Marketing

Public Relations in Japan

Marketing Communications Checklist

The Universal Marketing Communications Strategy Checklist

This is the fifth in a series of columns about Japan Inc.’s ultimate global challenge: marketing (if you came here from somewhere else, read this, this, this and this first). Developing a marketing communications strategy carries over to religious, charitable, environmental, non-profit, social and governmental agencies, or any organization or group that has a particular cause to promote, needs to […]

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marketing communications japan office lady

How to Develop a Marketing Communications Strategic Plan

This is the fourth in a series of columns about Japan Inc.’s ultimate global challenge: marketing (if you came here from somewhere else, read this, this and this first). There is a lack of understanding (or training) in marketing basics within many companies. How can you execute Marketing 4.0 if you never learned Marketing 1.0? Consider the military… Anyone who […]

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Japan Monozukuri Manufacturing

Six Reasons Why Japanese Companies Struggle with Marketing

Continuing from my first article, this is the second in a series of columns about Japan Inc.’s ultimate global challenge: marketing. Following are the six reasons I believe Japanese companies struggle with marketing. 1. Language In the Japanese language, there is no direct translation for the word or concept of Marketing. It is spelled phonetically via five katakana characters (separate […]

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Japanese business ladies working - The Importance of marketing

Japanese Business at a Tipping Point: The Importance of Marketing

This is the first in a series of columns about Japan Inc.’s ultimate global challenge: marketing. Japan is the world’s third largest economy; it is an influential country and will continue to be a valuable contributor to the global economy. In the 1950s, Japan competed largely on low prices, low wages and selling cheap imitations of western goods. Recognizing the […]

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Effective B2B Communications - Business Lady

Effective B2B Communications in Japan: The Vital Role of Strategy

Many small and mid-sized subsidiaries of foreign B2B companies in Japan don’t have large budgets for communication activities. Although there is a trend toward recognizing communications as a strategic function here, too, more often than not, this awareness is still lacking. It’s not uncommon for sales people to think that communications equals advertising, which in turn equals a waste of […]

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PR in Japan-Industrial Press

PR in Japan: Targeting the Right Newspapers

Japan is different. Yes, we have all heard this sentence before. And for many of us, make that too often before. Yet when it comes to public relations, a smartly localized approach can produce superior results—especially in Japan. The reason is—you’ve seen it coming—that the market has quite a few peculiarities. Interestingly enough, many international companies don’t localize smartly and […]

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