By Chris Betros

Executive Impact Mar. 30, 2009 - 08:40AM JST ( 5 )

TOKYO —

One of the first things you see when you enter the Aoyama offices of advertising agency McCann Erickson Japan is a pool table off to the side. It seems to fit in naturally with the company that comes across to a visitor as being a center for creativity with a bit of fun.

Times are tough in the advertising industry but innovative companies like McCann are managing to weather the crisis by evolving new strategies and veering away from the traditional approaches to advertising in the Japanese market. McCann Erickson belongs to McCann Worldgroup, one of the leading edge global integrated marketing communications groups, which has multiple business units specializing in advertising, targeted marketing, media planning & buying, production, buzz creation, brand consultancy, brand activation, PR and healthcare communication.

Heading up the operation in Japan is President and CEO Kevin Ramsey, who also serves as a regional director for the Asia-Pacific region. Born in New Zealand, Ramsey began his advertising career in Auckland in 1978. In 1989, he and three partners founded their own boutique agency which merged with J Walter Thompson in 1992. More recently, Ramsey was with M&C Saatchi before joining McCann Erickson Japan in January 2005.

Japan Today editor Chris Betros catches up with Ramsey to hear more about the advertising industry in Japan.

How does the corporate culture at McCann Erickson differ from other ad agencies that you have worked for?

I find McCann Erickson’s corporate culture more aggressive, more entrepreneurial and more empowering. 

Did you find many differences in the Japanese market when you first arrived in 2005?

Certainly there are differences in terms of how the market operates but the principles about our business are consistent wherever you go. It has been an interesting learning experience. I’ve tried to evolve strategies for our business here that are a combination of understanding Japan and some international thinking, as opposed to imposing the international way of doing things, which has proven to be a failure with many organizations here in the past. I think we are coming to a place where we are a pretty good hybrid of Japan’s practices and international practices. That has enabled us to create quite a nice differentiated position for ourselves in this market.

How are you coping with the recession?

Clients are spending less on advertising, so what we have done is build an integrated model that has specialist disciplines in areas outside of traditional advertising. For example, we have a very strong healthcare agency, we are in media planning and buying. Clients don’t necessarily all go away in tough times, but their advertising budget may get reallocated to other areas. Our integrated model enables us to pick up those transfers of spending in other areas. So while last year was a tough year for the advertising business, we had growth in all of our other business units.

Is online advertising growing?

Yes, online advertising has overtaken magazines in total billings. That has been a big focus for us. When I arrived in 2005, we were still a pretty traditional advertising agency, but over the last three years, we have added a lot of digital capability into all of our business units.

What trends do you see in the industry?

We see the future as being much more about integrated communications that engage with consumers at every significant opportunity during the day, not just at night on TV. What that means is that a lot of effort is going into activities outside of mass media. Our position is that we have to be innovative and continue to bring the next thing to Japan. That’s why we are here. Our business model is about being more advanced for the future.

Who are your clients?

We have about 50% Japanese clients and that gives us uniqueness in the Japanese market. Most other international companies are really only handling international clients. Japanese clients come to McCann because we’re an international agency with almost 50 years of experience building demand for our clients’ brands. We can provide a different point of view and different look at a clients’ problems and deliver solutions.

How do you market yourselves?

We have a very aggressive sales force. However, the best marketing method is word of mouth. Also, McCann Erickson has a long history here and our people understand the market.

Earlier, you mentioned international practices. Could you elaborate?

The general theory is that directly comparative ads don’t work here. However, we have just done a series of ads for Seiyu stores which have been extremely successful. In the ads, we compare the price of a shopping list at Seiyu with its competitors. That has broken the mold in terms of traditional thinking. I see Japan as a country in a state of change. We are pushing the envelope on these types of strategies and we getting results from it. Increasingly, we’re going to see more clients wanting to break some of those supposed barriers to communication.

Are foreign celebrities still popular in Japanese commercials?

Foreign celebrities will remain an important part of communication in Japan. One of the fundamental reasons for that is the short duration of Japanese commercials (15 seconds). You have to grab the public’s attention immediately. However, there is some evolution in that there is greater use of Asian and Japanese celebrities and there is a sense that it is no longer a celebrity for celebrity’s sake. The key factor is to match the profile and personality of the celebrity to the brand.

Have you seen any Japanese commercials that you like?

I like the Softbank white dog ad because it has captured the public’s imagination. You know, there is a myth about Japanese advertising being weird and incomprehensible to Westerners. As Japan internationalizes its perspective, communications are shifting so that an ad can stand up and be understood in any environment.

Has McCann Erickson Japan won many awards for its advertising?

Yes, we have a long history of awards over the years. As I mentioned earlier, we are positioning ourselves more on the basis of engagement and integrated campaigns and less about a single TV commercial. The awards that we are winning are starting to reflect that. For example, the work we have done for Coca-Cola, Vending Machine Red won an award for best viral marketing campaign at the Asia Interactive Awards. We also won the first place Mobius Award Statuette at the Mobius Awards for the ANA Crown Plaza outdoor. The Eco Zoo website (http://ecodazoo.com/) won the Website of The Year 2008 at the Favorite Website Awards. 

Tell us about your team.

We have very talented staff. That has been a hallmark of McCann Erickson in Japan. We need to be living on the edge of new thinking and welcome people who can continuously change and are always pushing the envelope. If they want to be in a comfortable organization, they can go to the major Japanese agencies. We want to attract the rebels. We are an attractive employer for women and I’d say we have more senior women in our organization than other Japanese agencies.

What is your management style?

My style is reflective of the McCann Erickson style. The secret to our business is getting good people, empowering them to do their job and then helping where there are problems. That’s what I focus on. Another key part of my role is maintaining a good relationship with senior clients. I don’t like big meetings but in many instances, they are a necessity. I prefer having small meetings and face to face talking. I am not a great assimilator of Japanese language. What I have learned over a lot of time in this business is that communication is not necessarily about the language you speak.

What is a typical day for you?

I show up at around 8:30 a.m. and generally leave about 8 or 9 p.m. I do everything I possibly can to resist getting bogged down in emails because I believe in personal communication. In our business, we have to be speaking with people.

How about weekends?

I work on most weekends. I’m in Japan probably two weeks a month and for the rest of the time, I’m on the road. I don’t mind all the travel, though. My career has enabled me to see the world.

What frustrates you about doing business in Japan?

What frustrates me the most, but which I admire the most, is the attention to detail in everything that is done here in each stage. I’m a big picture kind of guy but for the Japanese, the beauty is in the details. That is something that I have had to learn and I can’t say I am good at it. But I have come to admire it.

How do you like to relax?

I am passionate about rugby. A friend coaches the Japan rugby team and I spend a lot of time watching rugby and mixing with rugby people.

For more information, visit www.mccann.co.jp