Doreen Peri and Whoever else likes advertising.
by $B-Love$
Posted to Utterances on 2002-06-13 21:04:00
If you have the time, read this. I think you will find that you will have something to say about it once you finish it.
In the last two decades, many American companies have encountered great difficulty in creating successful ad campaigns to be launched in Japan. Some years ago, I read an article about the frustration of U.S. corporations unable to sell their goods in Japan. According to their focus groups and research, their campaigns were effective and accurately targeted. They couldn’t surmise the reasons behind the failures. The author shed no light as to why it was happening, other than to say that the Japanese and the American people were different. Huge revelation, huh?
Here’s where the soft sell and the hard sell come into play. Unlike American advertisers, the Japanese rely strictly on the soft sell. It is a part of their culture. The Japanese are vague and extremely subtle when compared to Americans. The essence of Japanese life and everyday interaction can be summed up by their belief in a complex set of unspoken cultural guidelines/ethics rooted in Confucianism. The most evident of these guidelines is that of tatemae/honne (what is portrayed/what is really thought.) Like Robert March, an internationally known consultant, points out that tatemae is the exterior of a message, emotion or phrase. Honne is the true under layer. The Japanese don’t communicate in animated, expressive ways like Americans. They always choose to address an issue or point indirectly and sometimes vaguely. This is evident in Japanese advertising. So, we can say that a country’s advertising is a representation of its mores and social norms.
In modern Japan, the ads are like the culture: harmonious. The colors, art directors choose, form a harmonious bond with one another and the kana (Japanese characters). Japanese ads rely on the publics’ good judgement. They tend to just present the company or product and imply, “We know you are smart and will make the correct decision when you are faced with purchasing a product or recalling a company’s name.” Honne is grossly evident in every ad, though it may be sugar coated with cute women or catchy jingles (tatemae).
This way of indirectly communicating is evident in nearly all of the advertising one sees scattered around the Tokyo area and Japan. It comes in the form of the ad copy when dealing with print ads. When we look at most print ads in the U.S., we could theoretically identify the components of the ad: headline, sub head, body copy, etc. This is the point where the American has to leave his experience at the door and approach the Japanese print ad in a whole different way. For example, this month a magazine ad came out about the new Subaru Impreza that illustrates this phenomenon. The page is divided into thirds. The bottom third is a small image of the product. The top two thirds are devoted to the showcase of the kind looking young woman in the ad. The harmony in color and kana are present along with a simple sentence repeated seven times in decreasing size fonts scattered around the page. The sentence translates as “ I want a little more freedom.” This sentence can be classified as a product benefit that we would normally see in the form of an image in most American car ads. But more importantly, it is the representation of tatemae. The honne, or the true feeling or meaning behind the sentence is that the Impreza is the car you should purchase. There is no outright talk of price or attributes, as they are buried in 4pt size font at the bottom of the page. So, we could then say to understand why Japanese ads are written and laid out in a certain way, is to understand Japanese culture.
Over the last two decades, many international consultants have written numerous books on how to better understand the Japanese people. They stress that knowing certain things will further any endeavor made in this country. It seems that American advertisers should take the same advice. A solid understanding of this culture is requisite before launching any campaign. The same theory applies closer to home as well. If a predominately white agency staff was hired to create a multi-cultural campaign, it would be imperative to research and fully understand the ins and outs of that target culture/demographic.
Today the problem of understanding the Japanese is not so insurmountable. Hiring designers that are bilingual seems to alleviate any language barriers that may have existed in the past decade or two. But, how well are these talented designers versed in both cultures? Moreover, are they effectively positioning the brand in Japan without compromising its strength, level of relativity, consistency and voice? The initial obstacle of language barriers has evolved into a more complex animal.
On the other hand, some ex-patriots say this about the Japanese creative, “Japanese ad agencies tend to fail at creating ads and copy that will translate into other languages, cultures, etc. They tend to just create ad work for the Japanese market.” A good way to look at this is by noting the ads placed in this country. Though hundreds of thousands of foreigners live in Japan, no advertising is directed to them. The only target is the Japanese national. The only exceptions to this, are English version Japanese newspaper and magazine print ads. But these, a majority of the time, are created in a western style.
In addition to these Confucian rules that guide the lives of the Japanese, David Suzuki, the author of The Other Japan, mentions an interesting theory. He comments that the people of Japan are like a school of fish. When one fish moves, they all move. But, they have no idea as to the reasons why they are moving. They just stay with the other fish. The question that now arises is “How does this group-think mentality affect a brand?” By western definitions, people become brand loyal because of what the brand means to them personally. That theory seems to apply here only a small part of the time. The best way to understand this is to remember that the core of this culture centers around how others feel, not how one personally feels. So, brand loyalty takes on a new definition. To make your brand successfully accepted, you would have to strategically tap into the current trends that affect Japan’s citizens. To western experts this may appear to be a shallow acceptance of a brand that has no room for brand loyalty cultivation. With this, I would agree. So, Suzuki’s school of fish mentality theory is, without question, applicable to modern Japan from the eyes of a westerner. Having said that, one has to take into account the twenty-somethings of Japan today. One could compare them to those in 1960s America. Some Japanese fear that their vertical society is slowly starting to show signs of cracking. The idea of individuality is slowly starting to come into vogue. This is evident in a select few, ‘rebelious’ recent ads. This is due, in part, by influence from countries like Brazil and various countries in Europe. As a young professional in Tokyo pointed out, “[There is a] lack of creativity. They (Japan) are getting much better, though. But, not too many Japanese companies won awards last year.”
Though parts of the Japan of the new millennium may be starting to splinter, the same focus needs to remain in the minds of American advertisers. In order for a campaign or company to succeed on this side of the Pacific, it has to be confident that it understands the Japanese culture at its roots. But more importantly, one has to aware of current trends in this country. The consumers’ power is staggering; as the concentration of opinion leaders and trendsetters is the highest in all of the world. Also, one cannot assume that because the bubble broke a decade ago that this country is ready to embrace western thoughts and norms with open arms. Knowing, understanding and accepting these complex rules is requisite to effectively penetrate this market. Only then, can a corporation truly become effectively “global”.
