Marketing and Services
Prior to its 2007 bankruptcy, the language school chain aggressively operated extensive advertising campaigns in print and on television and had a very high profile and strong brand recognition. Until a short time before its collapse, Nova used an animated pink rabbit (the "Nova Usagi") as the popular face of the company, which appeared often as the focus of Nova's TV commercials and other advertisements. The rabbit appealed strongly to children and became extremely popular. The introduction of "Nova Usagi" merchandise saw sales of over 260 million yen in the first two weeks of availability. Nova partially discontinued using the rabbit in January 2003 after JSPCA animal rights activists lodged a protest over a commercial that featured the rabbit getting its ears ripped off, citing concerns of its impact on children's awareness of death.
Many Nova branches were (and still are) located near train stations, and the company used the term ekimae ryūgaku ("study abroad near the train station": 駅前留学) in its promotional materials. The catch phrase helped Nova to become the nation's biggest chain of English language schools. It similarly promoted its interactive multimedia network as ochanoma ryūgaku ("study abroad from the living room": お茶の間留学).
Nova's success was also attributed to its promises of a foreign teacher, smaller class sizes than its rivals, and an appointment system that allowed students to schedule and attend class at their convenience. However, in 1997, 18 students filed a grievance with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government claiming they were unable to make lesson appointments when they wanted, despite the school's advertisements that its students could reserve classes "at any time". The students said they had purchased hundreds of tickets when joining the school, but found it impossible to use them all by the expiry date due to inflexible scheduling procedures. Nova agreed to a proposal by the Damage Relief Committee to repay a total of 3.8 million yen and said the dispute had been the result of a misunderstanding.
Read more about this topic: Nova (eikaiwa)
Famous quotes containing the word services:
“The community and family networks which helped sustain earlier generations have become scarcer for growing numbers of young parents. Those who lack links to these traditional sources of support are hard-pressed to find other resources, given the emphasis in our society on providing treatment services, rather than preventive services and support for health maintenance and well-being.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)