Case Studies : Transforming a Dry Cleaning Business

Challenge
This client, which provides management direction to about 600 dry cleaning outlets, already had a strong reputation as the first in the industry to start promising customers a specific pickup time. But it needed to introduce a new brand strategy to maintain its lead. The client asked id10 japan to develop a new cleaning shop strategy that would not only provide added value but also enable it to open new stores and renew others at minimal expense.

Solution
id10 japan first visited the client’s group operations throughout Japan to conduct interviews and do a thorough touchpoint analysis. To guide the introducing of new cleaning shops, it then provided an end-to-end solution including concept planning, company naming, brand statement development, shop design development, marketing strategy formulation, and brand manual development.

Results
id10 japan’s solution improved the motivation of the many female employees and created a shift in the customer base, increasing the
number of new female customers. The revitalized shops are earning the praise of highly discerning women. Meanwhile, the time and cost required to develop new stores was reduced and banks lined up to offer new financing. In an industry where 20% lower revenues are currently considered good, revenue at some of this client’s shops rose 50%, astonishing the industry and winning the client even more respect and
admiration.

Client comment
“We knew we had three goals: (1) to transform the identity and social position of our cleaning business; (2) to build a work environment that would be satisfying and rewarding for our staff; and (3) to create a business structure that would generate high profits even in today’s tough economic times. We were clear enough about what we wanted to accomplish; the issue was how to make it all happen. That’s when we found id10 japan.

At first, we were concerned that we might get only theory or maybe a nice design proposal, but when we saw that id10 japan’s approach was all about creating business success, we knew we had come to the right place. Working with id10 japan, we realized for the first time that brand strategy is not just for giant corporations, but is also an essential tool for medium-sized companies like ours. In the course of achieving our transformation, our definition of brand strategy was also transformed. id10 japan’s innovative approach was entirely relevant to our situation, and it generated real results. id10 japan has made an outstanding contribution.