Corporate museums are part academic and business and occupy the grey zone in between. It is an organization that works with several departments in a company including public relations, branding, advertising, and HR. This series aims to look at the role, function, and future of museums run by corporations through interviews with PR professionals.
Bridgestone Innovation Gallery: Co-Creating the Business of the Future
Bridgestone has led the Japanese automobile industry. Known as one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers, the company operates the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery to showcase its history and innovations for the future. This article examines ways to connect corporate museums to business and how to engage with various stakeholders through the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery.
Yuta Asai, PR Consulting Dentsu Inc.
A new facility created from a seven-year plan
You’ll find yourself on a straight street when you go through the east exit of Ogawa Station on the Seibu Kokubunji Line in Kodaira City, Tokyo. It’s called BS Chuo-dori Street. The BS stands for Bridge Stone. As you walk along the street lined with buildings labeled with the Bridgestone name, you’ll see our destination, the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery. Opened to the public in November 2020, the gallery showcases their history, business activities, and plans for the future.
Exterior view of the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery. (Photo by the writer)
Bridgestone Innovation Gallery is not a stand-alone facility, but is a part of the complex called Bridgestone Innovation Park. It’s a multi-purpose facility where all kinds of stakeholders can get to know the company’s history and vision toward 2050, build deeper bonds for co-ideation and co-R&D, and further evolve into co-creation of new values.
In April 2022, Bridgestone Innovation Park began full-scale operations with the opening of two new facilities: B-Innovation and B-Mobility, an innovation center and test course to develop ideas with external partners and put them into practice. In other words, empathy for the vision created by Bridgestone Innovation Gallery will be made a reality in B-Innovation, examined in B-Mobility, and eventually lead to co-creation. One of the major differences from other corporate museums is that this gallery is also used to create business. It took about seven years to develop this plan and about 30 billion yen of investments to make the gallery a reality.
A must-see before going to the Technology Center
Mr. Hidenobu Mori, director of Bridgestone Innovation Gallery, was there to guide us. Since joining the company in 1991, Mr. Mori has overseen supply chain management and marketing in the overseas division. He has been the director of the gallery since its opening in 2020, and does guided tours. A unique aspect of this gallery of creating business was selecting a director that has a wide professional background with various experiences, such as working abroad, rather than a technical one.
Director Hidenobu Mori and the world’s largest tire with a total length of 4 meters. (Photo by the writer)
Bridgestone Innovation Gallery has four areas: 1. WHO WE ARE, 2. WHAT WE OFFER, 3. HOW WE CREATE, and 4. WHERE WE GO. The first area, WHO WE ARE, is for learning the history and DNA of Bridgestone since its founding. One of the first things that might stand out is the company logo at the time of its founding. The simple logo designed with “BS,” and a keystone—the stone that goes in the most important place on a stone bridge—as its motif. Replicas of tires from the time of the company’s founding are also on display.
When you enter the WHO WE ARE area, you can see the logo used when the company was founded. (Photo by the writer)
There are several notable points in the company’s history, one of which is the completion of the Technology Center in 1962. The technology development department had previously been divided into two locations: Kurume City, where the company was founded, and Tokyo. However, in connection with the construction plan for the Tokyo plant, the Technology Center was newly established as a comprehensive research institute.
The Technology Center was built in Kodaira City, Tokyo. While many companies have a corporate museum where they were founded, this is the main reason why Bridgestone built a corporate gallery in Kodaira City. The Technology Center is still standing, functioning as the globally active center of the company, and gathering data from all over the world. “We designed it so that you’ll always pass through this area on the way to the Technology Center,” Mori said. Many external partners visit the Technology Center, but by making sure that they visit the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery, they not only get to know our history, but also become aware of various solutions the company offers and trigger new innovations.
A quiz on tires to spark your curiosity that children love too
The second area is called WHAT WE OFFER. This area is centered on Bridgestone’s core business, tires, and shows the origins of rubber and the role of tires.
When you enter, the first thing you’ll notice is the variety of tires with different shapes and sizes. There’s a quiz where you can guess what kind of automobile each tire is used for. The front of each tire has a silhouette of the correct answer.
The front of a tire used in the quiz. (Photo by the writer)
You can guess what the tire is for, the size of the tire, and the grooves on its surface, and then check the answer on the back. The tires vary in size, shape, groove depth, and even color, depending on the usage. For example, white tires are used in factories to avoid leaving marks on the floor. You can really feel the unlimited possibilities of the company’s meticulous technology and tires when you’re in this part of the gallery.
The back of a tire used in the quiz. (Photo by the writer)
I’ve only mentioned the business side of the gallery so far, but Bridgestone Innovation Gallery targets a diverse audience. Especially in the WHAT WE OFFER area, there are many exhibits that spark the curiosity of children. When I asked Mr. Mori what kind of people usually visit the gallery, he said, “We often have visitors come for their school educational trips.
They’re usually very satisfied with their trip because we ask teachers in advance what kind of field trips, they think are good, and put their advice into action. For example, we’ve made worksheets that help students understand and learn about the life of a tire as if they were solving a puzzle.” It turns out that people of all ages can enjoy this gallery.
From tire manufacturer to solution company
The third area is called HOW WE CREATE. Here you can see Bridgestone’s diverse innovations aimed at solving problems in a wide range of fields. For example, making recovered carbon black through pyrolysis from used tires. The company’s vision is “Toward 2050, Bridgestone continues to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company.” There’s no mention of the word “tire” in it. It means that although Bridgestone defines tires as the company’s core business, it continues to evolve into a company that creates new solutions by building on its experience and technologies.
Various external partners visit the Technology Center to experience it firsthand and are often surprised to see what else Bridgestone is capable of accomplishing. A mutual understanding for the technologies and solutions introduced in this area may even lead to joint projects.
A corporate gallery as a starting point for PR activities
The last area of the gallery is called WHERE WE GO. Here, you can feel a new future that spreads beyond innovation. Specifically, various tires, such as tires for surface of the moon, tires for wireless charging system , and tires that do not need air, are displayed. Sharing the real future in this way could definitely motivate employees.
Tires for lunar rovers made of metal, not rubber. (Photo by the writer)
“Some of our stakeholders include our employees. Since the gallery has been closed due to COVID-19, there have been less opportunities for people to visit, but we also offer online guided tours. They’re not only for employees in Japan, but also for training at Bridgestone’s Group around the world. Due to the time difference, we still haven’t been able to explain to our employees in the United States and other countries in real time, but we’re able to convey the spirit of Bridgestone through 100% live broadcasts to our affiliates in Asia, such as Thailand and Indonesia.”
Mr. Mori explained the importance in conducting guided tours live instead of by recording. To reach busy employees, it’s important to be in real-time to tell them “We’re doing this for you.” It succeeded, and a sales representative asked for a guided tour of Bridgestone because he wanted his business partners to know more about them. This case shows that Bridgestone Innovation Gallery is one of the starting points of Bridgestone PR activities.
Active cooperation with local communities such as cities and universities
The tour of the gallery is finished with those four areas. You can, however, still see the charm of Bridgestone outside the gallery. In addition to the field trips, Bridgestone conducts local contribution activities. For example, right after exiting the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery, you’ll find a beautifully paved path on your right. This is a 450-meter-long sidewalk called Bridgestone Parkway that the Kodaira City, Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Bridgestone developed together, utilizing Bridgestone’s land. In addition, the company is actively working on projects together with Kodaira City and the local community, such as organizing exhibitions as industry-academia collaboration projects with Musashino Art University, which is located near the gallery.
Bridgestone Parkway (Photo by the writer)
While some corporate museums require admission, you can enjoy the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery for free. “We’d like people to be fans of Bridgestone, and we’d like to contribute to the local community,” Mori said. As somewhere that Bridgestone has been operating at since 1962, it’s clear they consider Kodaira City a very important place.
Closing
I’ve written about Bridgestone Innovation Gallery many times, but why is the word “gallery” used instead of “museum” even though it’s a corporate museum? According to Mr. Mori, while the word “museum” refers to something that shows the past, Bridgestone Innovation Gallery not only covers the past, but also their activities for the future.
Until 2019, there was a corporate museum called Bridgestone TODAY. As the name suggests, it was a museum that exhibited Bridgestone from the past to the present. However, unlike Bridgestone TODAY, Bridgestone Innovation Gallery showcases the company’s past, present, and even their future. Names and natures do often agree. I hope that various innovations will be born from this place.