Beware of what you know about Japanese business — it may be wrong!
The reality of Japanese marketing
- Marketing is too important to leave to professionals, who often mistakes statistics for customers. Amateurs do all the marketing, and everyone must be a marketer.
- The seller is a servant and the buyer an honored guest whom the seller must support. Selling is more of a ceremony than an exchange between equals.
- Self-respect is inherent in the job. The seller himself has no ego and shows no emotion. This cultural disposition frees him to read between the lines of the customer's responses and act accordingly.
- Big strategies are a waste of valuable time. The Japanese move from broad, seemingly vacuous visions right into implementation. Only the next step must be clear, and to the Japanese it's usually obvious.
- Nothing is unique, except the Japanese as a people. There is no hope for the possibility of uniqueness; therefore companies expect head-on competition.
- Products are often seen as a means to creating the perfect state of mind. Therefore, intuition is absolutely necessary in their design and delivery.
- Products are also the only means of competing in the business of knowledge creation. Advertising, distribution, promotion, and pricing are not competitive advantages but aspects of getting products to customers.
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