Customer Interviews

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.

JAL photo

"Japan Airlines provides a total of 60 international global websites for 26 countries. Search engine rankings have been further improved since the implementation of HeartCore."

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "JAL") uses HeartCore as their CMS to manage and operate contents of their global websites. Heartcore, Inc. asked JAL Web Sales Department Ms. Hiroko Akino (middle), JAL Brand Communications Lead Web Director Mr. Yasuhiro Otani (left) and Web Director Mr. Hirokazu Furui (right), to tell us about the reasons and benefit of implementing from HeartCore.
*Corporate websites are offered only for some of the websites.

Managing 60 international global websites for 26 countries
Chose a CMS based on "functions and usability", "costs" and "multi-language support"
Chose HeartCore for its abundant track records and promising SEO effects
Website management process streamlined, Search engine ranking boosted
Plans for future extension, Expectations toward Heartcore, Inc.

Managing 60 international global websites for 26 countries

-- What is your basic concept of and approach to communications over the Internet?

Based on the concept of "Value Web for Your Travel and Daily Life", our goal is to provide a valuable website where people would like to visit like every day, besides when they buy airline tickets. In recent years, we are also focused on SNS including Facebook. For example, we actively send out useful information for travels such as flight booking, ticket purchasing, flight schedules, fares, domestic/overseas hotel and rent-a-car as well as special offers for the members of our loyalty program, JAL Mileage Bank. We are also making efforts to promote brand awareness in foreign countries as we run our websites with the idea of wanting more people to come to Japan on our flights.

-- How do you manage and operate your websites?

As for our operational method of websites, the website design and fundamental content including translation are all managed in Japan in order to keep a consistent brand image. However we have enabled local staff to create and publish their local information about news and fares etc. Currently we run 60 websites in total and offer information in Japanese, English and ten other languages for 26 countries. On French website (www.fr.jal.com) for example, visitors can select their preferable language from French, English and Japanese. Contents are distributed dynamically.

- French, English and Japanese pages for France -

Chose a CMS based on "functions and usability", "costs" and "multi-language support"

"We were looking for a CMS which allows local staffs to use the administration system in their own languages." (Ms. Akino)

-- How did you used to manage website contents before implementing HeartCore?

We had been using another CMS before for scheduled publishing and partial content management, but had to update pages manually by creating static content in the local environment and uploading it to the web server through FTP.

-- Why did you decide to adopt a new CMS?

It had been a long time since we had implemented the prior CMS, so we wanted to catch up with the latest technology to improve efficiency of the website administrative task by replacing it with new technology CMS.

-- What were your requirements for choosing a CMS?

We chose a CMS based on its "basic functions and usability" as well as "a balanced functionality, costs and future potential" and also"multi-language support". Details are as follows.

Requirement 1) Basic functions and usability
The members who engage in web content production are not only specified specialists, so we needed an easy-to-use CMS which also enables to have approval workflows with ease.

Requirement 2) A balanced functionality, costs and future potential
Even with a large-scale and expensive CMS, it will be a waste of money if it is too hard to handle. A low-cost CMS is not an option either if it is poor in functions. We needed to find a one with a balance among functions, costs, future potential and reliability.

Requirement 3) Multi-language support
We were looking for a CMS which allows local staff to use the administration menus and pages in their own languages in addition to publishing contents in multiple languages. Also, multi-domain support was essential as well.

Chose HeartCore for its abundant track records and promising SEO effects

"They provide continuous functional enhancement and steady support, so I found it very reliable for future use."(Mr. Furui)

-- What was the decisive factor for adopting HeartCore?

We weighed several different products before we decided to switch to HeartCore. HeartCore was the one which meets our requirements and has abundant track records here and abroad. Also, they provide continuous functional enhancement and steady support, so I found it very reliable for future use as well.

Additionally in terms of SEO, HeartCore has a sitemap XML generator, which can help us to get better rankings in the search engine results. Also LPO (Landing Page Optimization) feature was one of the decisive factors.

-- Did you have any requests to Heartcore, Inc. for the implementation?

Yes we asked for some customization that are really required for our website management. It could be difficult for a general package software to address such requests, but Heartcore, Inc. gave us flexible support to meet our needs.

Website management process streamlined, Search engine ranking boosted

"With HeartCore,it is also possible to publish contents to the specified domain.
(Mr. Otani)

-- What was the effect of implementing HeartCore?

HeartCore enabled us to unify the management of contents from creation to publishing as well as to manage contents by part instead of by file. This is how the management process of our website operation has been drastically streamlined.

With HeartCore, it is also possible to publish contents to the specified domain, so we can adjust publishing time and content of the page depending on the target country.

-- What exactly was streamlined?

Specifically, we had to update the HTML file and upload it to the server even for a small and partial change such as a text modification or a banner replacement. After implementation of HeartCore, we are able to restrict a user access to the target area, thus we no longer have to worry about layout collapsing caused by modifying a wrong place or complicated version control. This is also convenient when we outsource our updating work as we can prevent them from editing wrong places.

-- As for SEO, are you having good results?

The results vary according to the country, content and keywords, but our website is getting higher ranking than before, especially in China.

Plans for future extension, Expectations toward Heartcore, Inc.

-- Do you have any plans for future extension?

Nowadays smartphones are rapidly spreading in Japan and abroad. We want to make sure that our current websites can be viewed correctly in every device. We will continue our efforts to improve our customer convenience and services.

Also, we would like to consult with Heartcore, Inc. for upgrading of HeartCore in the near future.

-- Is there anything you expect of Heartcore, Inc.?

We look forward to their continued generous support as well as information provision and strategic proposals.

(from the right in the photo)
Heartcore, Inc., Inc.
Marketing Director, Masao Ikegami
Chief Engineer of Business Solution Dept., Masao Ogawa

Company Profile
Name	Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.
Head office	Nomura Real Estate Bldg., 2-4-11 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Established	August 1, 1951
Capital and Paid-in Capital	355,845,000,000 yen
Employees	9,405 people (as of March 31, 2012)
Businesses	Scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services, Aerial Work Services, Other Related Business
＊ Interviewed: April, 2013 ＊ The division and section names described here are as of April, 2013.