This episode discusses how Suntory successfully launched a new series of its -196 canned alcohol beverage, which achieved massive initial sales by moving away from focusing on functional differentiation and instead targeting the "center of the market" based on consumer intuition.

Suntory’s extensive two-year consumer research, which included anthropological participatory observation, revealed that buyers select drinks based on the immediate, intuitive feeling of "it looks delicious," rather than the functional features like unique manufacturing methods, alcohol content, or sugar levels that sellers typically emphasize. This case study demonstrates how prioritizing the customer's basic, emotional truth and avoiding the "trap of differentiation," where differentiation becomes an end in itself, led to a significant market success.

The key takeaway is the importance of shifting from an "inward-looking" focus on internal metrics to an "outward-looking" focus on true customer behavior and non-verbal cues to redefine product value.