Koeerü is pleased to announce that we have been selected through public bidding by the Nagano Tourism Organization to develop and operate a new customer data platform system. The data collected will be used by the association to improve the satisfaction levels of not only tourists, but also local residents, thereby contributing to the tourism industry in the prefecture.

Koeerü’s proposed Voice of Consumer (VOC) data platform will collect and utilize the voices of tourists (including those from overseas) and Nagano Tourism Organization members to solve tourism-related issues faced by Nagano Prefecture. Specifically, the system will use questionnaires to continuously collect feedback from tourists, tourism-related businesses, and citizens, and integrate and centrally manage the collected data with first party data (i.e. cookie data from the Nagano Tourism Organization website) and third party data (i.e. statistical data released by the government) all on a single platform. Nagano Tourism Organization will then be able to use this platform for understanding the data, through analysis and visualization tools, and sharing, through API connections to marketing platforms.

What makes the proposed Koeerü VOC data platform unique is that, unlike traditional data platforms that focus on third-party or existing customer data, it will allow Nagano Tourism Organization member companies to conduct their own surveys with their customers through both online and offline touch points, as well as allowing the Organization to build it’s own survey panel by leveraging it’s existing brand with both tourists and locals. By continuously collecting tourist feedback through an in-house questionnaire system, and by linking that feedback to other data points through a cookie-less common ID (email address or phone number), the Organization will be able to build 360 degree profiles of tourists and citizens for better insights and action.

Background to the Proposal

The needs and behaviors of domestic tourists within Japan are constantly and rapidly changing. For inbound tourists, although Covid-19 has put a damper on the number of visitors, a rapid recovery is expected once the borders open up again. In order to attract tourists and increase the number of repeat visitors, it is important to continuously analyze and understand the ever-changing needs and behaviors of both domestic and international tourists, and link this data to appropriate and timely tourism policies and actions.

In the past, the Nagano Tourism Organization had been conducting tourist satisfaction surveys, but the analysis of the results was slow, meaning that any analysis was not ready in time to decide following year’s activities, and it was difficult to determine tourist needs from satisfaction surveys alone. In addition, the Organization had no mechanism for integrating other forms of data, or confirming the data with other parties involved. Against this backdrop, Koeerü proposed the development of a unique VOC platform that would enable the continuous collection of real tourist voices, link it with other data, and efficiently and comprehensively analyze and report it. This project is now in its first year of implementation.

Details of the Development

The Nagano Tourism Organization platform will be built in phases, with the following functions having been commissioned by the Organization for Koeerü to develop:

(1) Questionnaire System: (Commissioned for Development this Year)

By creating surveys through multilingual survey system developed by Koeerü, and utilizing its own online and offline touch points, the Organization will be able to continuously conduct surveys with Nagano Prefecture customers, including tourists (both domestic and inbound tourists), local residents (including foreign residents), and tourism-related businesses.

(2) In-House Research Panel

This in-house research panel will consist of people recruited from online and offline touch points, and who have registered as members of the Nagano Prefecture Fan Community (name tentative) to receive regular surveys and newsletters from the Nagano Tourism Organization.

(3) Global Panel Network

By utilizing the global panel network of Koeerü’s partners, the Nagano Tourism Organization will be able to send surveys to over 150 million respondents in 55 countries, thus vastly increasing the scope of voices, from everyday consumers overseas to visitors to Japan, making available to the Organization voices far beyond it’s usual touch points and reach.

(4) Incentive System (Commissioned for Development this Year)

Through linking the above survey system with an automated incentive system, the Nagano Tourism Organization will be able to give rewards for participation without any extra workload burdens. In addition to financial incentives (i.e. gifts cards or coupons), there will also be a mechanism for donating money to eligible charities upon completing surveys.

(5) Connecting Data

The system will link newly collected survey data with first- and third-party data as well as past survey data. Examples of data that will be linked in the future include social listening data, tourist data from PMS systems, as well as guest information data from hotels, inns, and other accommodations.

(6) Centralized Data Management

All data collected or linked will be integrated into a single platform, the Nagano Prefecture Tourism Organization CDP, and converted into a form that supports action taking and actual use.

(7) Reporting (Commissioned for Development this Year)

Koeerü will be creating a customized dashboard for the Nagano Tourism Organization, so that they can process and centrally manage tourism data and grasp the actual situation of tourists in the prefecture and conduct persona analyses. Furthermore, access to the dashboards and charts can be provided to third parties (i.e. member companies).

(8) Data Use

How the data gets used was integral in the design of the system. To that end, Koeerü will build mechanisms such as an email delivery or mobile application delivery system that will be linked to the Nagano Tourism Organization CDP, and will also link with online CMS systems for customized content delivery based on personas created from online behavioral information and customer data stored in the CDP.

Conclusion

We adopt a design thinking approach to system construction that involves the participation of actual users in pre-development research (including interviews with prospective users), prototype development, and demonstration testing. This allows us to develop inclusive solutions that take into account the needs of users from different perspectives.

The VOC platform developed by Koeerü will be expanded step by step, combining customization of existing VOC-related products and new development, in collaboration with the development center in Hanoi, Vietnam. Therefore, compared to the usual data infrastructure construction, the initial development and implementation costs for the first year will be kept to a minimum, while the running costs will be proportional to the scale of data and the scope of system customization and new development in accordance with the client’s pace.

For questions or inquiries regarding this platform, please contact us below.