Twisted View of Marketing in Japan

On January 22, I went to the “livedoor” office to throw 2 events of seminar, workshop, or say, discussions.

It was for bloggers when I did this last time in livedoor, but it somehow impressed people from livedoor in the room.  They gave me another opportunity to do it for those in livedoor.

To this end, I ran one session about “What is Brand?” for those who missed it last time, and the other session about “What is Vision/Visioning” for all.

2 sessions in a row in the afternoon, 4.5 hours in total.  It must be hard work for them.  Thanks for active participation and discussions.

It was honor, but clearly pressure to me.  You see CEO and all the board members in the room before you, actively joining discussions and case studies.  (Was livedoor running business all right?  At least, the board room was empty then.)  Again, thank you.

First half was about “What makes brand a brand”, my original speech/case discussion that “You can understand essence of brand marketing in one hour”.  In it, I often use two Japanese word of “Kakun and Noren” (which I cannot translate well, let’s say “company principle/philosophy” and “signboard”) to understand conceptual building blocks of brand equity.  In the party after the session, I heard many livedoor people already using the concept/term like “It must be your Noren” or “I would not think it is the best way to put it as Kakun”.

Second half was in fact not exactly about brand marketing.  It was about “Vision”.  The word is used very often and casually.  But many do not know what it really is.  So, the session was to re-define what Vision is, and use it as a skill to think and communicate.  Discussion was heated than I expected.  It seemed timely topic for the company.  The word “Vision” was also popular word in the party.

These words were popular in the party, but can “Kakun”, “Noren”, and “Vision” be on everyone’s lips in livedoor next week onward?  I hope them to be.

(For those who attended the seminar, when you have a few minutes, please visit this topic in this blog.  It must be nice follow-up reading to things we discussed in the seminars.)

“O.”

It was not my intention at all but I came to realize, upon several peoples comments/questions, that there is no mention about my name in this blog.

So, let me introduce myself.  My name is Shinsuke Okamoto.

I’ve been using “O.” or “お。” as my signature for long, regardless it is formal or private, that I am using it in this blog, too.

I do not get into my profile as you can find a very long one on the left.

By the way, I am living in Kobe, (or in Sasayama, sometimes).

I draw this picture myself, using paint accessory in Windows, but some of those who know me well tell me that the picture projects much better image.  Sigh.

Anyways, it’s been 3 months already since I started this blog to serve you as fun “time-killing” readings.  There seem quite a few people come and read (at least for Japanese version).  It is encouraging or stimulating when I see some comments/discussions over Twitter or mails to me.  Thank you.

Can you please help me improve contents of this blog?

I need your questions/comments/challenges/”How do you see/read this?”.

(Well, many already told me that I always write too long…  I know.  And I am working on it, believe or not.)

It may be easy for you to use the comment section underneath (click コメント（０）).  Or you can tweet to me on Twitter.  If your writing can become longer for them, you can tell me your mail address thru the comment section or Twitter, then I will write to you.

I do not think I can give answers to all of your questions fast, but I do promise I will respond to you with my “perspectives”.

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu (Thank you for your help in advance).

“O.”

Unlike the previous topic, it is about a campaign (or marketing) that does not interest me very much.

Why about the one that I am “NOT” interested in?

It is because I’ve got quite a few inquiries.  Since its start, from various people.  “How do you interpret this?”, “What do you think they want to achieve?”, or “It’s been talk in town, but how effective is it?”

As it has been out there for sometime that it does not have a kind of momentum it used to have once, and that many professionals have already put their argument or evaluation, I do not think I can add any new perspective here.  Just wanted to respond to those questions came to me.

It is about Softbank’s CM featuring SMAP.  Just in case, here are links from YouTube for the very first one of this campaign and the recent one about color variation of phone.

 
How come this does not intrigue me much?  I do not dislike the other campaign featuring a dog, instead.

It is probably because I somehow do not see/feel what they are doing as “marketing”, but as “rich man’s fight/scuffle”, firing bundles of buck out from a big cannon.  Well, in a sense, you can say it is dead on Softbank’s character, so it may be very good “Brand building”, though.

Structure of campaign, at its beginning, was a “set-up documentary” with flood of TV media:  A big group of talents representing Japan, who used to be a CM character of docomo, a competitive company representing Japan, is “transferring” to Softbank.  Obviously fake movement.

It is indeed a kind of thing that only rich man can think of.

The second series featuring color variation of phone and iPhone is what they have been doing even before this campaign using Hollywood stars.  Films of this campaign feel like “set-up documentary or fake making-film” as well.

But I kinda like its idea.  I may tell you “If SMAP was not there, it should not have been bad advertising”.  The world can become better place with full of fun and joy if the world is filled with many vivid colors.  Not bad.  Visuals are very beautiful.

In any case, as it is “rich man’s scuffle”, amount of media is horrendous.  Or said differently, huge amount of media transforms the obvious “set-up documentary” to “obviously fake but entertaining movement”.

In net, to people like me, there is not much to learn.  As consistency is power, I hope they continue this.

If I have to find any lesson here, it is that, unless you are trying hard to dump your money, do not take this approach of making so-so idea into “societal movement”.

Rather, work hard to develop strong idea.  It is not easy, but I would suggest this way.  When an idea is outstanding, you do not have to stir up it to make it “societal movement”.  It will be.

“O.”

Long time no seeing (writing?).  It’s been already 3 weeks since the last entry to this Blog.  Was I out on vacation for Christmas – a new year holidays?  Yes, I was on vacation, but in December, I caught very “sticky” cold, staying in and out for 3 weeks to give me a bit of fever and headache to stay in bed.  It was not flu, fortunately.

Anyways, please visit and enjoy this Blog in 2010, as you always do, to kill some time in breaks in office.

So what should be the very first topic in 2010?  Well, let’s not put that way to give me unnecessary pressure.  Simply, let me talk about a recent on-air TV spot that I like very much.  It has been heavily aired for these days (hope it is not just in Kansai area, though), you must have seen it as well.  But just in case, here is the film:

Did you expect I would pick up Google?  Not.  (I like it, though.  It has very nice idea in it, but it forces me a little too much to “think” to follow, so I cannot be relaxed to enjoy it.)

This one is much more easy-going, you can just watch and enjoy.  TV CM from historic product called “Putchin’ Pudding” from Glico.

Very good advertising.

I looked into some entries in YouTube to see what kind of title people are giving to it.  A few put “President Putchin’”.  I have to agree with the title.  It tells how good this advertising is, in fact.

(Again, I have selected a kind of topic that is very hard to translate into English, or needs to be explained to be understood, I guess.  I started the English version of the Blog just for my English practice purpose.  Here, probably I should give some explanation or note to describe what is “Putchin’ Pudding” and its play on word “Putchin’ ~ Puttsun = snap your temper(?)”…)

OK, let me try.  Putchin’ Pudding is a casual snack you can buy at any supermarket or convenience store.  It’s been sold for some 30 years, as far as I remember.  A custard pudding is filled in plastic cup.  You can eat it as it is, but you also can serve on dish by snapping a small pinch at its bottom to open a small hole to let the pudding slip out on to the dish.  Putchin’ is a sound, or onomatopoeia, of the snapping.

Now let’s go back to the topic.

This advertising has a few very good points.  It might become a bit of argument for its sake, but let me sort these points out.

The very first point is its great product feature, and decision to focus communications strategically on that feature.

The feature is, as I described above, fun of snapping and watching it slipping out and dropping on the dish.  It has a power to make people happy.

It is an innovation that Glico can be proud to the world and to the history.  (I really mean it.  I am not trying to be funny or be cynical.)

It has everything that cheap sweets should have:  Fun (and sweet).  In this sense, it is a perfect form of cheap sweets.

And the advertising is facing it and focusing on it.  That is the first point.

Next is its idea, turning the strategy into an idea very nicely.

Structure of the idea is quite simple.  It is about an exaggerated gap of change before and after the snapping, Putchin’, changing atmosphere and flow of happenings around.

If I put some words together, it goes like “Just Putchin’ the Putchin’ Pudding can turn anger, snapping his anger/Puttsun, to happiness in a second.”

(Puttsun is an expression to describe a person suddenly getting into anger with no reason or with very small reason.)

You would say it is too good to be true, yet you go “But I know, I understand how good/happy it is”, for those who know its pleasant/fun feeling.

Specific dramatization of the idea is also very well done.  The “president” in the spot appears like someone you know, maybe “that” president of a country in mid/south America.  The drama feels close to you as you know the “fact” that many people are sharing as an imagery person.  It pulls you into the story very nicely to enjoy it.  Direction, casting, and photography/art direction are also very well crafted.

And, as I wrote some time ago in this Blog, it does not miss the point of “You buy snack because it looks tasty”.  Very professional work, I think.

Only regret, because I like the spot so much, is the film is not visualizing the moment, the very moment of Putchin’/snapping the bottom of the cup.

Well, there must be yes and no to this.  Some may say you don’t have to.  Others would argue it is a cliché if you show it.  Or, some may tell me typical and boring preach that showing it is typical and boring “predictable harmony”.

But, I want to see it.

Historic innovation, it is.  Pleasant sensation that you can enjoy only once per one cup.  People buy Putchin’ Pudding for that.  Even when he/she knows he/she may end up eating it from the cup, he/she is imagining the moment when buying it.  The brand is exiting in this world for the very reason.

So, I want to see it, the moment.

Even without it, I still love the film, though.

"O."

*”Buttery-smell” or “Bata-kusai” is a Japanese expression to describe a thing or a person that has Western/Caucasian touch/feel/look.  Butter, and its taste, feel, and smell, must have been quite an experience for Japanese people 100-150 years ago when they started encountering lots of new things from US/Europe.

A few people have sent me questions.  Here are a direct answer, and some marketing talks related to it, to one of them.

“When I watch CM’s from docomo’s Google Keita, Windows 7, or Apple iPhone, I see some consistent feel among them, “buttery-smell”.  Is it effective?  … The taste of film, which I do not see many Japanese companies use but lots of non-Japanese firms use, what is behind it?”

Was the question, from Sasaki-san.

Very good observation.  Others like FRISK, NIKE, and XEROX, also have similar “buttery-smell”.  (A lot of people do notice that they are different, vaguely though.  A message to marketers is “Hey, guys, people know what you are doing or not doing.”)

There are several questions in it, so let me sort them out:

1. Where does CM’s “buttery-smell” come from?

2. Is there any intent or aim behind CM’s “buttery-smell”?

(3. Why Japanese companies do not do it?)

As for #1, I may not be a right person to answer technical matters, so I have asked Mr. Abe, a veteran producer from Sound By S, commercial production company.  But, as I expected, his answer was very long (as long as his talk), contains a lot of technical terms and codes, and complaints with some real names, so that I had to sum it up anyway.

Upon that, let me answer to question #2.  Will touch on #3, too.

Making the long story short, maybe too short, though, CM’s “buttery-smell” comes from the fact that it is produced by Western/Caucasian director, cameraman, and their crews.   That’s why it has “buttery-smell”/Western feel.  Excuse me giving you such a stupid answer.  The difference is a product of difference of shooting method, choice of lenses, way of lighting, and policy or philosophy behind all of them.

Let’s dig in a bit more, of course Abe-san’s telling, though.

Caucasian’s eyes are very sensitive to intense lighting/luminosity, especially UV rays, compared to non-white guys like us, so they do not like direct lighting.  They tend to use in-direct lighting like using a wall to reflect it.

On the other hand, people like direct lighting to its object in Japan.

As a result, just like a movie film from Hollywood does, oversea CM features only an object that you want to see/show, versus that of Japan shows everything bright in the frame.

Accordingly, type of lens also becomes different.  In Western industry, they prefer longer lenses = narrower depth of focus = an object just on the focus point shows right but a bit off gives off-focused visual.  In Japan, they use short lenses to capture everything under the light.  To a layman like me, it may be easier to understand it as a difference between a tele-photo lens and a wide-angle lens.

In addition to these two biggest reasons, there are other smaller differences.  And they add up to this difference of taste of films.

And somehow, it cannot be done in Japan. Though Japanese is known to have skillful hands for anything, they can hardly copy this.  It is because it’s a product of totality of industry structure, techniques/skills, knowledge, experiences, people, apprenticeship behind, and their value/philosophy, I guess.

Net, if you want that “buttery-smell” CM, you have to go abroad and shoot with oversea stuff.  No wonder you do not see it from Japanese companies.

Let’s move to its Marketing intent/aim/effect.

The film above is a good old Haagen Dazs ice cream commercial from 1990’s.　I still remember this.  In 1990’s, these high quality “buttery-smell” visuals came on TV, not as a movie but as a CM spot, and made us say “Cool!”.  Vidal Sassoon, which I used to be responsible for, was introduced with very “buttery-smell” CM, too.  In fact, we produced it in Hollywood.

While Haagen Dazs is of course an oversea brand, truth was that this TV commercial was made first in Japan.  This “buttery-smell” CM was made by Haagen Dazs Japan, for Japanese consumers, to be aired only in Japan.

I believe there must have been clear intent for marketing for this “buttery-smell”.

And it was achieved, splendidly.

It is not a cheap ice cream for kids around, but is a high quality ice cream for adults (must-be made in Europe).  The image was brilliantly engraved in our heart and mind with this one film alone.  Later, they started using TV with similar film outside of Japan, I heard.

Same for Vidal Sassoon.  Back then, Japan was only country in the world where the brand was spending major marketing dollars.  In UK, its origin, it was one of those minor salon shampoo brands.  That film established clear image that it is landing on Japan from Western world, in the middle of the Bubble economy days, as an oversea premium quality hair care brand.

Esthetic sense, feel, and image, which people watching TV get from visual and sound, are often more important than literal/word-oriented information.  In this sense, Haagen Dazs is one of the best examples of effective use of “buttery-smell”.

Besides, there are other cases that they do not have any aim or intent.  Some are simply using the same films used in US or Europe.  And reason why Japanese firms do not produce those films could simply be that they do not have any particular reason to do so.

If there is any marketing challenge to this, it should be if you are making up two “different personalities with different sense/images” other than just a difference of touch of film, when you are producing films in Japan at one time and go abroad at some other times.  Shooting oversea, especially in US, is not easy task.  It costs more, eats longer time, puts harder schedule management for talents and stuff, etc.  OK, so let’s do it in Japan this time.  I think it is a reasonable choice.  However, the question remains.  If those two different types of communication show at the same time or back to back, are people watching them recognizing and remembering them as the same “personality”?

Or, simply, they may watch you saying “Somewhat cheap, this company is trying cutting corners these days.”  At least, I can say, many of them notice the difference.

“O.”