Wow...!

These are their headquarters...!

I'm starting to feel kinda anxious.

Like it's almost showtime!

What do you think we're gonna do today?

I hope we get to talk to lots of their employees.

And plan our own event!

I get why you two are excited, but you need to settle down a bit.

The employee in charge of guiding us is gonna be here soon. You don't wanna cause them trouble, do you?

There's no need to be so nervous.

Oh...

Thank you very much for coming all this way.

My name is Kizaki. I'll be your guide today.

I look forward to showing you around today!

Yes, thank you for having us!

Thank you for having us!

Anyway, I'll begin by explaining today's agenda.

First, I'll give you all an overview of what this company does, from our mission statement to our actual business model.

Then, I'll give you a tour of the office.

Finally, to cap things off, we'll be asking you all to do a group exercise.

A group exercise?

Yes, we'll have you sit down and actually plan out an event proposal.

We get to plan an event? Yay!

What kind of event do you think it's gonna be?

I'm so excited to find out!

We'll give you the details when we get to the activity, so I hope you'll look forward to it.

Anyway, if there are no further questions, then I'd like to begin explaining what this company does.

Thank you!

That concludes the tour of the office.

What did you all think?

Getting to watch real meetings as they took place was so educational!

I thought everyone was gonna act all super serious, but they seemed to have a lot of fun♪

I think what she's trying to say is that things were much more relaxed than we initially expected...

We value having engaging discussions during our meetings. In particular, when presenting new ideas, we try to be as frank as possible with each other.

So, for the groupwork activity, we're hoping that you'll all do the same.

Understood!

Alright, we'll be holding the activity here, so please break off into groups of three or four.

Okay!

Saki, Shiho, let's form a group!

Yeah!

Alright, now that you've all found your seats, I'd like to announce the event you'll be working on today...

It will be a product promotion event for a stationery company.

(A product promotion event...

Does that mean it's gonna be like that cosmetics expo?)

I should also mention that this event is based on a real deal we have with our client, Saishi Kobo. They have graciously given us permission to run this activity.

So, please treat the information you hear today with the utmost care.

Of course!

You will have ninety minutes.

Once you've wrapped up your discussions, you'll give presentations to some of our employees. I wish you all the best of luck.

Wait, we're giving presentations at the end...?!

She did say it's based on an actual deal they have with another company. Things just got pretty real.

Yeah!

We'll have to do our best to come up with a wonderhoy event!

Finally, to get your discussions to proceed smoothly...

First, you'll want to read through the documents we've provided on our client, Saishi Kobo. They include the company's mission statement and details regarding a number of their products.

Once you've read those, you should proceed with discussing how you're actually going to promote their products at this event.

I see...

We'll be walking around to monitor your progress. Please feel free to ask us for help if you get stuck. Your time begins... Now.

Alright, we're done reading about the company! Let's begin discussing our event!

Yeah! We're probably supposed to jot down our ideas on this whiteboard, right?

Each team gets one, and we've been told to use them however we like.

Hehe. This is starting to feel like a real planning meeting.

Let's see. We're supposed to come up with ideas based on Saishi Kobo's mission statement and the key characteristics of their products, right?

Their mission statement describes what they want to do as a company and stuff, right? In other words, it talks about the things they care about most.

Right. At the top of their mission statement, it says, “Helping you send your thoughts”...

I guess that means telling others how you feel through message cards and stuff. They've got a number of stationery products for that purpose.

I see...

Which means the event we plan should revolve around the idea of “helping you send your thoughts”, right?

Yeah. Also, we have information here saying that the event itself is going to take place in a mall at the beginning of March...

It looks like they're going to be releasing a new line of message cards sometime during the month, so this event likely coincides with that.

Oh, do you think the cards are these ones that were with the printouts?!

Oh yeah, look! They say “sample” on them!

Oh, this card is silky smooth!

I really like this texture...

Hehe. I'm tempted to keep rubbing it!

Here, it says, “We achieved this delightfully silky texture by using a special pulp mixture.”

These cards apparently come in all sorts of colors with different patterns. Check out this page. It has pictures of all of them.

Wow...! They're all so pretty...!

I guess a big lineup will help people find exactly what they're looking for in a message card.

That makes sense... Oh!

I have an idea! What if our event involved having people make actual message cards using these?

Using these?

Yeah! By actually using the products, they'll get to experience this amazing texture firsthand...

And having a huge variety to choose from means getting to have fun deciding what kind of card fits most perfectly for the person they're sending it to.

That's not a bad idea. But...

Isn't that a little weak, as far as product promotion goes?

Huh?

I used to write letters when I was little, but everyone just messages each other on social media now...

I think you're gonna have a hard time convincing people to write out messages by literally putting pen to paper.

Oh, right...

I like writing letters and stuff, but not everyone feels the same way as me...

Exactly. So, we need to come up with a way to catch the interest of those people.

Hmm...

What would get them to stop and say, “I wanna make one!”...?

Hmmmm...

My head's starting to hurt...

I didn't realize planning an event would be this hard.

There's just so much we have to think about...

During the meeting we got to observe earlier, everyone threw out all the ideas they could to make sure their products brought smiles to a wide market.

Which means we have to do the same.

Yeah, you're right...

Hmmmm...

Oh...!

In that case, why don't we think more about the guests we want to attract to our event?

About the guests...?

Yeah! The employees said they think about stuff like how old their guests are, what they like, and what they like to do and stuff!

I think we'll be able to come up with better ideas if we do the same thing and think about the people☆

I see...

That could make things a lot easier for us.

Thanks, Otori.

Let's give your idea a try.

First, this event's being held at a mall, so it's safe to say that most people will be there to get some shopping done...

And it's taking place at the beginning of March... What do you think they'll be there to buy?

Hmm... Rice puffs for the Doll Festival?!

That might be too specific.

(Shopping at a mall... In March...)

*Gasp*

I think I know the answer!