DIGITAL BRANDING AND OPERATIONAL PROCESS DESIGN IN A LEARNING FACTORY PROJECT: A CASE STUDY OF A SIMULATED BOARDING HOUSE AND A JAPANESE-LANGUAGE TRAINING

Abstract

This study examines the implementation of digital branding and operational process design in a Learning Factory (LEFA) project conducted by a Digital Business student at Politeknik Takumi. The project involved two complementary settings: a simulated boarding-house business, referred to as Casa Berlin, and an external analysis of a Japanese-language training and internship-placement institution, referred to in this article as Institution A. A descriptive qualitative case-study approach was used. Data were obtained from project documentation, direct observation of public-facing digital channels, secondary information, and the operational process designs produced during the LEFA activities. The analysis focused on brand identity, brand voice, unique selling proposition, digital content, social-media selection, website and SEO observations, SWOT/TOWS analysis, and the design of operational workflows. The project produced a coherent brand identity and initial digital-content strategy for the simulated business, while the analysis of Institution A identified strengths in visual identity, human-centered communication, specialization, and existing digital content, alongside opportunities to improve mobile website presentation and strengthen digital content strategy. For the simulated business, six operational workflows were designed covering owner registration on a rental platform, website-based booking, platform-based booking, direct site visits, check-in, and complaint handling. The findings show that LEFA can function as an applied learning environment in which digital branding and business-process design are integrated into a practical project. However, the simulated workflows and external branding recommendations require further validation using real customer and operational data