JAPANESE BRANDS AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION EAT CREATIVE

Born in Japan over 20 years ago, we are constantly on the look-out for the brands that are challenging established norms, leading their industry with a brand-first and purpose-led approach, or extending their reach with new audiences through innovative and exceptional experiences. Here, we give our take on some of the home-grown Japanese brands that offer tactical learnings for marketing leaders around the world and can be a source of inspiration for new client engagements.

SMBC – BRAND AS THE BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE IN A SLOW-MOVING INDUSTRY

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is the 2nd largest banking institution (by total assets and market capitalisation) in Japan and 12th largest in the world. For many, financial institutions can be perceived as ‘too big to fail’ but also ‘too big to change’, falling behind smaller, more agile challenger banks and institutions in terms of product offering and customer experience. Not so with SMBC.

With many financial mechanisms and transactions still executed in paper form or cash in Japan, SMBC has pushed to advance digital evolution in the country. Establishing its own in-house brand design team in 2016 – the first to do so in Japan’s financial industry – this team has been the spark for overhauling the SMBC customer experience. In 2019 the brand launched its app under the concept of ‘a new wallet’ to accelerate a national movement towards a cashless society. And more recently SMBC has launched its ‘Olive’ digital ecosystem – a numberless physical card that can switch from being a debit, to credit, to points card for all your purchases instantly in the SMBC app.

All of these touchpoints and innovations have been supported by a distinctive but dynamic visual identity that is driving brand equity and is a key reason for their appearance in the top 25 of the Best Japan Brands rankings for 2022

TSUTAYA – DOUBLING-DOWN ON EXPERIENCE TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY

When Tsutaya was first founded in the early 1980s, the proposition was quite innovative – brick and mortar bookstores that also offered CD rental and a café for customers to while away the hours. Fast forward 40 years later and we might expect Tsutaya to have succumbed to the might of the video streaming and e-commerce platforms that have brought down so many bookstore chains and movie rental properties around the world. This is certainly not the case.

The brand’s owner and operator, Culture Convenience Club (CCC) headquartered in Tokyo, is not just focusing its growth strategy for Tsutaya on physical locations but is evolving these locations beyond just spaces of commerce to experience centers that tap into a huge range of life moments and interactions.

Driven by CCC’s mission to ‘build cultural infrastructure for Japan and the world’, Tsutaya locations are being developed with awe-inspiring architecture (a number of their locations have received global architecture awards), elements such as stunning lounges and bars surrounded by rare book collections, and exclusive exhibitions of Japanese arts. These are turning Tsutaya locations into must-go destinations for a drink, to meet friends or explore.

Demand for hybrid retail spaces are growing in Japan and in the region which should support CCC’s focus on in-store experience for their Tsutaya brand. And the appetite for growth is large. With global players like Amazon not having as strong a foothold in South East Asia as they do elsewhere, CCC is targeting 55 new locations in Malaysia alone by the early 2030s. Watch this space.

MUJI – THE ANTI-BRAND THAT TAKES A UNIQUE POSITION IN THE MARKET

To many, the name MUJI evokes images of rows of pencils and stationery, notebooks and a simple, practical aesthetic throughout. Since its founding in 1989, the brand has developed a lifestyle ecosystem of products, such as bedding, clothing, furniture and food, and even turned to automotive briefly through a partnership with Nissan in 2001.

From a classic brand perspective, MUJI stands out due to its “No brand” policy. The company name ‘Mujirushi

Ryohin’ translates as ‘No-Brand Quality Goods’ and this policy is carried through every interaction and experience. Unbranded products, simple packaging and Bauhaus inspired store design all endeavour to shift perceptions away from the rest of the marketplace where brands scream for attention. The business limits its spending on advertising and marketing, instead leveraging word-of-mouth awareness building and the ease of its MUJI Passport app for in-store and digital purchases.

This approach has brought a lot of success for the organisation with customers – customers who are tired with the incessant consumerism and branded content that dominates so much of our lives today. MUJI instead tries to bring a sense of calm to customers’ everyday lives with its ‘no-frills’ design style.

A surge in raw material prices and a weaker Japanese Yen in 2022 was a cause for concern from a financial perspective, but with strong growth in international markets and an ethos that continues to attract new customers, MUJI is a brand we will be keeping an eye on as an organisation that has built an empire outside of the expected brand conventions.supportive culture that powers performance.