We make the most of reviews and foster a sense of trust through "co-creation with fans. We are able to provide customers with an "experience that prevents hesitation before purchase.

VALX Co., Ltd., a company operating in the supplement and fitness center industries under the purpose “POWER OF HUMAN,” faced the reality that relying on advertising and sales promotions was eroding its brand value and profit margins. Consequently, the company shifted its marketing strategy to focus on co-creation with its fans. As part of this initiative, the company implemented U-KOMI to leverage UGC marketing, which helped build trust in its products and enabled customers to make purchasing decisions without hesitation.

In this article, we spoke with Mr. Koga, the company’s Head of Marketing, and Mr. Murakami, who oversees U-KOMI operations, to learn about how they utilize U-KOMI and the changes they’ve seen since its implementation.

A fitness brand offering supplements, training gear, and gyms

First, please tell us about your business.

古賀様: VALX is a fitness brand with the purpose of “POWER OF HUMAN.” While remaining committed to authenticity, we pursue products and services that offer ample quantity, high quality, and cutting-edge innovation. We offer a range of products, including supplements supervised by Mr. Yoshinori Yamamoto—known as a “legend in the bodybuilding world”—as well as apparel, training gear, and gyms.

Our strength lies in our ability to create and distribute content through social media. Our YouTube channel, “VALX Yoshinori Yamamoto’s Strength Training University,” has 770,000 subscribers, and our total social media following exceeds 1.54 million. We have grown into a brand that helps many people incorporate fitness into their daily lives.

We are taking on various challenges with the goal of going beyond mere fitness to “strengthen, enrich, and ignite people’s minds and bodies.”

Implementing marketing centered on “co-creation with fans”

Please tell us about the marketing initiatives your company is currently undertaking.

古賀様: When we first launched the brand, there were no other brands that combined social media with protein supplements. For a time, we focused our brand development on Amazon, which has a large market volume, but as competitors began to imitate our business model, we faced a situation where relying on advertising and sales was causing our brand value and profit margins to decline.

Consequently, in recent years, we have shifted to a marketing structure centered on co-creation with our fans, rather than relying on advertising and sales. By blending online and offline experiences, expanding touchpoints with our fans, and fostering a cycle of brand resonance, we are creating multi-layered experiences where that resonance transforms into enthusiasm.

To put this into practice, for example, online we host “VALX ‘FUN’ LIVE!” (events where employees and guests interact with customers) on the official VALX Instagram account. Offline, we engage with customers through various touchpoints—such as pop-up stores, events at Don Quijote stores, and daily social media management—and use the feedback we receive to develop new products, make improvements, and plan events.

One such activity is UGC marketing centered on reviews. We carefully listen to customer feedback not only on social media but also on our e-commerce site, using it as a stepping stone to advance various initiatives, including our brand strategy.

Do you respond to every piece of feedback you receive from customers?

村上様: We respond to all social media messages, and regarding e-commerce site reviews, we select a few from the publicly available reviews and reply to them.

古賀様: By responding thoughtfully even to negative reviews, we’ve been able to gain the trust of customers who initially had a negative impression, and there have been cases where this led to them becoming loyal fans.

By making the most of reviews to build trust, we create an "experience where customers don’t hesitate before purchasing"

Could you please tell us specifically how and for what purposes you are currently utilizing the UGC marketing tool?

村上様: We primarily use it for five key initiatives. First, by utilizing the automatic review collection and display feature, we visualize reviews automatically collected after product purchases on our own e-commerce site, "VALX Members Store," via U-KOMI. Since a wealth of content—including photo reviews and star ratings—is accumulated, this serves as crucial information directly influencing purchasing decisions, particularly in the protein category.

Second, we feature reviews from the Members Store on our Instagram show, “VALX ‘FUN’ LIVE!”Rather than official announcements, we deliver authentic “customer voices” to our viewers. By seeing reviews from people with similar demographics, we expect to increase the number of customers interested in our products, enhance trust in them, and lower the barrier to purchase. For example, when launching a new flavor, we read aloud comments received from customers, providing a platform for viewers to get a sense of the flavor.

古賀様: In fact, since limited-edition flavors are included in the top three best-selling products from reviews over the past month, we can see firsthand that live streams and customer reviews are helping to lower the barrier to purchase.

村上様: Third, we select a few reviews from the Members Store and report and share them internally once a week. This allows us to gauge customer reactions to our products and gain insights for future product development and improvements. For example, we can immediately identify requests such as which flavors are preferred or what kinds of products customers would like to see.

Fourth, we repurpose the review summary page on our e-commerce site. By creating a dedicated page within our e-commerce site that compiles reviews from U-KOMI by category, even first-time customers can compare aspects such as taste, solubility, and how to drink the product, enabling them to make a decision without hesitation before purchasing.

In fact, LINE campaigns utilizing these reviews have increased the purchase rate by approximately 23%, demonstrating that authentic customer feedback drives purchases.

Fifth, we utilize the review reply feature to automatically send notification emails to reviewers. Many customers who receive a reply post on social media saying, “I got a reply from VALX!” This creates a natural cycle of review → reply → UGC sharing.

Building this two-way relationship in this way leads to increased trust in the brand and greater customer loyalty.

While using the UGC marketing tool, have you observed any specific effects or changes, or can you share any examples or anecdotes where you felt the tool delivered results?

村上様: I was particularly impressed when a customer who had left a review posted on their own social media, saying, “I got a reply from VALX to the review I wrote!” It made me realize, “There are actually people waiting for our replies,” and it made me very happy.

Looking at the reviews, there are many positive comments such as “Thanks to VALX, every day is fun!” and “I’m working hard at my workouts so I can drink VALX!” Since we often receive words of gratitude based on the assumption that we’re checking the reviews, it has made us even more determined to deliver better products and experiences to our customers.

Since implementing U-KOMI, both review submission and view rates have increased, helping to build trust before purchase.

I recommend it for its user-friendly interface and robust support system

If you were to recommend U-KOMI to other companies considering UGC marketing tools, please tell us what you think are its key strengths.

村上様: The first point I’d recommend is its excellent usability and intuitive design. Importing and exporting reviews is seamless, making it easy to compile posts and facilitate collaboration and sharing across departments. Since our company prioritizes speed, I feel this aligns particularly well with our organizational culture.

Another reliable feature is the prompt and courteous support system—they respond immediately if there are any questions. Just the other day, I had a question about linking customer posts on the members’ site with our official Instagram feed, and their thorough support was a huge help.

古賀様: Another appealing feature is the "thoughtful design," such as the system that sends email notifications to customers when we reply to reviews. I think this is a tool I can highly recommend to brands that want to co-create with their fans.

Are there any expectations you have for our service moving forward, or any use cases you’re considering?

村上様: Since even highly rated reviews can sometimes be hidden, I hope the AI’s decision-making becomes more sophisticated. Additionally, I think the tool would be even more user-friendly if we could create a “Save” category—similar to bookmarks—to view specific reviews immediately, or if we could save reviews as images.

It would also be helpful if we could save template responses, such as standard replies for reviews regarding shipping or reviews about "scams."

古賀様: Since features like review requests via LINE and staff reviews have been expanded, I’d like to make full use of them as well.

At VALX, U-KOMI functions not merely as a review management tool, but as a “mechanism for evolving the brand based on customer feedback.” Through U-KOMI, VALX visualizes customer feedback and leverages each piece of it to drive the brand’s evolution.

Moving forward, we plan to further deepen our UGC marketing efforts alongside U-KOMI, fostering trust through co-creation with our customers.