Japan Marketing News

Effective Japanese TV ads: ANA

This ANA ad targets older Japanese who have both the time and money to travel. Many over 60 still have a very romanticized view of "things international" and overseas travel, and a good proportion are enthusiastic fans of Jazz, as well. While some younger Japanese might consider the use of the New York backdrop and African-American-band-playing-typical-Jazz-standard as somewhat hackneyed, it probably strikes just the right note (ouch) with the intended audience.

While the effectiveness of the branding is questionable (after all, it's pretty easy to substitute any other airline logo into this ad—nothing about it is truly specific to ANA), I give this commercial high marks for its ability to capture your interest and keep you engaged. On that measure, it outperforms most other airline ads, which are excruciatingly predictable, and forgettable.

Have a little heart, Tokyo

Gotta love the graphics approach used by Tokyo Metro in their latest TV ads and posters. Visit their website to watch the commercials (including a web-only version) and to download your very own copy of their PC wallpaper (above).

Cool Interactive Japanese Advertising: fango

Every once in a while I like to celebrate great Japanese websites. The above image is a screenshot from the virtual home of fango, a beauty and treatment spa in Tokyo. Featuring gorgeous photography and an elegant design, the site is a pleasure to navigate. Although it's in Japanese, you should be able to find your way around with little trouble.

Click here to take a look.

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In Japan, comic rentals are no joke

In Japan, most entertainment content has been available to consumers in both retail and rental formats for a long time. Along with movies, it's quite easy to rent music CDs and video games in Japan.

However there is one very popular medium that has not been broadly available for rentals.

What am I talking about? Manga, or Japanese comic books.

But that's all about to change.

Starting on the first of February, an official agreement went into effect between the publishing and rental industries that clarifies the rules on royalty payments for rented items. So now companies can get into this business knowing exactly what they are expected to pay and without fear of copyright infringements.

Some of Japan's largest entertainment rental firms—notably companies like Tsutaya and GEO—have been preparing workable comic rental models for quite some time and are already testing the waters with various approaches. In particular, Tsutaya seems very serious, with plans to offer rentals at 100 shops nationwide by the end of this year.

It’s all about the high margins. Since comic books have a much lower wholesale unit cost than DVDs, they’re expected to be more profitable. How much consumers will have to pay will depend on where they get their comics. For now, companies offering rentals are generally charging fees from ¥60 to ¥100 per item for two to seven days.

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Effective Japanese TV commercials: Doda

For many years Japan was well-known for business practices that included lifetime employment. However, when the economy began to stagnate following the burst of the "bubble" in the early 1990's, things began to change. Nowadays it's much more common for employees to change jobs mid-career, and a number of companies have emerged to provide services associated with job-changing.

Doda (pronounced "doo da") is one of them.

In an eye-catching TV commercial that's been running recently, the company employs a pun to focus viewers on the idea of job switching. The star of the ad is a former Japanese pro baseball player whose last name includes the Chinese character meaning "new." The copy of the spot takes advantage of this, with the star saying he's switched to a "new" job (thanks to) the job-hunting resources of Doda.

Although the copy is a bit pedestrian, it gets the point across. More important, however, is the main visual in which the star emphasizes his job change by flinging his new business card at the viewer. The scene is shot with the verve of one of the Matrix movies and makes fine use of the orange and black brand colors.

If you take a look at the spot, you'll get a surprise at the end that relies on a technique common in Japanese TV ads—a bit of slapstick.

To watch, go here, scroll down the page and click on either the 56k or 300k options beneath the second spot. While you're there, take a look at the other two ads, which are equally entertaining.

How to survive and thrive in Japan

The fact that you're here is proof of your interest in the Japanese market.

I'm glad that you read Japan Marketing News. We do our best to deliver a range of information, news and analyses related to products, marketing and advertising in Japan.

However, no website can cover every category and every brand in detail.

If you want to survive and thrive in Japan, you need in-depth market intelligence.

The optimal approach is to conduct tailor-made research on the market, your competitors and the consumer. But this can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What to do?

A good first step is to tap into publicly available sources. The problem is that most of this information is available only in Japanese, and only from sources that highly-experienced marketers know exist.

We can help.

We've handled information gathering and analyses for trusted international brands like Microsoft, COACH, Bruno Magli, and many others. We can do the same for you.

We can also help with marketing strategy, product localization issues, advertising production and partnerships.

For details, e-mail us.

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Car sharing comes to Japan

If you're reading this from the US, you may have never heard of car-sharing, but it has a fairly long history, especially in Europe. The way it works is that some central authority purchases a fleet of cars and places them at various places around town, making them available for members to use at their convenience. Those who have joined the car-sharing system can then use any of the cars, for as long as they want, according to a pre-arranged schedule of fees. It's different from car rental in that it allows you to use the cars for just an hour or two, if that's all you require. It's a perfect solution for people, especially city dwellers, who only need a car every so often, perhaps to do weekly shopping or to run a special errand. According to Wikipedia, these systems are available in some 600 cities worldwide, but they're only just beginning to take hold in America, with the emergence of companies like Zipcar and Flexcar.

Now Japan is getting in the act. As far as I can tell, the country's first car-sharing company is Wind Car, which started up in Sapporo about a year and a half ago, but has just recently begun expanding nationwide, especially in the Osaka area.

Japan is a nation of car-lovers, but as anyone who has lived here knows, owning a car in a Japanese city is usually a lot more hassle than it's worth. Cars are expensive to buy, require thorough and very pricey inspections every couple of years, and can cost apartment dwellers an arm and leg to park since most buildings charge separately (the cost to park in my neighborhood exceeds $320 per month). Car-sharing, which can cost as little as ¥3,000/mo. (about $25) in membership fees and less than ¥1,000/hour (~$8) for use (plus a mileage charge), seems like a very attractive alternative.

Now, if we could just get someone doing it here in Tokyo. . .

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