Something had to be done about rising cost per hire. After comparing several firms, here is the answer we reached.

With group revenue of more than 80 billion yen, Nihon Kotsu Co., Ltd. is the largest company in Japan’s taxi and hire car industry. Its Kansai arm, Nihon Kotsu Group Kansai, had been facing a shortage of drivers due to growing taxi demand, changing needs and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the person in charge’s wish to build a system for efficient and stable hiring, NowVillage began working with them in June 2023. We asked Mr Kishida, team leader of the recruitment team in the HR and General Affairs Department, about the background to asking us for digital marketing support, the results, and what they expect from us going forward.

A shortage of people and soaring cost per hire. What became the new trump card?

― First, could you tell us your department and what your company does?
I am Yoshihiro Kishida, team leader of the recruitment team in the HR and General Affairs Department at Tokyo Nihon Kotsu Co., Ltd.

Nihon Kotsu Co., Ltd. is a taxi company that has ranked No.1 in the industry by revenue for 14 consecutive years. Nihon Kotsu Group Kansai, where I work, is a group company established in 2014. It currently has franchise agreements with many taxi and hire car groups, and the number of licensed taxis in the group exceeds 1,000.

As a company that has led the taxi industry, we want to keep improving our service and also put effort into creating an environment that makes work easier for all our employees.

― Thank you. Could you tell us about this year’s target for driver hires?
Our target for new driver hires is 450 for the year from June this year (2023) to May (2024). As of 15 November 2023 more than 290 people, and as of 15 December more than 300 people, have already joined us.

― So you have reached more than 60% of the annual target in six months.

Thankfully, if things continue this smoothly we expect to hire around 500 people for the year. As some may know, the taxi industry is currently suffering from a chronic shortage of people. As a company, we want to set aside as large a budget as possible and hire actively.

Not so long ago, many people could not hold a positive image of the job of taxi driver, and applications were limited. Recently, however, with links to the digital field and other changes making more efficient use of time possible, more people are taking an interest in the taxi industry. I feel the image of taxi driving as a profession has improved greatly.

― What share of all applications comes via web advertising?
I haven’t brought the detailed figures, but I think it is around 40%. Web strategy has become that important a factor in hiring.

Trust that they reliably turn it into applications

― Could you tell us about your marketing before you came to us, and the problems you felt at the time?
We used almost all of the major job sites you see in TV commercials and so on. However, even when we placed job ads in the same slots, we kept being unable to achieve in Kansai the results (numbers) we could get in Kanto.

Meanwhile, the average cost per application (CVR) on the major job sites soared, reaching over 100,000 yen per acquisition… We came to recognise that we really needed to take action.

When we gathered information to find a good approach, we learned there was a method of creating our own landing page (LP) and running it on various web advertising platforms, so we decided to start, even though we were feeling our way.

― How did you come to know us?
We came to know you through an introduction from the production company that had previously built our corporate site.

For us, LP production and ad management were new initiatives, so at the time we had several agencies help us, one for each office, and started by verifying the results. Specifically, in June 2022 we asked NowVillage to produce two pages, a “joint group recruitment LP” and a “recruitment LP for the Takatsuki office”, and to run the advertising, and we have continued working together from then to the present (February 2024).

― What was the deciding factor in choosing NowVillage?
There were many deciding factors, but above all it was the “growth rate”. We understood that harvesting conversions (CV) from our own LP would not be easy, so it was partly an experiment, but among the several agencies, NowVillage steadily turned it into actual job applications (CV), and I really feel it was the right decision to leave it to them.
Because they delivered results during the difficult launch period and have kept doing so, I think a consensus has formed internally that “we should keep leaving web advertising to NowVillage from now on, too”.

If you want to create a success story on the web!

― Could you tell us the quantitative results you gained from working with us?
I’ll refrain from giving the actual numbers, but the absolute number of applications to our job ads has definitely increased, and I feel the LP work has had a big effect in raising that baseline.

Also, as I said, when we first asked you the cost per conversion via the major job sites was over 100,000 yen, but that figure has now settled down as well, and I feel a synergy effect from the greater awareness and branding of our own messaging through the LPs. Going forward, it would be best if we could further accelerate hiring with both wheels: the major job sites and web advertising through you.

― Is there anything you expect from us going forward? 　
I think the taxi industry has a strongly male image, but as a company we want to put effort into hiring more women too. If you have measures that would lead to applications from women, we would love to hear your proposals. The solid work you have done so far is clearly showing in the results (numbers), and we hope to continue working together for a long time.

― Thank you. What do you think characterises NowVillage? 　
I’d say the low communication cost. Day to day, I feel NowVillage is a company where the people in charge and the managers are very close to us. Even if a problem comes up in the future, with this setup we can consult them immediately, so I feel we can leave things to them with peace of mind.

― What kind of companies would you recommend our services to?
I have told people at companies we are connected with several times that we are getting results (with NowVillage).

Not only in our taxi industry, I think there are still many recruiters who don’t even know this hiring method (ad management via an LP) exists, so I’d like to tell them it is worth trying. If you want to produce a success story on the web, I would recommend NowVillage first.

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Nihon Kotsu Group Kansai

Website: https://tokyo-nihonkotsu.net/

Industry: general passenger motor vehicle transport

Services provided: taxis

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