Even a company with strong brand recognition overseas usually has to build awareness in the Japanese market from scratch. Because Japanese consumers and business partners engage with media and build trust differently than audiences overseas, bringing the same PR and marketing strategy used at home does not always produce results.
- The company is well known overseas but has little recognition in Japan
- Press releases are issued, but the media does not pick them up
- There is no bandwidth to run Japanese-language owned media or social accounts
- It is unclear where to start, or how to prioritize PR and marketing efforts
This article explains a basic PR and marketing strategy for building brand awareness in Japan.
Why Overseas Recognition Does Not Carry Over to Japan
Japanese media and consumers tend to build trust not directly from a company's overseas track record and reputation, but through case studies, results, and media coverage within Japan itself. Because of this, even a strong global branding asset from headquarters needs to go through a process of translation and reconstruction for the Japanese market.
Japanese media also follow their own conventions for interview requests and information sharing, so the same approach used overseas may not produce the expected coverage.
Three Pillars of a Basic Strategy
Building brand awareness in the Japanese market is most effective through a combination of the following three initiatives.
| Initiative | Overview |
|---|---|
| PR strategy and communications | Communicating through press releases, media relationship building, and interview response |
| Digital marketing | Generating leads through a website, social media, content marketing, and advertising |
| Brand and market strategy | Designing messaging based on market research and competitive analysis, and building awareness through events and seminars |
Points to Watch During Execution
When executing PR and marketing initiatives, it is important to account for the media environment and business practices specific to Japan. The expected conventions — such as press release format, how to handle interviews, and the tone used on social media — can differ between Japan and overseas.
Rather than treating these as one-off efforts, coordinating PR, digital marketing, and brand strategy as an ongoing, mid- to long-term effort makes it easier to build a path from awareness to inquiries and sales discussions.
Summary
- Overseas brand recognition does not carry over to Japan as-is, so branding needs to be reconstructed for the Japanese market
- Combine the three pillars of PR and communications, digital marketing, and brand and market strategy
- Design press releases, interview responses, and communications with Japan's media environment and business practices in mind
- Treat this as an ongoing, mid- to long-term effort rather than a one-off initiative, building a path from awareness to sales discussions
Contact
JBN provides one-stop support, from designing a PR strategy suited to Japan's media environment through to executing digital marketing initiatives.
To discuss building your brand awareness, please contact us.