Spreading the charm of a railway line and strengthening family bonds—an event only a railway company can create.

What was the primary objective of this event?

As a railway company, Seibu Railway’s mission is to transport our passengers safely and securely to their destinations. The primary objective of this event was to express our gratitude to the employees who work tirelessly to fulfill that mission, as well as to the families who support them every day.

What challenges or expectations did your company have when planning this event?

The Smile Family Festival has been held annually for many years, but its role has evolved over time. Around ten years ago, for example, the Seibu Group underwent organizational restructuring, so the event focused primarily on fostering unity across the group.

Our priorities have shifted by now. We want employees to feel a strong sense of purpose and fulfillment in their work. At the same time, we want to show that the company genuinely cares about each individual family member—for example, by creating opportunities for children to see their parents working hard and contributing to society. That was both the challenge we wanted to address and the expectation we had for this event.

Why did you choose GLOBAL PRODUCE for this event?

The deciding factor was the people. We have been working with GLOBAL PRODUCE since 2012 and have collaborated with many different members of your team over the years. Every one of them approached the project at hand with a positive attitude. Your team is polished and professional, yet genuinely warm and approachable. In the best possible way, what we felt was a willingness to go the extra mile for your clients. We feel that your people strike an excellent balance between sophistication, warmth, and authentic human care.

What was your highest priority for this event?

Although this event is held every year, we establish a different theme each time. This year, during our brainstorming sessions, we asked ourselves, “Do we truly recognize the appeal of the communities along the Seibu Line, or have we started taking them for granted?” That led us to the theme of rediscovering the unique attractions of our railway line and bringing them together in one place for everyone to experience.

What was the biggest challenge in producing this event?

Participation in this event was entirely voluntary. Rather than requiring attendance, we simply invite employees and their families by saying, “We’d love for you to join us.” Because the event takes place on a weekend and people have increasingly diverse lifestyles and priorities, one of our biggest challenges was creating content that would make employees and their families want to attend. In addition, we collaborated with local municipalities along the Seibu Line for this year’s event, which meant coordinating with a wide range of stakeholders and managing many different negotiations.

What stood out about working with GLOBAL PRODUCE?

This event involved multiple projects progressing simultaneously, making the overall schedule particularly demanding. During that process, whenever important decisions had to be made, we felt that your team went beyond the typical client–agency relationship. We could truly sense your determination to make the event a success.

Your encouragement gave us the confidence to make important decisions quickly, and it motivated us to keep pace with the project’s momentum. As a result, we were able to move forward with greater focus and efficiency.

When did you truly experience GLOBAL PRODUCE’s creativity and production expertise?

In fact, the event’s central concept, “SEIBU CITY,” was proposed by GLOBAL PRODUCE. The idea of creating an entire town in a single venue and designing it around the Seibu railway map was an incredibly imaginative concept. We were truly impressed by the strength of your creative vision.

How did participants respond?

In 2024, the event was held in Shinagawa. At that time, many survey responses mentioned that the venue was too far from the Seibu railway network. As a result, we decided to hold this year’s event along the Seibu Line itself. We received many positive comments from participants, who appreciated how easy it was to attend and how accessible and enjoyable the activities were.

That said, because the event was spread across two separate venues, some participants commented that it was difficult to find the locations of the activities they wanted to attend. We therefore recognize the need to provide clearer information before the event in the future.

Did you achieve this event’s objectives?

Yes. We even received positive feedback from our company’s leadership, who told us that it was an excellent event.
Based on the participant survey results, we believe we successfully achieved our objective of helping employees and their families feel that they are truly part of the Seibu Group.

How would you like to develop this event in the future?

Within the Seibu Group, we often talk about creating synergy, and we would like to continue exploring the true meaning of that concept and place even greater importance on it.

When explaining synergy, I often use what I call the “egg sandwich principle.” If you look at an egg sandwich as individual ingredients, it is simply bread, eggs, and mayonnaise—1 + 1 + 1 = 3. Yet the finished sandwich offers far more value than the sum of its individual ingredients. The same idea applies to this event. While each individual activity has its own appeal, the real challenge is finding ways to connect those experiences and make them even more valuable together. By combining the strengths of Seibu Railway and GLOBAL PRODUCE, we hope to create true synergy and deliver an event that brings even greater enjoyment to our participants.

Were there any sustainability initiatives incorporated into this event? (Including initiatives that resulted in sustainable outcomes.)

For this event, we prepared souvenir gift sets featuring products made by businesses located along the Seibu railway line. We believe that supporting local production, encouraging local consumption, and revitalizing local communities are all important ways of strengthening regional connections. This event itself is one of our initiatives related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we hope participants were able to experience the value of sustainability through the event’s content and overall concept.