I’m pleased that two of our account professionals in our Tokyo office, Sayaka Kitamura and Haruna Kawamoto, have contributed today’s guest post on a topic dear to my heart, the importance of tailoring stories to a given market.
I give Sayaka and Haruna credit for making the intellectual argument for investing in local content.
Here’s what they’re too polite to say –
U.S. companies often parachute into Japan armed with content developed at the HQ and instructions to push out this information in the Japanese market. While the HQ content can and should be leveraged, effective storytelling calls for cultivating the Japanese dimension.
Their post on these Sony camera videos delivers a good example on localized storytelling.
By Sayaka Kitamura and Haruna Kawamoto,
The Hoffman Agency Japan
Thanks to the Internet, virtually every company has the potential to sell its products or services on a global basis.
Sitting in Tokyo, we’ve supported a number of U.S. companies in building their brands in Japan.
Often, these companies start with the premise that the same content used in the U.S. can be leveraged to tell their story in Japan.
It doesn’t work that way.
The qualities that have the most relevance to Americans aren’t necessarily the ones that will resonate with Japanese buyers.
And vice versa; what has meaning in Japan might not have meaning in the U.S.
We came across two videos for the same Sony NEX camera – one video designed for the U.S. market and the other earmarked for Japan – that illustrate the differences that come from localizing a product story.
Check out the videos.
U.S. Video:
It’s revealing to break down these differences by area
Narrative
- U.S.: No narration
- Japan: Rich narration over the length of the video, providing a full explanation of the camera’s functions
Visual
- U.S: Goes straight to the camera, allowing viewers to understand immediately what the video clip is all about, then moves into people shots
- Japan: Starts with an imaginary object then shows technical pictures on how the camera actually works
Music
- U.S.: What we would call “bouncy” or “upbeat”
- Japan: Soothing
Length
- U.S.: 2 minutes, 59 seconds
- Japan: 6 minutes, 58 seconds
Target Audience
- U.S.: Early 20s
- Japan: Anyone
Message
- U.S.: You’ll have fun with this camera while capturing your life’s precious moments
- Japan: The quality of the digital single-lens camera has relevance for everyone
Culture Differences
We would be remiss if we didn’t touch on the underlying cultural differences that likely guided how these two videos were put together.
Historically, Japan is known as a country with one of the top ratios of saving against income. Consumers tend to be frugal anyway, and the economic recessions since 2000 have put more pressure on Japanese households to save.
Plus, Japanese people tend to be detail-oriented and typically want as much information as possible before they make a purchasing decision.
We don’t pretend to be experts on U.S. culture, but it seems fair to say that emotions play an important role in how individuals purchase goods such as consumer electronics. At least that appears to be Sony’s belief, since the video is designed to touch the heart more than the mind.
The only somewhat technical element in the U.S. video is the section that shows the camera features the capability to shoot seven frames per second (which, by the way, also appears in the Japanese version).
The respective education systems in the two markets also play a factor in the video.
Japanese consumers are used to listening to narration.
As students, the Japanese classroom puts an emphasis on listening to teachers. Thus, Japanese consumers are used to listening to explanations (narration in this case) and appreciate receiving information this way.
On the other hand, the American classroom emphasizes discussion. Individuals only view narration as one piece of information to help them imagine and understand what the product is about.
We’re not saying that narration is never effective in the U.S.
But the typical American isn’t going to watch a seven-minute video with narration about a camera.
Yet, the Japanese consumer will listen to the seven minutes of narration because he or she needs this depth of understanding about the product before a purchasing decision is made.
Back to the Big Picture
The point is, there’s a limit to the content that can be leveraged from a company’s home country in building its brand in new markets.
While the Sony example reflects the consumer space, the same can be said for B2B companies.
It really comes down to relevance.
You want your stories in a given market to be as relevant as possible to the target audience.
That’s why it’s worth the front-end effort to tailor the communications in such a fashion.