju that we asked to supervise this time.

Furukawa:That is why, when I first visited him, I was nervous that he would say, "Coffee makers are evil. But right out of the gate, he said, "Lifestyles should change over time. Even if you want to make hand-drip coffee every day, there are times when you are too busy to do so. . He agreed with me that it is also a lifestyle to use the help of a machine at that time.

Small mountain:But you also said, "The coffee makers of today are outrageous!" (laughs). (laughter)

Furukawa:Oh yeah . The grind is not quite right, and the heat added to the beans during the grind process causes them to taste bland. The water temperature was also too hot. So we developed this "Fully Automatic Coffee Maker. The highlight of the machine is the low-speed flat mill and its blades. Two blades shaped like shurikens are combined and rotated at low speed. This is the key to the taste of the coffee.

Furukawa:This blade allows the beans to be ground as if they were cut with scissors, rather than crushed, and the grain size is uniform. When Taguchi-sensei first saw this structure, he gave his stamp of approval, saying, "This could only be done in Niigata.

Small mountain:Although it is called "fully automatic," you can choose from a certain range of hot water temperatures and grinding methods, and I think this is a product that will properly appeal to the truly core coffee lover. . In a sense, it is similar to using a Leica manual camera.

Furukawa:What's even more interesting is that this one doesn't deny coffee culture either. It has a grind-only mode, meaning that you can use it as a mill to make hand-drip coffee with ground beans. I think there are times when you want to brew coffee with your favorite kettle, even if you rely on the power of a machine during busy weekdays.

Furukawa:These are products that can go back and forth between analog and automatic, between the everyday and the extraordinary. Tsubame-Sanjo is also the birthplace of Tsubame kettles and other such products, so we also pay respect to such products.

Small mountain:. It's super cool to see that even the culture has been implemented in such a way. But I personally think that ...... is a very easy way to say "fully automatic coffee maker" (laughs).

Furukawa:What we focused on was the very height. Usually, the same 400-liter product is quite difficult for a woman of average height to use. Especially the topmost section is hard to see and reach the back. A refrigerator of this capacity is usually over 180 cm, so from the perspective of an average adult male, it is like using a 2m20cm refrigerator. . So I made it much wider and reduced the depth.

Furukawa:. if you notice it, yes. . but you may be surprised how few people are aware of the "potential stress" of "not getting it".

Furukawa:We create overwhelmingly simple products by considering the essence of what is truly necessary to the feelings of the people who use them. This is the concept of "emotional simplicity. Today's home appliances sell convenience and tend to be overly multifunctional. Rather than aiming for a million fans, we want to be overwhelmingly loved by only 50,000 people. This is also the idea behind the Twinbird brand as a whole.

Small mountain:It's nice to be able to see the efficacy. Since we can't take the time to talk to every customer, we were particular about how to make the naming of the product easy to understand.

Small mountain:. In the future, my desire is to firmly propose these two lines in a "surface" manner. I believe that doing so will enrich the lives of many people.

Small mountain:We would like to communicate "from Tsubame-Sanjo" more loudly. For example, isn't it interesting that home appliances have their own place of origin, like Imabari towels?

Furukawa:We held a pop-up store with "BEAMS" in February of this year, bringing together cutlery, pots, and other items from the same Tsubame-Sanjo manufacturers. Customers seemed to enjoy the space.

Small mountain:Tokyo is an edited city, isn't it? . But the cutting edge of craftsmanship is still in the countryside, isn't it?

Furukawa:Niigata Prefecture is a rice and sake producer, and it was here that the first Japanese forks, knives, and spoons for eating Western food were made during the Taisho Democracy when Japan was westernizing. . There is a culture and a long history of eating delicious food with relish.