FirstPoint Japan

TV As A Mirror Of Society

8/12/2014

By Mike Rogers, MarketingJapan, Universal Vision Ltd., and Smart Research
& James Santagata, Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

TV as a Mirror of Society

I met the boss of the biggest international television network in the world the other day. He is a Canadian. He travels all over the world and, because he is in the TV business, he told me that one of his favorite things to do in every country was to judge by TV commercials what things were important to that particular society.

Japan's TV commercials? Insurance for this or that; home sales; automobiles; financial instruments and plans; candy, cosmetics, fast food... Companies like Zurich, Sekisui, Kanebo.... Japanese commercials that soft sell and are emotive commercials.

I think that's right.

He also told me that he was "astounded" by just how many over the counter drug medication commercials there were on US TV all the time. US TV commercials? Drugs, Cholesterol, Machismo ("my ding-a-ling is bigger than yours" commercials); fast food; commercials to make your dick hard, make it soft, put you to sleep, keep you awake, lower blood pressure, lose weight; not to mention commercials galore for people with extreme anxiety and panic attacks.

Oh, and don't forget the side effects disclaimers! Cholesterol, etc.

[read more] tv as society's mirror

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Does Japan Really Need Nore English-speakers? The Tip of The Sword Strategy Says No

5/9/2014

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By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

If it seems that we're under a constant barrage of the Western Media Myth (WMM) that (a) Japan is "failing" and that (b) this "failure" is primarily due to Japan's "talent problem" don't fret because we are.

Further, we are told that Japan's supposed "lack of talent" has manifested itself in such as way as to be responsible for Japan's supposed "lack of creativity" and "lack of innovation"".

But not to worry according to the WMM as we're then told that these "problems" that Japan faces can simply solved by (a) increasing the number of English-speaking Japanese and (b) internationalizing "backwards" Japanese-only speaking Japanese and (c) increasing the number of immigrants in Japan, preferably by engaging in a sort of US-Open Bordersfashion.
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The Western Media's argument or framing of the issues, especially in terms of Japan's supposed lack of "English-speaking" talent becomes even more silly when we consider that it ignores what I have deemed the "tip of the spear" or "tip of the sword" strategy.
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[more] Understanding The Tip Of The Sword

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Are You Tired of Reading About Japan From The "Japan is Weird" School of Journalism?

9/29/2013

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Are you tired of reading about Japan from the "Japan is Weird" school of journalism?

You know, such as the debunked story about the supposed "Japan eyeball licking" craze.

So are we.

Interested in real, actionable expert advice on Japan?

You'll find it here.

The fact is news on Japan, from the Western media and Western perspective, normally falls into one of two categories, basically it's a bi-modal distribution that looks like this:

1. Japan is a cyberpunk weirdo country, where eyeball licking is the country's new favorite past time.

...or...

2. Japan is a robotic, lobotomized colony of Borg, ala the "Japan, Inc." or earlier "Yellow Peril" memes.

It's no wonder, then, that so many foreign firms underperform or fail in Japan.

But now there's a third school of journalism about Japan -- from the FirstPoint Japan school of journalism and it features actionable, ROI-based, expert advice.

It may not be as sexy or titillating as the eyeball licking or Akihabara maid cafe stories but it'll help you grow and accelerate your business in Japan at best and in the very least it'll ensure you keep your job.

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TV As A Mirror Of Society

Does Japan Really Need Nore English-speakers? The Tip of The Sword Strategy Says No

Are You Tired of Reading About Japan From The "Japan is Weird" School of Journalism?

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