Tag: Japan

Tokyo, Japan – Investment and asset management has become the norm for people to grow their money, and more and more young people in Japan are showing interest in these topics and discussing them more frequently with their peers, new research from comprehensive real estate service platform RENOSY shows.

More than 70% of the young people in their 20s interviewed say that they do discuss asset management with their friends while only 30% of the older generation in their 50s discuss it. In addition, around 60% of interviewees in their 20s said that they do not worry about the assets build-up arrangement they are doing for now.

However, around 80% of the people interviewed answered that they feel they do not have enough money to support their lives after retirement relying on pension only.

In terms of the average amount they are willing to spend on investing, the average amount of investment for the younger generation is about ¥50,000 per month, while the older generation responded to an average of ¥150,000 per month.

“Since asset management will become part of the new high school curriculum starting from April 2022, we are expecting to see the younger generation become more cautious and familiar with money,” RENOSY said in a press statement.

In terms of the woes of the respondents in regards to having enough money to support investment after their retirement, the company remarked, “As people tend to live longer nowadays, the issue of finance after retirement will become a more and more serious problem for most people. As a result, we could see from the research result that 87% of the people we interviewed feel anxious about the financial arrangement after retirement.”

Tokyo, Japan – Japan-based multinational conglomerate Hitachi has joined the strategic partnership program of experience management company Medallia in Japan. Through the partnership, Medallia will align with Hitachi’s Financial Institutions Business Unit to reinforce support for sales and service delivery efforts.

Said partnership is catered to Hitachi’s clients within domestic financial institutions, ranging from customer experience (CX) advisory service to system adoption.

Denise Miura, who was recently appointed as vice president for Asia-Pacific at Medallia, noted that the CX solution market in Japan is hitting a major tipping point in terms of expansion.

“In such a market environment, there is significant importance to forming a partnership with a first-rate company such as Hitachi. We are looking forward to this partnership,” she stated.

Meanwhile, Shigeru Suzuki, senior director for financial information systems, 2nd Division, at Hitachi, commented, “We feel honored to have this collaboration opportunity with Medallia to provide quality CX service to our customers in Japan. We look forward to providing new value through this excellent experience management program that will contribute to the improvement of customer experience value.”

Medallia’s presence in Japan has been ramped up in recent years, including inclusion of Japan-based tech system integrator Dirbato, as well as a partnership with multinational conglomerate SoftBank.
Irence Wee, APJ head of alliance and ecosystem at Medallia, commented, “We are very happy to announce our partnership with Hitachi in Japan. We look forward to accelerating the adoption of experience management programs by Japanese companies through our closely aligned effort with Hitachi.”

Singapore – Following the company’s funding in April this year, coffee chain Flash Coffee has officially extended its operations in South Korea and Japan, with branches opening up in each country’s capitals, Seoul and Tokyo.

The coffee chain launched with two outlets in Seoul, a two-storey flagship establishment at Sinsa, and a store in Yeoksam, both located in the heart of the bustling, upscale Gangnam district. In Tokyo, Flash Coffee unveiled a two-storey concept in the city’s iconic shopping destination within Omotesando.

David Brunier, CEO at Flash Coffee, said, “We are very excited to officially launch in both Seoul and Tokyo, and introduce our mission to provide high-quality coffee at affordable prices to these cities. These markets are known to embrace technology, and we hope to bring ease to the lives of consumers with our digital-first solutions, ultimately changing the face of coffee consumption across Asia for the better.”

The coffee chain will continue to grow its footprint across the seven markets it is currently in: Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, with a goal of opening over 350 stores by early next year. The coffee chain has also set sights to enter three new countries next year; Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Un Koh, managing director for South Korea at Flash Coffee, said, “South Korea is filled with coffee enthusiasts and our coffee consumption rate ranks within the top 10 in the world. We are confident that our high-quality beverages crafted by award-winning baristas at Flash Coffee will appeal to South Korean coffee lovers. Our goal is to make our specialty coffee accessible to all, so for those who’ve not come across Flash Coffee yet, you will find us brewing very soon in a location near you. ”

Meanwhile, Shu Matsuo Post, managing director for Japan at Flash Coffee, commented, “Coffee culture has been prevalent in Japan for many years, and we’ve observed the rising preference for premium coffee locally. Specialty coffees tend to be expensive, but with Flash Coffee, consumers can now enjoy it at an affordable price point. We look forward to sharing our award-winning menu with customers in Japan, and hope they will enjoy our innovative creations.”

Tokyo, Japan – After numerous suspensions, the Tokyo Olympic 2020 games finally pushed through this year, but despite successfully making its run, the lockdowns and social restrictions that had been in place since the pandemic affected how the organization and its brands and media partners spent their ad budget and the platforms they chose to invest in. According to data by IPG’s media investment and intelligence arm MAGNA, the muted vibrancy of the Olympics had a direct effect on the growth of several ad markets. 

The report showed that the net impact of the Olympics on television advertising revenues was relatively minimal overall, as some brands opted not to run creatives tied to the Olympics before and during the event, due to the mixed feelings of the public towards the Games. Still, revenues for the major television networks were up by double-digits in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the second quarter of 2020 but were flat or down compared to 2019. 

In addition, the Olympics also had a relatively mild impact on OOH advertising, as the games were held during a state of emergency during which people were discouraged from going outside or using public transportation. Additionally, people were barred from entering the areas near the Olympic stadiums. 

OOH revenues, both static and digital, were ultimately up just +3% for the full year, reaching US$3.8b (¥400b). Transit mobility was slow to recover in 2021 and was still down -19% in November 2021 compared to the January 2020 baseline, contributing to reduced exposure to advertising. 

Television fared slightly better, with revenues rising +7% to reach US$14.7b (¥1.6t), around 95% of the pre-COVID total. Radio, cinema, and print continued to lag through 2021. Radio revenues eroded by another -2%, cinema by -4%, and print by -3%. 2022 is expected to bring a recovery for these linear ad formats, in addition to continued growth for television (+4%) and OOH (+5%). Over the long term, however, the report anticipates that linear advertising formats will continue to lose share to digital, with total linear revenues eroding by -3% to -5% per year and falling to US$20.8b (¥2.2t) by 2026, a 34% market share.

Generally, digital ad sales in Japan will continue to drive market growth, with total digital net advertising revenues anticipated to rise +15% to reach US$30.5b (¥3.3t), with a 56% market share. Linear net ad revenues will also see some growth, +4%, though will remain well below 2019 levels: US$24.4b (¥2.6t) compared to $26.9b (¥2.9t) in 2019. 

Japan remains the third largest ad market in the world and the second largest in APAC, behind China, with US$50b (¥5.3t) net ad revenues in 2021 and US$55b (¥5.6t) expected by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, the APAC region’s advertising economy grew by +16.5% in 2021, following the recession of 2020 (-0.8%). In 2022, the Asia-Pacific ad market will expand by +11.2%, close to the global average of +12% and in line with the pre COVID long-term regional growth.

Singapore – A group of independent public relations agencies representing Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, as well as Singapore, and South Korea has joined forces to form the new ‘PerfectPitch Asia PR Network’ in SEA. 

The new network aims to support global companies in strategizing and implementing their business communications programs as they venture into Asian markets. It is composed of female founders who are experts in brand strategy, public relations, and integrated marketing, as well as social media.

PerfectPitch founders include Constance Chao, the founder of Media Plus for Mainland China and Taiwan, Maggie Chen, independent representative for Hong Kong, and Yukiko Harada, TrainTracks’ managing director for Japan, as well as Melinda Ilagan, I.M. SEA Communications’ managing director for Singapore, and June Cha, TwinTracks’ managing director for South Korea.

Harada said, “We have come together combining the depth and breadth of our experiences in various industries, practices, and our respective geographies to provide global clients good counsel and strong execution to help them succeed in Asia’s mega-economy.”

Meanwhile, Ilagan shared that SEA continues to experience brisk growth as global enterprises and disruptive innovators set their eyes on the region’s young, tech-savvy talent and consumers.

“Our experience is that global companies and our counterpart agencies in the western hemisphere seek expert advisors in the most economically vibrant countries like Singapore, Mainland China/Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. They come to us because of our intimate understanding of this diverse region,” said Ilagan.

Chao also noted, “With over 20 decades of media experience in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan via Media Plus and Maggie Cheng, PerfectPitch can provide the total solution for the companies who want to enter into these comprehensive markets.”

As free trade agreements get ratified and borders start to reopen amid COVID-19 PerfectPitch said it is anticipating a fresh burst of business opportunities coming into the region.

Tokyo, Japan – Global professional services Accenture has announced that it will be acquiring Tambourine, a Japanese-based commerce customer experience (CX) agency. Said terms of the transaction were not disclosed as of this moment.

The company, founded in 2015, provides integrated commerce services on the Salesforce platform. It delivers customer experience design and engineering, develops web services and applications, and offers consultancy services to optimize customer touchpoints. 

Tambourine already has a proven track record in using Salesforce Commerce Cloud to deliver seamless commerce experiences for consumer goods and entertainment companies in Japan. 

Through the acquisition, Tambourine will enhance the world-class suite of sales and commerce transformation services, from product and platform engineering, to omnichannel delivery of commerce experiences. 

Speaking about the acquisition, Flaviano Faleiro, president for growth markets at Accenture Interactive, said, “Brands understand that when they respond to new consumer behaviors with a seamless commerce experience, it makes them more relevant and valuable. The combination of Tambourine and Accenture Interactive will further enhance our ability to leverage creativity, technology and deep human insights to accelerate growth of our clients.” 

Tambourine is the latest in a series of acquisitions that Accenture has made to rapidly scale commerce expertise and excellence, including Experity in Brazil, Glamit in Argentina and Openmind in Italy. In Asia, the company had also acquired Malaysia-based marketing consulting/agency Entropia.

Atsushi Egawa, Accenture’s market unit lead for Japan, said, “Digital customer experience and brand reputation is so closely intertwined that it can impact a company’s growth. In considering ways to deliver the best of commerce experiences, brands are turning to data and the cloud for leverage. By weaving in Tambourine’s unique offerings into Accenture’s, we will continue to help accelerate our clients’ growth.”

Meanwhile, Tatsuya Nakao, CEO of Tambourine, commented, “Tambourine is founded on the premise of achieving excellent outcomes as a team. Now, as part of Accenture, we look forward to extending our digital commerce expertise across the entire customer experience and work closely together to create [a] deep impact for our clients.”

Tokyo, Japan – Virtual reality (VR) startup HIKKY has announced that it has successfully raised US$57m or around ¥6.5b during its recently-concluded series A funding round. Part of the funding will be used in developing and operating a new open metaverse project using the company’s Vket Cloud, a browser-based VR engine.

The company will also use said funding to help expand their virtual reality services both domestically and abroad, as well as to strengthen their organizational foundation.

The Vket Cloud is used to create metaverse content that users can access with a link click, without a dedicated computer or mobile application. It also supports multiplayer mode, and users can enjoy communicating with others in the same space with voice or text chat.

According to Yasushi Funakoshi, CEO at HIKKY, they will be accelerating their metaverse business with the help of communication infrastructure, research institutes, and global networks of the Japanese mobile phone operator NTT DOCOMO, which is under the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Group.

“We will continue to provide NTT DOCOMO with XR services, technologies, and content production as per our strengths. We are extremely grateful to all the creators who have supported us, as well as the visitors and companies who have taken part in Vket events,” Funakoshi said.

HIKKY is known for hosting a VR-based event called Vket, where thousands of artists, many international corporate sponsors, and millions of users visit these events. For this year, Vket 2021 will run from 4 to 19 December this year.

Manila, Philippines – Tier One Entertainment, the Philippine-based gaming and esports entertainment company, has announced its newest market foray, this time in Japan, where at the same time the company aims to debut its first-ever idol group to cater to the Japanese market, as well as to global fans.

Said market expansion is part of Tier One Entertainment’s strategic move when it signed an investment deal with its investors, KAYAC, a Japan-based internet firm, and Warner Music Group, a global media company that has a strong market presence in Japan.

Regarding the planned idol group launch, Tier One has stated that four multi-talented individuals are set to redefine what it means to be an influencer and content creator who challenges the status quo. The idol group will be a new breed of Tier One talents who will elevate the level of content creation to new heights, delighting fans across the globe.

Tryke Gutierrez, chief executive officer at Tier One, had already shared details of its first idol group member, multi-talented model, and cosplayer Harry ‘har_fie’ Field, during the company’s livestream event last 8 October.

The idol group, unofficially called ‘Project 4’, will have the rest of the members be revealed in a series of promotions that Tier One Entertainment will launch in the next couple of months.

For Gutierrez, said market expansion has been an exciting time for them and they can’t wait to see what they can do in Japan, citing Tokyo, the country’s capital, as the ‘mecca of geek culture’. He also shared that Japan has always been his second home and is a country that’s really close to his heart, from the perspective of having gaming, esports, anime and toys become more and more part of a gamer’s day-to-day life.

“Japan is a country with a long history both in gaming and innovation in multimedia. With over 57% of its population being gamers, there’s a big opportunity for us to grow our brand. Tier One is bringing our brand of entertainment to the Japanese gaming industry. Our goal is to gather a core team and build an initial roster of content creators that will elevate esports and video games in Japan in ways the country has never experienced before,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Alodia Gosiengfiao, Tier One’s co-founder and popular cosplayer and gaming personality, commented, “Through Tier One I was able to further share my passion for video games. Now with our Japan expansion, I get to work closely with another one of my great loves: Japanese culture. Not only are we signing new talents for the Japanese market, but we’re also going to debut our idol group, which will be Tier One’s greatest expression of cutting-edge style to date. That makes me very excited.”

Moreover, the company also looks to find those who are willing to join its mission in bringing esports and gaming to the mainstream as it opens its office in Japan this year.

“We are thrilled that Tier One Entertainment is bringing the enormous momentum of the SEA gaming scene to Japan as its first foray outside its territory. Our collaboration will allow us to forge unique kinds of gaming entertainment to audiences in Japan and other key markets in Asia,” Daisuke Yanasawa, chief executive officer at KAYAC said.

Tokyo, Japan – Multinational hotel and lodging company Marriott International and internet services company Rakuten have joined forces in their latest partnership, aimed at enhancing the travel experience for Japanese consumers, whether travelling locally or internationally.

Said partnership, which is scheduled to launch in phases from late-November 2021, is set to open up a world of benefits and elevate the travel experience for Japanese customers in the following ways such as integrated digital travel experience, more perks for registered members, and VIP experiences.

Through the partnership, Marriott International’s travel program Marriott Bonvoy will have direct access to millions of Rakuten members to offer them unparalleled experiences and a diverse portfolio of Marriott Bonvoy’s 30 international hotel brands, and market directly to Rakuten’s customer base with content and promotions that are customized for the Japanese traveler.

Meanwhile, for Rakuten’s part, it will utilize its digital expertise and capitalize on the current growth of Japan’s digital economy, alongside the global scale and the rapid growth of the Marriott Bonvoy footprint. 

This new agreement is designed to create a seamless, integrated travel experience and allow eligible members to enjoy benefits from both Marriott Bonvoy and the Rakuten loyalty program.

“We are excited to work with Marriott International to offer eligible Rakuten members the amazing benefits of Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s industry award-winning travel program. Rakuten customers have come to expect the highest standards of service and convenience, and Marriott is an ideal partner. This groundbreaking alliance will add incredible value for our members, enabling them to tap into the advantages of a global travel program,” said Kazunori Takeda, group executive vice president and president of commerce company at Rakuten Group.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Menon, president for Asia Pacific excluding Greater China at Marriott International, commented, “With a significant number of Japan’s population a Rakuten member, we anticipate this collaboration will allow us to strategically capture a greater share of a strong Japanese travel market and connect these travelers to our expansive portfolio of global brands. We’re delighted to be working with Rakuten to advance the recovery of travel.”

Tokyo, Japan – Global data and measurement-driven media agency Essence has elevated current associate vice president for client services for Japan Kota Murakami to the role of managing director for Essence in Japan.

He will be responsible for leading continued client-centric innovation in data, analytics and technology, as well as business growth and company culture for Essence in the market.

In his previous role as AVP for client services, he headed the agency’s client services and drove business growth for the agency in Japan, as well as overseeing key client services in Korea. Previously, he served as global account director at Tag in the United States, streamlining creative production processes for major brands and agencies through software as a service.

He will be reporting to T. Gangadhar, CEO for APAC at Essence as part of the agency’s APAC leadership team; and Michael Beecroft, CEO for Northeast Asia at GroupM as part of GroupM Japan’s executive committee.

“Kota has done an excellent job in spearheading, in collaboration with the leadership team, Essence’s growth and development in Japan over the past few years. In addition to global and local industry experience, he has a deep understanding of our business, product offering, clients, work, people and culture. I am excited about his vision for Essence in Japan and how he will take the agency to new heights,” Gangadhar said.

Meanwhile, Beecroft commented, “Kota’s contribution to Essence’s growth has been clear. With his appointment to GroupM Japan’s executive committee earlier this year, and now as the confirmed leader of Essence Japan, his impact on the Essence and overall GroupM business will only increase.”