How two brothers turned their family's struggling business into a global name

When they were youngsters, Kuni and Tomo Hijikata knew that their family business was worth fighting for. It was founded by the Hijikata family in Nagoya, Japan back in 1936, the Hijikata family's cast iron foundry was known for its meticulous accuracy. But by the early aughts the future of the company was in question. Being the inheritors of the long-running company, Kuni and Tomo knew they had the responsibility to keep their cast iron manufacturing process alive.

The two brothers had stable jobs at Toyota as well as Toyota Tsusho However, they recognized a chance in the design of cast iron cookware meant to endure generations. the brothers quit their regular jobs and went all-in on saving the family's business. They were trained at the bottom of the foundry as artisans then, in the year 2010, Vermicular began to take shape. When their first cast iron pot was introduced to the market, it racked up a whopping 15 months of backorders, which was fueled by the enthusiastic spread of word.

10 years on, more than a decade later, the Vermicular team has set its sights on global expansion, currently offering their goods in the U.S., China, and beyond. In order to best convey the benefits of their cooking equipment to the new, international markets, Vermicular has invested heavily in videos to help spread the word. "Without our videos, we'd have a tougher expansion of our company," says Mark Hayashi the Vermicular's Director of the U.S. Office. We spoke to Kuni, Tomo, and Mark to learn more about Vermicular's strategy to expand globally by using video. Watch their story above, and read the full interview below.

"We often think of our video assets as become an extension of our products and brand. Videos are more powerful than just the written word. And this is especially true for cooking."   Mark Hayashi, Vermicular's Head of U.S. Office

 How did you come up with this product?

Tomo: "I thought that we could make use of our company's casting iron know-how to make enameled cast iron containers that have lids perfectly fitted. But there was no precedent for that process in Japan. It was clear that we'd need to invent the process on our own.

In order to learn as much as that we could about the subject, Kuni and I took a class on the floor of the foundry. Kuni was a skilled casting crafter while I became a machinery master. We needed three years, and 10,000 times before we came up with a concept which met our expectations."

 What was the process of setting up your brand to Japan?

Mark: "Brand storytelling has always been the foundation of our communication and marketing strategies. Sharing stories that reflect our distinct tradition and dedication to quality was a hit with our customers and allowed us to connect with the audience on a deeper level.

We began by creating ideas for videos around our brand mission. If we are creating a branding story video or how-to-product videos, we make sure they reflect our values and who we are. In the beginning, we didn't focus so heavily on sales in the short term rather, we focused on increasing the customer's satisfaction from a longer-term perspective."

 What was your most difficult issue in creating Vermicular? Vermicular brand beyond Japan?

Mark: "Our biggest challenge was the language barrier. Since the launch of the Vermicular brand in the year 2010, we've established a solid brand presence in Japan but none of that transferred over outside Japan. The only thing we had to do was start building the Vermicular brand from scratch, which was challenging and required intensive preliminary preparations."

 Which was your first investment in order to establish your brand internationally?

 Your branded content is obviously gorgeous. How have you achieved this level of quality?

Mark: "We partnered with an branding agency for the brand video and spent a lot of time discussing the overall look and feel' lighting, wardrobe, and casting and food styling. We also spent quite some time going between us on the creation of videos storyboards, which were the primary guideline throughout the whole process, which included the shooting days.

Since there are many different people in the shoot, there's the possibility of unexpected setbacks, which can result in delays at the onset. Making a well-constructed storyboard with a thorough shot list helps set clear expectations and guide everyone involved in the shoot to look in the same direction. Our storyboards not only become a precise map for our hectic shoot days, it also helped us save us from post-production headaches. It's especially important for smaller brands with a limited budget."

 Where are you investing the money you earn as you continue to expand?

Mark: "Our hypothesis was making a promotional video with a series of how-to videos to allow our customers to experience all the benefits of an induction cooker. According to our brand statement, our mission doesn't come to an end once customers have made a purchase of our cooking equipment.

We want to see our customers enjoy cooking with the Vermicular cookware in the longest time feasible. We've seen clear outcomes of these instructional videos as they aid in the education of cookware owners, but also aid the shoppers gain a greater understanding of the usage of the cookware."

 Did video aid in creating a name for Vermicular globally?

Mark: "Definitely! A lot. Our video assets to be an extension of our branding as well as our product. While we might not have the largest budget, but we're spending hours trying to figure out the structure and narrative of the videos that are most effective in telling our story. Visuals can be more powerful than words This is particularly true in the realm of cooking."

 What are the reasons the team employ HTML0 for hosting and embedding videos?

Mark: "We prefer for many reasons, the primary is the customizable capabilities to embed video. The clutter-free and ad-free experience allows seamless user experience throughout the website , and also protects the "touch and feel" of our logo.

also helps us share the drafts of our content between teams from Japan and the U.S. and Japan, making it easy to receive feedback even if you're thousands of miles apart."

 What's next to be the next step for Vermicular?

Kuni: "More innovative products are in the works and we'll be expanding our product offerings in the U.S. and across various Asian nations."

Mark: "We are currently planning our video content strategy that ranges from branded videos with various farmers and chefs to explanation videos and how-to-videos that will become our valuable assets for years to come."