Oshi-katsu business isn't about adding more merchandise
When companies take on oshi-katsu, they tend to think first of collaboration goods and limited-edition products. But fans want more than ownership. They want a place to talk about what they love, a place to meet people who feel the same way, and a sense that their support has arrived.
What successful cases have in common is that the experience before and after the purchase is designed. Creating "time in which people can come to love you" before the sale leads to a long-term relationship.
When fans choose a project, they can look past the word "limited" to ask whether the experience shows real understanding of its subject, whether there is something to enjoy without buying, and what is left after taking part. Companies should first decide whether they want awareness, a place for people to gather or continued use. Depending on the answer, what they need may be less a bigger product range than explanation, conversation and reasons to come back.
Sales right after release are not enough to judge a measure. Check against the purpose of each case: could first-time participants join the conversation at an event, did people who saw a support ad learn about the original activity, did people want to use the karaoke room again? If fans' photos and posts are used as results, state the scope of use beforehand and let people who decline have the same experience. Tell participants what was improved after the event, and a questionnaire becomes more than a collection exercise. The passion a company receives and the value it gives back need to be matched concretely.
A company trying to win fans usually stumbles first on not being able to settle on a target. Try to be liked by everyone and you stay in no one's heart.
Narrowing down whom you want to be loved by doesn't mean shutting everyone else out. It means making one way in clear. From there, the circle can widen as far as it likes.
- 01KnowStory and information
- 02GatherCommunity
- 03Take partProjects and votes
- 04Take homeProducts and memories
The product is the last step. With the first three in place, support keeps its meaning.
Fit fans' lives by offering several ways in, from free information to paid experiences.
A design in which the relationship continues even on days they don't buy becomes trust.
Yo-Ho Brewing builds the space with fans and employees
Yo-Ho Brewing's fan party for its craft beer Yona Yona Ale, the "Cho-Utage," grew from roughly 500 people to 5,000 by 2018. It's more than a place to drink beer: employees join as members of the fan community, and guests experience the brand's language on site.
A fan event has a warmth that advertising struggles to convey. You can tell whether the people inside the company are genuinely enjoying themselves. Empathy lasts only when a philosophy turns into action.
Employees stepping forward isn't just a show of friendliness. It becomes dialogue only when they also answer questions about the products, take the complaints back with them and show the improvement at the next gathering. Organizers shouldn't run the event on in-jokes among regulars; they should prepare introductions that let first-timers join the conversation, and places where people can spend time on their own. Fans decide how far to trust a company not only by the fun atmosphere but by whether their voices are treated carelessly.
The cases we covered won't fit every company either. Conditions change with industry and size.
Collect enough cases and you start to see what successful companies share: not flashiness but persistence. Keeping small touchpoints going for a long time pays off more than one big project.
To keep going, you need a system that doesn't depend on one person's enthusiasm. An effort that stops when its owner changes looks to fans as if the company suddenly turned cold.
- 01Get knownAds, word of mouth, search
- 02Get triedThey use it once
- 03Get likedIt lived up to expectations
- 04Get talked aboutThey tell people and post
- 05Get supportedPeople want it to continue
Our own framework at The Oshi Lab. Add ads without knowing where people drop off, and only the upper steps get fatter.
JR East's "Oshi Sta!" turns support into part of the cityscape
JR East's "Oshi Sta!" lets fans jointly place support ads on digital signage in train stations. Shares start at roughly ¥10,000, and feelings expressed online show up in a real place: the station.
A support ad doesn't only reach the oshi; it also tells passersby that they exist. When fans become makers of media, the meaning of support widens.
Becoming a company people back as an oshi is a result, not a goal. You can't engineer it, but you can avoid getting in the way.
However, if only those who can buy an ad end up at the center, a participation gap appears. It's important to keep other ways of taking part open, such as sending a message for free, viewing the display and following local rules.
Karaoke Pasela brings oshi color into your own time
The oshi-katsu plan at the karaoke chain Karaoke Pasela lets fans bring their own oshi into the room, with space to display merchandise and drinks matched to an oshi's image color. Even a service that isn't a specialty shop can become a place for oshi-katsu.
When a company over-defines the worldview, there's no room for fans' own interpretation. Because there is room for your own merchandise and memories, even the same plan becomes a personal experience.
Winning understanding inside the company is a big challenge too. Building relationships with fans takes time to show in the numbers, and a department judged on short-term sales won't get permission to continue.
So decide first what counts as a result. Hold even one metric other than sales, and it becomes a reason to continue even if it doesn't sell right away.
Starting small helps too. A company-wide project takes time to approve, and by the time it moves, the enthusiasm has cooled. Trying it at one store or with one product teaches you faster.
When fans can bring their own way of backing an oshi, the experience differs from person to person even within the same service. Rather than handing over a finished right answer, the company leaves room for them to discover how to use it.
The more touchpoints you add, the more care you need around personal information, photos and venue safety. The value of a fan business includes the operation that protects the enjoyable time.
Summary: growing fans is the work of building trust
- Create the experience firstTime spent learning, gathering and taking part gives the product meaning.
- Show people's facesDialogue between employees and fans conveys a company's seriousness.
- Leave roomDesign a place where fans can bring their own way of backing an oshi.
An oshi-katsu business is not a measure that merely absorbs fans' passion. It is work in which a company learns the culture, prepares the space and helps fans keep supporting safely.
When fans have a place to come back to, a brand stops being merely a place to buy and becomes a partner in sharing memories. That place needn't be a permanent store; an event guide that gives the next date, or a page where past participation records can be read, will do. What matters is that the promise to continue the relationship is visible.
In the second half, we'll look more closely at what companies that fans actually back as oshi are doing. What they share is that they aren't doing anything special.
