Insufficient Training and Creative Skills amid Rapid Expansion of the Customer Acquisition Division
First written in FY2020. 19 of 25 entries say "Mitigated", first in FY2021-Q1. Latest entry: 2026-10-15.
The whole theme swung hardest in 2026: 27 of 104 companies on the "Worse" side.
15 other companies' latest entry also says "Mitigated".
- FY2026MitigatedAnnual report
「As a result, the number of new customers acquired through our own websites and other channels during the consolidated fiscal year increased 18% year on year, marking an increase for 5 consecutive consolidated quarters.」
As a result of advancing the use of AI, improving training, and developing the organizational structure in response to insufficient creative production and training capacity, the number of new customers acquired increased 18% year on year, marking an increase for 5 consecutive quarters. - FY2026-H1MitigatedAnnual report
「Since the previous consolidated fiscal year, we have continuously worked to improve training, establish an organizational structure, and consider the use of AI in order to create “good creative,” such as advertisements with high click-through rates and sales pages with particularly high conversion rates. The number of new customers acquired through our own websites and other channels during the consolidated second quarter accounting period (2025年６月１日～2025年８月31日) increased 10% from the consolidated first quarter accounting period (2025年３月１日～2025年５月31日). Although these initiatives are progressing, we need to produce such creative continuously across multiple products. We will therefore continue to focus on these efforts and aim for stable growth in the number of new customers acquired.」
The number of new customers acquired increased 10% from the first quarter through training, organizational development, and consideration of AI use. The company cited this progress while noting the need to continuously produce good creative across multiple products. - FY2025WorsenedAnnual report
「The number of new customers acquired through our own websites and other channels during the consolidated fiscal year declined 30% year on year, mainly due to fatigue in sales pages, meaning that customers had become tired of seeing them.」
Although advertising production skills improved to a certain level, measures to address fatigue in the sales pages linked from the advertisements did not keep pace, resulting in a 30% year-on-year decline in the number of new customers acquired through our own websites and other channels. - FY2025-H1WorsenedAnnual report
「As a result, we established a structure capable of continuously producing advertisements with high click-through rates. However, the successive delivery of these advertisements has made fatigue in the linked sales pages increasingly pronounced, and measures to address it have not kept pace, resulting in a decline in the number of new customers acquired.」
Although advertising production skills improved to a certain level, the creation and testing of sales pages and measures to address fatigue did not keep pace, leading to a decline in the number of new customers acquired. - FY2025-Q1WorsenedAnnual report
「At present, we have not established a structure capable of continuously producing creative at a higher level. As a result, measures to address creative fatigue have not kept pace, and the number of new customers acquired declined during the cumulative first quarter.」
Although production skills improved through the establishment of a dedicated training team, recruitment of experienced personnel, a PDCA structure, and an evaluation system, a structure for continuously producing higher-level creative had not been established. Measures to address creative fatigue were delayed, and the number of new customers acquired declined 10% from the immediately preceding quarter. - FY2024MitigatedAnnual report
「Previously, the company faced the challenge of creating “good creative,” such as advertisements with high click-through rates and sales pages with high conversion rates. However, given that the number of new customers acquired has increased in each consolidated fiscal year, we recognize that our creative production skills have steadily improved from their previous level.」
The company explained that creative production skills had steadily improved from their previous level. However, addressing creative fatigue and continuing to produce creative at a higher level remain challenges. - FY2024-Q3WorsenedAnnual report
「However, from the second quarter accounting period through the third quarter accounting period, new customer acquisitions declined because measures to address creative fatigue did not keep pace.」
Although skills across the creative division improved, measures to address sales-page fatigue and the related organizational structure did not keep pace, and the number of new customers acquired declined 21% from the immediately preceding quarter. - FY2024-Q2WorsenedAnnual report
「However, during the consolidated second quarter accounting period, new customer acquisitions declined because measures to address fatigue in sales pages did not keep pace.」
Although advertising production skills improved to a certain level, the structure for creating and testing sales pages was insufficient and measures to address fatigue were delayed, resulting in a 28% decline in new customer acquisitions from the immediately preceding quarter. - FY2024-Q1MitigatedAnnual report
「The overall customer-acquisition division was strengthened by the improvement in skills in the creative and advertising operations divisions achieved during the previous consolidated fiscal year, and newly launched initiatives also performed well. As a result, customer acquisitions through our own advertising expanded, and the monthly number of new customers acquired in April 2023 reached a record high since our founding.」
Improved skills in the creative and advertising operations divisions and new initiatives expanded customer acquisitions through the company’s own advertising, bringing the monthly number of new customers acquired in April 2023 to a record high since founding. - FY2023MitigatedAnnual report
「As a result, we established a workflow that enables us to maximize the potential of our products and have achieved improvements in the creative division’s skills, including the ability to continuously produce creative with high acquisition efficiency.」
By continuing to develop a dedicated training team, recruit experienced personnel, establish a PDCA structure, and improve the evaluation system, the company enhanced the creative division’s skills and established a production workflow with high acquisition efficiency. - FY2023-Q2MitigatedAnnual report
「We have prioritized strengthening and training this division over the long term. As a result of continuously recruiting experienced personnel with advanced skills and extensive experience, establishing a training structure and a dedicated training team, and reviewing the evaluation system, skills in the creative division have begun to improve, and new customer acquisitions recovered during the cumulative second quarter.」
In response to insufficient skills and training in the creative division, the company recruited experienced personnel, established a dedicated training team and training structure, and reviewed its evaluation system. As a result, skill improvement and a recovery in new customer acquisitions have begun to emerge. - FY2023-Q1MitigatedAnnual report
「We have worked continuously over the long term to improve the shortage of creative resources and training, which was the most significant internal factor. During the cumulative first quarter, signs of improvement finally began to emerge, and new customer acquisitions are recovering.」
The company explained that, following long-term efforts to address insufficient creative skills and training accompanying the rapid expansion of the customer-acquisition division, signs of improvement and a recovery in new customer acquisitions began to emerge in the first quarter. It also noted that further improvement remains possible and that continued work is required to resolve the issue fully. - FY2022MitigatedAnnual report
「Although this strategy has produced some progress in recruiting highly experienced members, training and handovers have not kept pace. The issue was not fully resolved during the consolidated fiscal year, and we were unable to create many advertisements and sales pages capable of acquiring new customers within the maximum CPO.」
Although progress has been made in recruiting highly experienced personnel, delays in training and handovers and issues in the creative division have not been fully resolved. - FY2022-Q3MitigatedAnnual report
「In the creative division, which had been an issue for some time, the recruitment of highly experienced personnel is bearing fruit. Since December 2021, after the end of the third quarter of the current consolidated fiscal year, we have changed the organizational structure of the customer acquisition divisions, including the creative division.」
In response to insufficient training and skills in the customer-acquisition division, the benefits of recruiting highly experienced personnel have begun to emerge, and the company changed the structure of the customer-acquisition division, including the creative division, from December 2021. However, it did not state that the issue had been resolved. - FY2021-Q2MitigatedAnnual report
「Although we have recently moved beyond the worst period, such as March 2020, we have not yet resolved the fundamental issue of strengthening the creative division. We will therefore continue to reform the customer-acquisition division, including the creative division, while stepping up advertising on major media platforms and the use of video advertising, with the aim of continuing to expand new customer acquisitions.」
The company is establishing a training structure led by experienced personnel and strengthening recruitment, but explicitly stated that the creative division has not yet been strengthened sufficiently to resolve the issue. It is continuing to reform the customer-acquisition division, including through the use of major advertising media and video advertising. - FY2021-Q1MitigatedAnnual report
「Regarding the strengthening of the creative division, we established a training structure led by experienced hires with high skill levels and extensive experience recruited in the previous fiscal year, and we continue to strengthen the recruitment of experienced personnel.」
To address the failure of training to keep pace with rapid staff growth, the company is establishing a training structure led by experienced personnel and recruiting more experienced staff. However, it explained that resolving the issue would not immediately translate into results. - FY2020MaterialisedAnnual report
「However, from the third quarter accounting period onward, creative fatigue emerged in several products, while training had not kept pace with the rapid increase in staff. Many members were unable to use the relevant tools effectively, making it difficult to maintain the freshness of the creative appropriately and resulting in sluggish growth in new customer acquisitions.」
Training failed to keep pace with the rapid increase in staff in the customer-acquisition division. When advertising creative became fatigued, many staff could not make sufficient use of the tools, which led to sluggish growth in new customer acquisitions.