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Arriving in Tokyo around the end of the bubble era, Sweden native Tomas Olsson recalls how as a foreigner he could not get a taxi after midnight for love or money. By the time he departed temporarily, in 1995, cabs were lined up at taxi ranks by the hundreds and there was no such drama finding late-night transport.
Just as Japan’s bubble era excesses quickly faded, the “golden age” of advertising appears also to have moved on. In its place are savvy, data-driven businesses like UK-based Ve Interactive, which Japan representative director Olsson says is spearheading a complete transformation of the advertising agency model.
With a background in corporate banking and finance, Olsson sees an opportunity for proficiency and expertise in data analytics and technology to trump the insider know-how of the traditional Japanese ad industry.
“In the past, advertising was driven by having access to media and, particularly in Japan, having access to famous stars, and using the stars to drive your brand and company promotion”, he told BCCJ ACUMEN. “We believe the future is all based on your data set—how well do you know each individual visitor to your website?” he added.
“We’re entering a stage of advertising that’s going to be very interesting, where traditional advertising agencies will potentially be disrupted by marketing technology companies like ourselves who use data to build a good picture of the consumer, and technology to deliver a message to them”.
An early investor in the UK firm — founded in 2009 — Olsson returned to Japan in 2014 to launch the Tokyo office. Now running the Japan, South Korea and Australasia operations, he sees the technology sector in Japan as largely similar to, albeit slightly behind, its Western rivals.
“In terms of overall Internet commerce, we find the US and UK are still a bit ahead, but we see a fairly quick catch up in Japan in terms of sophistication and use of technology”, he said.
“Because there is very limited domestic technology in our sector, the market is very approachable and receptive to our solutions”.
The slight head start that Ve Interactive has in the adoption of their marketing technology in Japan leads Olsson to believe that, “Japan potentially could be our largest market globally within five years”.
In Japan, the firm employs 20 staff, who work with 500 clients ranging from major brands Fast Retailing and Muji, to telecoms giant NTT and brewer Suntory.
Advice for the local market
Olsson says Ve Interactive has learned the need to get everything right before launch.
“When you launch a new product in the UK or US, most customers will accept that it doesn’t work perfectly from the start, and will work with you to improve it”, he said. “That’s not the case here”.
He also cautioned against recruiting an office purely of bilingual staff, since it could alienate potential customers.
“From my experience, Western firms should be very cautious of going down the route of a perfectly bilingual working environment. While an international, bilingual workforce may make management’s life easier, you might find some resistance from clients when staff are out with the customers—you want to be viewed as a local company as much as possible”, he said.
Ve Interactive’s success to date may put credence in that theory, however its distinctive business model is also a likely contributor. By merging the processes of advertising, measurement and sales conversion into one inclusive platform, it offers clients a high level of transparency.
But perhaps even more important for in-house marketing managers, it operates on a performance-based payment structure, challenging traditional agency costs.
Along with his drive to make Ve Interactive the pre-eminent player in the marketing technology market, Olsson has no plans to leave Tokyo again soon, although he credits that to more than just business.
“Tokyo is probably the most underrated city in the world. It’s one of the most liveable cities, with easy access to beaches and skiing, and the best food you can find. It’s a terrific place to live”, Olsson said.
A day in the life: Tomas Olsson
10am: Arrives at work—a late riser. Morning: Works through strategic issues. 2pm: As the morning coffee begins to wear off, he has an hour at the gym or a quick lunch at an uncrowded restaurant. Afternoon: Provides support to local staff in Japan, South Korea and Australasia. 9–10pm: Has dinner—a late finisher, too. 1–2am: Watches a film on Netflix; finally hits the pillow.
Custom Media publishes BCCJ ACUMEN for the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
© Japan Today
7 Comments
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shallots
A very innovative idea: discourage the bilingual workforce. How's that working for Japan?
M3M3M3
I can imagine some Japanese companies being hesitant to work with a foreign company, since there are some additional risks involved. But to be honest, selecting a foreigner like Mr Olsson to be the representative director (rather than a Japanese person) probably has an infinitely greater influence on the potential customer's decision than whether his staff can speak English!
In my experience, bilingualism in Japan is a useful proxy for general intelligence as well as a whole host of other positive traits that employers are looking for. Japan's labour laws make it far too risky to take a chance on hiring a 'dense Daisuke' when you can hire a 'multilingual Mariko' instead. Nobody in my company actually needs English but we still insist on recruiting bilinguals since it's a good way to filter people with an above average IQ and work ethic.
shallots
@M3M3M3 Whether it's a doctor's office, a bank, or the local ward office, It's not easy to find English-speaking staff. In Japanese university, you need to stick around for job hunting and other inanities. Improving English skills and broadening understanding of global realities gets the low priority. But, perhaps a few Waseda elite can cover it and the rest can keep their heads down.
bullfighter
Most people in Japan have no need of a foreign language. Of those that do, the language they need is not necessarily English and even if it is English, it is not necessarily US or UK English. Your usual Eikawa English won't get you very far with English as many Indians speak it, for example. And, while many Chinese and Koreans are quite fluent in English, if you rely on English in your dealings with them, they will be in control over what you know.
shallots
@bullfighter
Probably true on an individual basis.
Interesting statement.
There is a level of skill at which one will be able to communicate reasonably well in India - based on my experience. It depends what you mean by "usual eikaiwa" - which is vague. It's easy to get by in India using English. I've witnessed countless people who speak English as a second language doing quite well in many countries, including India. Japan seems to perform more poorly though, compared to other Asian countries.
badsey3
This is the type of performance based company employees should be looking for. You want innovation and growth potential. For people willing to do the work you may get access to the World and not just Japan.
The issue he brings up with Japanese language only for advertising should be heeded, but in reality if these companies want global reach they will need the English understanding. = Not only is advertising lagging, but the companies using said advertising are lagging worse.
ArtistAtLarge
Data processing in Japan seems to be behind current world standards across all Japanese industries.