Kathryn Sloane, Director of growth, APAC, SGK08.15.14
Anyone who’s done business in Japan knows there’s nothing like it in the world. The Japanese market is unique, complex and has specific needs.
And because Japan’s consumers are quickly going digital and expect perfection from goods and services, brands expanding in that nation need a targeted approach.
10 Ways to Make your Brand More Desirable to Japanese Shoppers - and More Profitable
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kathryn Sloane is director of growth, APAC Region for SGK, a leading global brand development, activation and deployment company that drives brand performance. Email her at: Kathryn.Sloane@sgkinc.com.
And because Japan’s consumers are quickly going digital and expect perfection from goods and services, brands expanding in that nation need a targeted approach.
10 Ways to Make your Brand More Desirable to Japanese Shoppers - and More Profitable
- Find your meaning in Japan. It’s been widely accepted for many years that global campaigns rarely work in the Japanese market. From a design perspective, a global brand means nothing in Japan unless Japanese typography is made a holistic part of the brand. A dual language identity system is essential to convey a relevant, complete message to Japanese consumers.
- Localize your design. Localized visual assets emotionally help consumers feel that the brand understands them and makes them feel they’re part of something bigger. At a bare minimum, localization of content – imagery and language – is critical.
- Think from the shelf out. Japan’s shelf space is reorganized every two weeks, making this a very pertinent challenge. A Shelf Out approach begins with the understanding that the package is the brand and brand message. Brands must not only make their presence felt on the shelf, but make the brand radiate off the shelf. Attention stickers, for example, are a core part of the way brands in Japan build deeper dialogue with shoppers from the Shelf Out.
- Become “My brand.” This is a special expression the Japanese use to convey their feeling towards those brands with which consumers feel a sense of ownership. Few global brands succeed in this area since becoming “My brand,” requires an ongoing commitment to innovation, limited edition development and swift responses to seasonality and cultural events.
- Design for the future, not for now. If you are in an emerging market, you can look at what the West is doing to see how brands are pushing the category forward. If you’re in the West, you can look to Japan. In Japan, you need to explore the unknown. Global brands should reconsider the brand relationship: what brands will do for their consumers, how brands will fit into consumers’ lives and how brands will progress consumers forward.
- Learn the business of Japan. Japanese business principles differ from other markets so be sure your team is attuned to values like these: Business is built on relationships and trust and the only way to build them is through commitments. Only the highest quality of services is expected and accepted. In Japan, cost saving is not a first priority – consumers are willing to pay extra for quality.
- Optimize your workflow. Many brand owners try to implement smooth, streamlined, linear workflows that work well in other markets, only to grow frustrated when they don’t work in Japan. To ensure consistency of output in Japan, a hybrid model is required to balance discipline with the need for iteration.
- Produce brand assets across touch points. When you’re working with multiple agencies, each producing their own outputs for package design, POP design, e-commerce sites and more, inconsistencies can be costly. To avoid this, all digital assets including imagery must be housed in a centralized resource.
- Protect your equities in a renegade market. While brand-owners in Japan generally have more license to get “adventurous” with global brands, they still need to protect the integrity of the brand for the long-term. Color standardization, centralized color management and print troubleshooting can help brands protect design integrity all the way to the printer.
- Continuous improvement through consensus. Most global brands start in one domestic market and have to learn how to adapt as they enter each new market. Instead of fixing these issues one by one, develop a holistic brand approach that caters to Japan-specific ranges and variants and don’t let your global brand strategy fall short on local considerations.
- Stay the course. Building a global brand in Japan, for Japan, requires determination to stay the course, willingness to adjust, and the ability to respect and genuinely embrace the journey.