Every company always wants to get more “bang for the buck” in terms of Public Relations budget and KPI results. However, after several years of experience working as a marketing coordinator and liaison between foreign companies and Japanese PR agencies, I have come to find a problematic pattern with many companies who have unrealistic expectations when it comes to PR in Japan.
The majority of these unrealistic expectations stem from a number of factors and miscommunications about Japanese business culture.
1. Japan is resistant to the common business culture that is common across the rest of Southeast Asia.
The Problem:
This is probably the biggest misconception I encounter when working with foreign PR companies, especially those who have had PR success in one or more Southeast Asian countries. Japan’s isolationist and consevative culture separates it strongly from other SEA markets, which are highly influenced by China. As such, many Western companies tend to initially copy their successful PR strategies from other Asian markets, which then hits a wall when entering Japan. Not only are they shocked by the massive budget spike, but also the strict sense of Japanese businesses giving very little leeway to negotiations. In Japan, if a proposed budget is set, it is usually meant to be a fair offer. By offering something lower but demanding significantly higher KPI expectations would come off as being cheap and rude. In many cases, a Japanese company would think it is too much of a headache to explain, and just opt to refuse business.
Our Solution:
Plan your Japan campaign from the ground up. Base it more off something that would be done for the American market. Expect a much higher budget, lower KPI, and a much longer conversion time to build Japanese trust in your product. Also, understand that negotiations are not usually done here like in the rest of Asia. So, what a company offers you is usually their fair price.
2. Mistakes cannot be made. So simple tasks require much more preparation time and detail. In addition, last minute sudden changes can result in disaster.
The Problem:
In Japan, events and projects are planned meticulously. Even a tiny error can cause great embarrassment for the Japanese person in charge, and as such, product launches, press releases, and especially events need to be planned out far in advance so time can be allocated to consider any possible errors. Therefore, demanding sudden new changes with tight deadlines can cause the Japanese company much anxiety, which could hamper future business relations. From my experience, many Japanese don’t tend to complain or raise concerns even if they object. They will continue until a breaking point or contract completion, and then simply refuse to work again, leaving the foreign client confused.
Our Solution:
However much time you think it would take a company in your country to prepare the deliverables, multiply that time by at least 2 or 3. This additional time will allow all the overcomplexities that occur on the Japanese side, in which the foreign company is usually oblivious to, to work themselves out.
3. Quality always takes precedence over budget. If you ask for the “best quality” poster for an event, you will get it, as well as a price tag that you won’t find anywhere else in Asia.
The Problem:
As stated in the above section, mistakes are not acceptable in Japan. And as such, people tend to overthink things. This especially includes content writing and design. In a previous company, I once saw a Japanese marketing team spend 3 weeks and held several meetings to finally decide on which of 10 shades of light blue is the best. As such, design here can be very expensive. That being said, the quality is usually good, and many Japanese will notice if a product is produced externally.
Our Solution:
With regards to digital designs & content. Do 90% of it overseas to save budget, and then hire a Japanese firm to check/modify the final content. This saves some budget and also ensures the final product is good enough for the Japanese eye. When it comes to actual production or printing, if it is done for mass production, doing it in Japan will be far too expensive. But if it’s a smaller quantity, it is better to do it domestically to ensure quality is preserved.
4. Japanese businesses can be extremely conservative.
The Problem:
Japan has a very strict system for business negotiations. Where it is common in most countries to directly address a senior manager, this rarely happens in Japan. There is little delegation of responsibility, so any proposals usually go through many layers of checking before the upper management can even lay eyes on it. If you try to skip this tedious process, it usually will backfire. In addition, Japanese are wary of foreign brands, and targeting the big business media is not a good way to start branding.
Our Solution:
Follow the Japanese style of business hierarchy even if it makes no sense. It is best to hire a Japanese representative to act as the face of your company. Also, it is wise to target niche digital media first than go directly for the big business media. Use case studies in your own country or other countries with the digital media. Then, once you’ve built up a “media release portfolio”, then it is good to pitch the larger media using previous releases as references.
5. The language barrier can kill a brand image.
The Problem:
Despite being a very developed nation, Japanese still struggle with English. In fact, most Japanese consumers would rather adopt an overly expensive domestic product with lower quality than try to deal with the language and cultural barriers of working with a foreign company, even if their product is far superior.
Our Solution:
At bare minimum, we recommend setting up a Japanese landing page for the Japanese market. Please use professional translation and don’t rely on freelancers or even worse – google translate. Once you have more time and budget, then fully localize your Japanese website. Lastly, we recommend that if you can register an office in Japan, a “.co.jp” URL creates more trust with local businesses.
6. There’s a cultural barrier too.
The Problem:
Japanese media and businesses tend to be too indirect and this can cause unforeseen conflict. Japanese culture makes it difficult to express a problem in public, as it might create embarrassment for the other person. As such, almost all complaints are saved until the end. This can be a major problem as Japanese will avoid direct complaints even if it is critical. For example, a meeting is scheduled only for one hour, but it seems to go overtime. The Japanese won’t remind you they have to prepare another appointment. They will wait until you finish the meeting and then might hold it against you. Also, don’t expect a very long Q&A time for events. Instead, offer a private number or email address for any questions.
Our Solution:
Hiring someone that understands both cultures and can be used to pass along the message more directly is an easy workaround. After meetings, even if all seems clear, it is recommended to follow up with private messages to ensure everything is moving forward.
Conclusion: Patience truly is the greatest virtue.
Setting expectations too high without a deep understanding of how hard it is to penetrate the conservative Japanese market will only result in a very expensive disappointment. To those who rush into the Japanese market expecting to quickly gain sales will be met with a brutal harsh reality. However, to those companies who “play the corporate game”, might just get the sales they are looking for.
PR & marketing in Japan is completely different from the rest of Asia. So before entering, your company needs to first ask itself:
Do you really have an annual budget of 50,000$ US or higher to spare for PR in Japan?
- Can you wait a year minimum before seeing any new results (B2B partnerships, etc)?
- Is it possible to hire a local representative to be the Japanese face of the company?
- Do you have a strong portfolio and many case studies in Western markets?
- Are you good at planning far in advance and are in no need to rush a release?
If you’ve answered Yes to all the above questions, then your company might be ready to enter the Japanese market.
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