What Japanese companies must do to become global brands.

Talk of the need to “go global” is everywhere in Japan these days. But what does it actually mean? Japan has produced many famous brands, but even these are struggling to achieve the growth they want overseas. For smaller companies looking to expand internationally for the first time, it’s difficult to know where to start. At the same time, they have some advantage in that they have more flexibility than giant corporations.

This session will suggest that Japanese companies, which are known for producing high quality products, need to put more focus on both branding and marketing as an overall discipline. It will examine the difference between how marketing is typically conducted in Japan, and what is needed overseas. It will look at things from two main points of view: a structural one (how marketing departments are typically structured and how this can improve) and from a creative/branding one (the approach companies tend to take to communicating their brand to people overseas and again, how this can develop).