UBE

Strong Executive Message Disseminates Growth Strategy

UBE, the chemical company originally founded in Yamaguchi Prefecture, announced a new medium-term business plan in May 2022. As part of this plan, they launched their microsite campaign on Nikkei Asia in January 2023. President Masato Izumihara shared his thoughts on the company's growth strategy in the form of an interview. The chemical company undertook a bold structural reform which included the conversion of its cement business into a wholly owned subsidiary. UBE wanted stakeholders in Japan and overseas, as well as their own employees, to better understand their strategy.

In addition to conveying the enthusiasm behind the company’s name change, the executive message also described UBE's aggressive investment in its "specialty business", which handles high-value-added product groups, and as well as its expansion of facilities in Thailand, its main base in Asia. Shuko Horie, the leader of the Public Relations Group, said that the company chose Nikkei Asia as the medium for their campaign because of its global readership and reach to among businesspeople. Since it was a digital ad, it was easy to share with overseas offices, and when it was introduced on the company intranet, it was viewed by a high percentage of employees, she said. This was UBE's first attempt at an English advertorial campaign, but "We were able to communicate with the person in charge of the content creation, including the interview, in Japanese, which was reassuring," she said added.

UBE plans to accelerate its global expansion, including the construction of a new plant in the U.S. to strengthen its specialty business. “We will continue to actively promote our products globally in the next fiscal year and beyond," said Horie.