NSK Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of motion and control products established in 1916. It produces bearings, linear motion products, and automotive components across 60 global manufacturing facilities. 5th business supports NSK's marketing strategy in the Americas. Their challenge was gaining market share from well-established competitors in a shrinking North American market. Their strategy involved differentiating the NSK brand through its expertise, quality, reliability, and innovation. They launched an integrated "Think NSK" campaign using various communications materials to increase brand awareness among customers, prospects, and other stakeholders. Initial results included improved brand recognition and increased sales and orders outpacing targets.

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NSK Corporation
Established in 1916 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, NSK is a world-
class manufacturer of motion and control products, leading the industry with
superior quality, engineering research and technical innovation. The Global 100
Sustainable Company produces and distributes a wide range of rolling element
bearings, linear motion and automotive component products for a variety of
applications.
Production is housed in 60 global manufacturing facilities supported by over 127
sales offices and 12 technology centres. NSK operates within a multiple business
unit structure and sells its products to OEMs and aftermarket customers directly
and via extensive third-party distribution.
5th business® supports NSK in the Americas by providing marketing strategy
counsel and related go-to-market activities to drive business growth in priority
verticals.
their challenge
To gain market share and brand recognition for a commodity product in a
shrinking and cluttered North American market dominated by well-established
and technically capable competitors with well-entrenched reputations and client
relationships.
case study NSK Corporation 1

2. our strategy
“The `Think NSK.’ tagline In a mature and well-serviced market, especially one that is slowly shrinking,
obtaining market share held by competitors is one method of growing the
and campaign will help
business. As such, our major strategy was the development and implementation of
us achieve our goals of
a comprehensive marketing program to facilitate a brand switch to NSK from its
informing the market of the competitors and better position the brand vs. lower cost/lower quality foreign
myriad benefits of choosing alternatives.
NSK by capitalizing on our
Working with a marketing leadership team with representatives from all of NSK’s
increasing brand profile.”
key business units and segment managers who are expert in each key business
vertical, we developed a positioning strategy that places NSK firmly in the
business of providing customer solutions, rather than simply ‘products for order’.
Tom Rouse
President, NSK Corporation The driving force behind the strategy was to build NSK’s reputation as an expert
in its field with a focus on helping customers maximize their business efficiency,
enhance their manufacturing uptime and realize the benefits of innovative,
engineering-led product development that exceeds the performance and overall
quality of competitors.
Comprehensive market research with both the end-user and distributor channels,
stakeholder engagement and competitive analysis activities led to the
development of a brand strategy built around a core grouping of key attributes
of brand differentiation. The ‘Think NSK’ tagline was developed to anchor the key
brand attributes (quality, reliability, innovation, experience, and performance) and
provide a foundation for an organized, unified brand vision that would allow NSK
to increase brand awareness and comprehension within its specifically identified
targeted markets and for the corporation in general. It was imperative that the
strategy link to the global brand strategy and be reflective of the needs of both
the aftermarket and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) businesses. A more
complex requirement was to ensure the brand strategy reflected the needs of both
the bearing and linear product lines, which are very different in terms of customer
requirements and sales process.
case study NSK Corporation 2

3. our work
The strategic ‘Think NSK’ campaign was launched internally, then externally,
with a comprehensive brand re-introduction featuring cohesive communications
materials with a unified design, consistent language and key messages that
worked to evolve NSK’s brand image within its key markets across North America.
The ‘Think NSK’ message was applied to leverage the most effective messaging
and visuals across key verticals. A set of brand standards were developed to
guide visual and textual representations of the brand, and a thorough review and
refinement process was conducted to ensure that all communications materials
adhered to the newly instituted brand standard.
Our continuing mandate with the ‘Think NSK’ campaign is to offer NSK a fully
integrated approach to engage its customers, prospects, employees, end-users,
distributors and other stakeholders. The selected vehicles had to maximize
budget availability and our strategy has been to balance brand awareness
objectives with specific objectives connected to solution sharing, product
knowledge, lead generation and industry leadership. Our integrated
communication vehicles have included, but are not limited to: online (website,
e-newsletters, industry-specific mini-sites, interactive games/contests, SEM,
banner advertising, trade magazine page sponsorships, direct email), print
advertising (trade magazines targeting key verticals via on-page, cover wraps,
poly bags, etc.), media (coordinated media relations campaign including press
releases, editorial coverage), and direct customer contact (direct marketing,
tradeshow presence). Our activities, as practical, aim to leverage NSK product
availability and link to sales force mandates.
case study NSK Corporation 3

4. case study NSK Corporation 4

5. results
A direct mail promotion • Increased brand recognition within key industry verticals. As an example, NSK
was identified as the second-most recognized manufacturer in any product
focusing on bearings category according to trade magazine survey within pulp and paper vertical.
available within a specified Prior to ‘Think NSK’, NSK ranked 4th in top-of-mind preference in the bearings
category alone.
geographic region achieved
a 140% response rate as • Generated significant increases in orders within the US aftermarket business
unit via third-party distribution, with the current fiscal tracking well ahead of
users requested ongoing target despite a challenging US economy. Extensive communication on various
product knowledge solutions and products ongoing has increased mind-share at distribution (product
recommender to end-user 70% of the time) capped off by a recent 6-flight
information.
targeted direct marketing campaign focused on depth of bearing options
via NSK.
• Generated significant increases in Canadian business unit across food, mining
and other verticals, with the current fiscal tracking well ahead of target. Ongoing
brand building with both end-user and distribution channels has occurred, with
select trade media and extensive direct marketing supported by growing an e-list
of subscribers to NSK technical information and updates. A recent direct mail
campaign drove recipients to the new NSK Canada website at an almost 40%
response rate to sign up for technical e-bulletins.
• Increased visibility and engagement with third-party distribution partners to
encourage product/solution recommendation to end-users. For example, a direct
mail promotion focusing on bearings available within a specified geographic
region achieved a 140% response rate (yes,140%) as users requested ongoing
product knowledge information. The promotion also won an international direct
marketing award competing against major consumer brands.
case study NSK Corporation 5