From April 15th to 20th, 2018, the oldest cosmetic company in the world held its annual corporate meeting, gathering the group’s top executives in the Land of the Rising Sun. As Shiseido entered the 4th year of its “Medium-to-Long Term Strategy VISION 2020” plan, the Japanese company continues to work on its digital development in order to adapt to new consuming habits.
Let’s come back on this expedition we organized alongside Fabernovel which brought the whole team from Kyoto to Tokyo.
Shiseido’s Future Strategy
A great 5-day program was waiting for the top Shiseido CEOs. Held at the Westin Miyako hotel in Kyoto and at the Westin Tokyo, meeting sessions focused on the digital evolution of the company. Shiseido had already engaged a facial expression project in 2017, showing the company’s commitment into new technologies.
Through different meetings, conferences and breakouts sessions, Shiseido’s CEOs approached key learning points on communication tools and met strategic business partners to develop new marketing approaches. Technologies and robotics were on the menu.
Work and Meditation
This 5-day corporate meeting was enhanced by amazing discoveries and incentive activities in order to relax and to strengthen bonds between staff members. Shiseido CEOs got to embrace the Japanese culture in Higashiyama district as they participated to the tea ceremony at Gesshin-In.
They then experienced Zen meditation at Kodai-ji Temple, an art that entered Japan from the 6th century. This relaxing time ended on a dinner held at the Sodoh Higashiyama, an authentic restaurant located in Kyoto historical center.
On the next day, Shiseido’s staff continued its Japanese immersion by visiting the 8th-century Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a marvelous Buddhist and Shinto sanctuary. It was the occasion for the team to experience the local ritual, that is to say tasting the wish-granted powers of the Otowa waterfall’s water.
Discovering the city of Kyoto all-day long, the day ended on a typical Japanese cuisine dinner at Tempura Endo Yasaka, an exquisite Kyoto-style tempura restaurant of the ancient Japanese capital city.
The cultural journey couldn’t skip experiencing a typical dinner at Fortune Garden, a unique city center place where authentic geishas accompanied the team.
Embracing Shiseido’s Culture
These 5-day corporate meeting was also the occasion for Shiseido CEOs to live the whole Shiseido Experience. Tasting a typical “picnic” while traveling by the Shinkansen fast train that links the ancient capital city Kyoto to the new one Tokyo, the team made a stop in the city of Kakegawa.
This was the occasion to visit the Shiseido Corporate Museum, founded in 1992 to mark the 120th anniversary of the company. This place gathers a unique collection that recounts the whole Shiseido history, through commercials, promotional items, advertisements and a lot of other materials.
The travel couldn’t be complete without visiting the birthplace of Shiseido. Welcome to Ginza, Tokyo. The team went through the Shiseido Art Gallery, founded by Shinzo Fukuhara, third son of group founder Arinobu Fukuhara. The place opened in 1919 and is known as the oldest art gallery still operating in Japan.
