[I-ne Co., Ltd.] I-ne supports IHRP, an NPO organized by domestic and international university students
*I-ne Co., Ltd.*
Press release: September 10, 2024
**
I-ne sponsors IHRP, an NPO organized by domestic and international university students
*Held “Product Idea Workshop to Create the Future” with participating high school students*
* I-ne Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Osaka, Representative director: Atyohei, Securities code: 4933)
I-ne) is a research program [IHRP2024: High school students’ research will create the future] organized by IHRP (hereinafter IHRP), an NPO sponsored by 15 university students from Japan and abroad.
] We held a workshop on new product development ideas for participants at our Tokyo branch on August 15, 2024. *
IHRP management members and participating high school students * About IHRP2024 *
Sponsored by IHRP, high school students, who are the leaders of the future, utilize their “unconventional” ideas to create a society that each individual feels.
This program tackles environmental issues from the perspectives of various research fields. Regardless of whether you have research experience or not, you will formulate new questions from your starting point and conduct research using academic methods for six months. Both participants and management will take a step toward “changing the future” by confronting social and environmental issues.
What is IHRP: https://ihrp-japan.org/about-ihrp-new/
IHRP2024: https://ihrp-japan.org/
* Reason for sponsorship *
I-ne’s management philosophy is “We are Social Beauty Innovators for Chain of By pursuing “happiness,” we aim to create a positive chain of events both directly and indirectly, and contribute to the earth and society. In addition, in order to realize a more sustainable society, we would like to actively create a place where we can provide our know-how as a company that implements the idea of sustainability in society while learning together with the younger generation.
This time, IHRP’s concepts of “research to solve social issues,” “integration of different fields,” and “providing opportunities to diverse high school students,” and “new connections between high school students and between high school students and researchers and companies,” will help society. We sympathize with the goal of “creating innovative solutions to problems” and decided to sponsor and cooperate with IHRP2024.
* The day of the workshop *
The workshop was held at the I-ne Tokyo branch with a total of 22 students participating, including 6 university students who ran the event and 16 high school students who participated in the workshop. The event started in a peaceful atmosphere, with some students cheering for the shampoo sachets they were given as gifts upon arrival.
* ■Sustainable office tour*
Next, we will introduce the three sustainability points of the Tokyo branch office.
・Glass plate made from 100% upcycled CRT TV glass
・Table made from upcycled discarded clothing (30 T-shirts)
・Operation of a paludarium that recreates the forest of Bihoro Town, Hokkaido, where “BOTANIST Forest*” is located, and an office building that utilizes renewable energy
*Botanist Forest is an activity of the Botanist Foundation.
* ■Company introduction*
CSuO (Chief Sustainability Officer)
When Mr. Matsue of the University of Tokyo began introducing the company, the students took notes using various tools such as notebooks, PCs, and iPads. When the social issues (materiality) that I-ne is being addressed were explained, the high school students looked especially serious and nodded, demonstrating the high level of awareness of sustainability among the participating high school students.
Reference: https://i-ne.co.jp/csr/management/
* ■New product proposal workshop*
Now comes the part where the high school students come up with ideas for new products. The theme was “Things that can be sold at drugstores by leveraging I-ne’s strengths.”
Fujioka, who serves as CPO (Chief Product Officer) and head of the Value Creation Laboratory,
He encouraged them by saying, “I’m looking forward to ideas that we wouldn’t have come up with from the perspective of Sustaina’s native generation.” He also said, “I-ne places the utmost importance on ‘purpose’ (whose problems are we creating this product to solve?) when creating products.”
At first, the students looked confused, but after looking at the ideas that were actually presented at I-ne’s in-house idea contest, they seemed to be able to come up with ideas. The work began by dividing into four groups.
* ■Idea presentation*
After the participating high school students presented their product ideas, Fujioka and Brand Communication Department Manager Inoue provided feedback.
・All the teams made presentations that felt like TV shopping, and the enthusiasm that made me want to buy them right away was amazing. ・I liked that it was based on people’s actual experiences such as “I want to be busy and multitasking” and “Drying my hair is a pain.” ・There are cases where ideas already exist that are close to the market, so if you can find differentiation and added value from that, I think it will become even better.
・I liked that the usage scenarios were clearly envisioned, such as “people who can’t wash their hair due to a disaster,” and it also included a social perspective.
Although the time was short, we were able to internalize the importance of “purpose” that we first communicated, and gather ideas that were motivated by “not just thinking about products, but also wanting to solve the problems of as many people as possible.” It was a workshop.
*Comment from IHRP*
(Comment from IHRP management)
Many of the high school students who participated said that it was fun. Also, I felt that there were many questions and many smiling faces. I think it was a very fulfilling experience for the
participants.
(Excerpt from the survey of participating high school students) ・I noticed that I used a lot of I-ne products such as YOLU and SALONIA. Since I have curly hair, I use YOLU every day because it makes my hair feel better the next day. As I listened to the stories behind the products I use on a daily basis, I was surprised to learn that there are more important points to making a product a hit than I had imagined.
・When I learned that I-ne has many important social issues such as carbon neutrality and contributing to forests and water resources, I wanted to continue using I-ne shampoos and irons. .
A more detailed report of the day is available on I-ne’s note. https://note.com/ine_pr/n/n31b4e4f576be
* Company Profile *
・Company name: I-ne Co., Ltd.
・Established: March 2007
・Representative: Yohei Onishi, Representative Director and President ・Location: 8th floor, Midosuji Dai Building, 4-1-2 Minamikuhojicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 541-0058
・URL: * https://i-ne.co.jp/*
[Main brands handled]
・BOTANIST https://botanistofficial.com/
・SALONIA https://salonia.jp/
・YOLU https://yolu.jp/
・DROAS https://droas.jp/
・Qurap https://qurap.jp/
・ennthy https://ennthy.com/
・tearal https://tearal.jp