Solo Marketer’s Guide: Leading Your Global Brand’s Expansion into Japan

This blog focuses on the challenges faced by marketing professionals working for foreign companies in the Japanese market. Even for multinational corporations, it is common to initially enter the Japanese market with only one person or a small team rather than deploying a large team in Japan from the start. The purpose of this blog is to discuss the challenges and offer tips for those facing such circumstances.

When foreign companies enter Japan, they face more profound marketing challenges beyond the language barrier and cultural differences. These challenges stem from Japan's unique historical background and business customs. For example, Japanese consumers tend to seek far more detailed information about products and services than consumers in other countries. Furthermore, the Japanese emphasis on hospitality carries over into the business world, leading to high expectations for quality customer service and dialogue.

While these aspects can pose significant barriers to entering companies, they can present fruitful business opportunities if adequately understood and addressed.

Below, we will examine these unique market environment challenges more thoroughly and introduce the practical content marketing solutions that TAMLO provides to client companies.

1) Language and Communication Barriers

Challenge: Communicating with the head office in English and with vendors or customers in Japanese.

Tips: While many working in foreign companies' marketing and communication departments are bilingual, overcoming language barriers requires more than just translation. Having bilingual staff well-versed in local culture is an excellent asset in accurately conveying cultural nuances and business contexts. Furthermore, keeping up with the latest advertising, publicity, and public relations information in both languages takes work. Simple and direct expressions are crucial to avoid misunderstandings and ensure clear messaging when communicating with the head office.

For example, the head office often asks us to "explain as an expert." To bridge the communication gap, we commonly translate data and information obtained in Japanese into English and create reports.

2) Localisation Challenges

Challenge: Translating the language of products and marketing materials and cultural adaptation is necessary.

Tips: Localisation requires more effort than simply translating language. It involves considerations like how information is presented, as well as image selection and layout design, which can vary significantly across cultures. So, how do you effectively localise content with limited time and human resources? To address this, adding local marketing experts and content creators who are well-versed in local culture to your project team can be beneficial. Additionally, actively gathering feedback from local consumers and business partners and incorporating this feedback into product development and marketing strategies is crucial.

One characteristic of Japanese advertising and websites is the wealth of information provided. Japanese consumers seek detailed information before purchasing, which is sometimes interpreted as risk aversion stemming from cultural background. Providing ample information can help alleviate consumer concerns and increase trust in products or services. Therefore, marketing materials and advertisements must understand this cultural characteristic and provide appropriate quantities and quality of information.

3) Developing Market-Specific Strategies

Challenge: Unique Japanese demand for specific products or services.

Tips: To succeed in the Japanese market, developing marketing strategies tailored to its unique needs is essential. This process requires comprehensive market research, including competitive analysis, keyword analysis, social listening, and focus group interviews. Based on the insights gained from these multi-faceted approaches, target audiences are identified, promotion strategies are formulated, effective keywords are selected, and product or service positioning is precisely adjusted.

Furthermore, effectively utilising Japan-specific marketing channels and social media platforms is crucial. In the B2B sector, companies in Japan tend to use Facebook and other platforms more than LinkedIn, which still needs to gain wider adoption. Additionally, more companies use blog platforms like "Note" to disseminate corporate information. In the B2C sector, platforms like Instagram and LINE are widely utilised, and marketing activities through these channels are particularly effective for communicating with younger audiences.

For instance, we always conduct a 2-3 hour workshop before developing a client's marketing strategy. In this workshop, we delve into "goals," "strengths," and "competitors" to form the foundation of the plan. By setting "KPIs," we clearly define objectives and then devise specific initiatives derived from those objectives, prioritising them. This approach enables us to deploy an effective marketing strategy tailored to the unique demands of the Japanese market.

4) Legal Regulations and Compliance

Challenge: Adapting to Japan's complex laws and regulations.

Tips: Complying with Japanese laws and regulations requires expert support and specialised knowledge. Regularly consulting with local legal advisors helps ensure business operations adhere to Japanese regulations. Furthermore, participating in industry associations enables prompt access to the latest information on legal revisions and regulations.

In particular, understanding the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (Premiums and Representations Act) is essential for advertising and marketing activities. In addition to general regulations on prize promotions, regulations on stealth marketing (known as "sutema" in Japan) have been recently strengthened. Moreover, industry-specific knowledge may also be required. For example, compliance with the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Act is necessary in the medical and cosmetics fields. Additionally, regulations related to privacy mark certification, personal information protection laws, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainability are becoming increasingly important to address.

5) Hiring and Managing Bilingual Talent

Challenge: Building and managing an effective team.

Tips: Adopting a diverse hiring strategy is crucial to building an effective team. In particular, actively hire talent with international backgrounds or intercultural communication skills, although such talent is limited in the Japanese market. At Japanese offices of foreign companies, it is common for marketing and communication staff to work closely with human resources and collaborate on content creation.

So, what specific content can attract applicants' interest and make your company appealing? In the start-up phase or test market stage in the Japanese market, salaries are commonly lower compared to competitors. When facing such situations, we highlight aspects like the company's vision, benefits, work-life balance, and corporate culture to attract applicants. Sharing the head office representative's or country manager's vision proves extremely important for recruitment content. Additionally, employee testimonials about the workplace atmosphere and corporate culture serve as compelling recruitment materials.

We have produced a lot of such content, and in doing so, we have found that accurately conveying nuances is crucial. By conducting interviews with managers and employees in English and incorporating them into Japanese content, we must pay close attention to cultural nuances and word choices. As a result, we can build an appealing and authentic corporate image for applicants.

6) Partnerships and Relationship Building

Challenge: The time and effort required to build trust.

Tips: Building trusting relationships is crucial to success in the Japanese business environment. Once established, a long-term perspective and carefully nurturing relationships are required. Increasing face-to-face interactions and valuing formal meetings and casual communication settings are at the core of this process.

However, these aspects may be challenging for head office personnel to understand. For example, the culture of preliminary coordination (“nemawashi” in Japanese), exchanging business cards, and deepening relationships through social gatherings are typical Japanese business customs. Agencies like us are often relied upon to explain and help head office members understand these cultural elements.

Adapting to such cultural differences means more than just sharing information. It means paving the way for true partnerships beyond business through relationships built on mutual understanding and respect. Therefore, serving as a cultural bridge between the overseas head and Japanese offices is essential to success.

7) Length and Complexity of Approval Processes

Challenge: The lengthy approval processes of the head office become an obstacle in a market that expects speedy responses.

Tips: To ensure smooth communication with the head office and promptly meet market demands, it is necessary to set clear guidelines in advance and align expectations. At the start of a project, all parties involved should share and agree on the approval process. Additionally, consider granting the local team some decision-making authority to enable prompt response in emergencies. This approach prevents project delays and promotes efficient decision-making.

Furthermore, to minimise communication delays due to time differences, it is crucial to pre-determine available communication hours and concentrate on important meetings and discussions within those hours. Communication tools like Slack or Teams can facilitate information sharing and decision-making even with time differences.

In particular, when supporting small teams, we recommend visualising internal approval processes using tools like Slack or Teams rather than email to move projects forward. When necessary, we explain Japan's unique culture and rules to head office stakeholders through these tools. Additionally, we establish communication rules with clients to respect each other's working hours. Through such efforts, we build a foundation to progress projects while smoothly overcoming cultural differences and time gaps.

8) Sales Support and Customer Support

Challenge: Differences in business customs and the expectation of high-quality customer support in the Japanese market.

Tips: Business customs vary across countries and regions, and understanding the characteristics of the Japanese market is crucial. For example, the familiar "request a demo" approach for overseas SaaS services may not be an effective conversion strategy in Japan. In Japan, many decision-makers prefer to read whitepapers and service overviews in detail before trying a demo or contacting a sales representative when considering a product or service. Therefore, preparing a landing page and localising whitepapers and service overviews for the Japanese market is effective in the initial marketing stage.

Additionally, as customer support expectations are incredibly high in Japan, strengthening technical support teams and customer service teams is indispensable to meet these expectations. Having knowledgeable staff to promptly and accurately respond to customer inquiries is crucial. Providing self-help resources like FAQ sections and online help centres helps customers solve problems independently. In creating these self-help resources, conducting simulations based on customer questions can improve content quality and increase customer satisfaction.

For foreign companies entering the Japanese market, marketing and communication staff face numerous challenges, such as language barriers, cultural differences, and regulatory compliance. However, these challenges can be overcome by accurately understanding Japanese situations and needs and obtaining appropriate support from agencies or others. Close communication with the head office, strengthening local staff capabilities, and building trusting relationships with partner companies are among the various measures that are key to success. In today's rapidly changing society, understanding and adapting to different cultures is essential for companies to survive.

The tips shared above can serve as essential guideposts for your successful entry into the Japanese market. Please feel free to reach out if you are interested in exploring how we can support your journey.