By Kosuke Jimbo
In the motherland of the Otaku, Kawaii, and a whole lot more of eccentricity, trying to get your message past takes more than just a simple translation. Although it is still one of the largest markets in the world, Japan has a very distinctive and unique culture of its own, often puzzling those who do not have a good grasp of it. Yet, it is a market too valuable to ignore as Japan is still the trendsetter of Asia.
So, how do you make your PR material relevant in Japan? Here are some key elements and tips you should keep in mind.
Before we start…
First of all, we have to keep in mind the very basics of international PR, and possibly any field in that respect, which could best be explained by the famous quote from the ancient Chinese military treatise The Art of War: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of understanding Japan, it’s past, present, and the future. And in the 21st century, we have the perfect tool to know them all: Social media.
It is surprising how social media represents even the smallest trends and communities in each country. Social media analysis is the first step to understanding any market nowadays. Pick up some key influencers, hashtags, and ideally try to make a map of the key issues discussed and debated within the community. It is only then you start to understand where your product or service is positioned in relation to your competitors, and figure out who to appeal to.
That being said, here are the best practices to localize your PR material in Japan.
Internet Finally At Top, but TV is still King
With covid-19 impacting the media landscape in Japan, many celebrities founded their YouTube channel, empowering the platform even more. A recent report revealed that the internet finally surpassed TV in advertising expenses.
However, this is not to be confused with media power. When you analyse the contents online, it is quite clear that most of them are heavily dependent on TV contents. For example, the most popular online news are about the programs from the day before, or about TV celebrities. Japan has over 1000 YouTubers who have more than a million followers, however, many of them seek an opportunity to make an appearance on TV to gain a status similar to that of TV celebrities.
After all, the main viewers of YouTube are teens and young adults who do not hold much purchasing power. Plus, we are talking about a platform with over 30,000 channels. TV? Six. It’s safe to say that although the internet is definitely increasing its sphere of influence, TV still holds more power as a media in Japan.
Twitter and the Art of Anonymity
Perhaps one of the seven wonders in the PR industry, is Japan’s obsession with Twitter. In many countries, Facebook still crowns as the king of social media. Japan is the only country where Twitter is the most popular social media with 45 million active users, that’s more than a third of the population.
The question is, why? There have been countless researches and articles trying to explain this phenomenon, and the answer seems to lie deep down in the core of Japanese society.
In a country where one’s public and private life are clearly defined, it is hard for them to only have one account under his/her true identity. It is common for a person to present a completely different identity in and out of work. He may be a promising elite businessman at work, but a fun-loving doofus who can’t keep his clothes on when drunk in private.
Hence the Japanese obsession to Twitter, a platform where you could own multiple accounts anonymously. In fact, a freshly graduated student would make his/her account private or cover their identity once they start looking for jobs, because they are afraid that the interviewers might search for their account. It is common for a person to own multiple accounts, each presenting a part of their identity, and actively posting and interacting as if he/she is “playing the role” within that community.
This complex phenomenon could be incorporated in a PR strategy. When speaking of corporate PR on Twitter, we often talk about “Naka-no-hito”, or “the person behind the scenes”. This is when a corporate account, who we expect to send out information about the company in a businesslike fashion, suddenly tweets as if it’s his/her private account.
The most famous example of this would be electronics manufacturer, Sharp. The “Naka-no-hito” would randomly comment on people’s tweets in a friendly-fashion (I mean the type of friend who would laugh at your failures and loves pranking you), tell you how lazy he is feeling today, and make jokes about current affairs. This triggered a trend of corporate accounts tweeting like your buddy, and followers enjoyed these playful accounts by asking personal questions and waiting to see how they’d reply.
Mastering this unique Twitter culture is key to a successful PR campaign in Japan. Not only is it going to be a great stream of communication with your fans, but it also helps set up a brand image that will stick in people’s minds.
Covid-19 Changed Everything. I mean EVERYTHING
2020 was going to be a huge year for Japan. With the Olympic games coming to our capital and foreign visitors to Japan almost quadrupling in the last decade, we had believed that this is the chance for us to show the world how fascinating our country is.
The risks of hosting the Olympic games are well documented. We have seen many cities miserably failing to keep their facilities running, and abandoning them. The discussion had been going on in Tokyo as well, and we had been trying very hard to make this worldly event a success, not just in the short term, but for the future.
Then, Covid-19 happened.
What does that mean? Well, first of all, there is a possibility that no one’s going to come to Japan. All those facilities and stadiums we made for future events? We might never see any event of that capacity, ever again. All those campaigns we had planned from the very moment we knew the Olympic games were going to come to Tokyo? Zilch. Nada.
Although Japan has been one of the less affected countries in terms of death tolls, economically, we are probably the biggest victim to the pandemic. It is no surprise that this caused a nationwide debate on what we have to do.
So, as is the case for all other countries, Covid-19 is at the center of every conversation. Covid-19 changed the way we work, communicate, and enjoy our pastime. Speaking from a PR specialist’s perspective, no PR material could be released unless we take this huge worldwide story into account.
For instance, remote work has become a norm for many companies. Thus, people are spending more time at home, and want to make their house a more comfortable space. This also meant that train ads will lose massive power because people aren’t commuting to work. Another factor is the diffusion of people from urban areas. Since the Covid pandemic, real estates in the suburbs started to sell dramatically, and this means that overpopulation in Tokyo will finally see a decrease.
When we look at the entertainment industry, we are still trying to figure out how we are going to hold major events including the Olympics in a safe manner. If any of your products or services could solve this problem even remotely, now is the perfect time to show the whole world how future major events should look like. If we focus on the positive side, the Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed to 2021, will be the very first worldly event to take place post-covid. In other words, it will set the standards to what a major event would look like in the future. Let’s just hope we find a way to fill up those seats without any fear of infection.
Consult With Local Professionals
The last one might go without saying, but it still needs to be said.
DO NOT USE ONLINE TRANSLATIONS!
Have you seen a YouTube video clip where people use Google Translate to translate English songs into another language and back into English again? My favorite was the one where the lyrics for “Let It Go” turned into “Give up! Give up!”
We have seen some embarrassing mistranslations, and the sad part is that no one bothered to mention how outrageous it was (or perhaps none of them had the ability to understand how awful it is). There is a reason why we call it “lost in translation”. If you translate something, you are going to lose the dynamic of the original wording at best, oftentimes it will send out the wrong message, misleading your customers.
If we’re speaking of PR materials, we would also discourage you to use a translator.
Let’s take a famous catchphrase like “Think Different” as an example. If you were to translate that into Japanese, the best you could get is something along the lines of “Think differently” or “Think about something unique”, which we could probably agree does not have that buzz “Think Different” has.
There is a reason why there is a profession called copywriters. Just because someone can speak the language, doesn’t mean he/she is good at writing a convincing punchline. Copywriters are specialists at creating this, and that is why we recommend you consult with local professional copywriters who could deliver your brand’s message in the best fashion, and a bilingual account manager who could communicate the true value and story behind your PR material.
Hope this helps you find the correct way to deliver your message in Japan!
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