JAPANACCESS SERVICES
BRAND‚ÄàAUDIT  l  LIVE‚ÄàACCESS  l  MEDIA
LUXURY‚ÄàSOCIETY  l  ROOT‚Äà& PARTNERS  l  FAS
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WHAT‚ÄàIS‚ÄàA‚ÄàBRAND‚ÄàNARRATIVE‚ÄàAUDIT?
Why brands should have audits
For any brand involved in the Japanese market it is crucially important to understand how the Japanese market works and what role the brand plays in it. If brands do not understand what makes the Japanese market unique then any strategy you come up with will lack resonance.
Japanese consumers perceive brand images differently from Western consumers. The underlying principle in Japanese consumption is always social in nature. Therefore, if your brand is to succeed in Japan you must acquire a special and effective association with aspirational groups and symbols since Japanese consumers are involved in belonging to social groups. The image of who is using a brand (of having clear and consistent associations with the right user group) is of utmost importance for a luxury or premium brand in Japan.
Brands must be aware of their social role in the networks. That is, they participate or are unwitting participants in a complex and sophisticated game of styles and accessories that is played by the consumers and the media, ultimately serving as social status markers that regulate and hold social groups together. Not understanding and influencing these dynamics can be risky, especially on the long run.
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details The prices above are standardized and can be modified b
IF‚ÄàBRANDS‚ÄàWANT‚ÄàTO‚Äà GO‚ÄàFURTHER
Japanese fashion labels are very adept and proficient at using the Japanese media and models to create these associations, but foreign brands are often not even aware of the ubiquitous and complex messaging sent out by using certain magazines in favor of others. Moreover, as import brands they have a stronger role as status markers and therefore operate under different premises than Japanese brands.
Some fashionable Japanese have also developed awareness about b

Western people who are interested in fashion grow to be more aware of brand messaging and often develop a certain sophisticated distance to the fashion dynamic and a tendency to become rather abstract in their consumption. Many have developed an ironic attitude toward brand messaging. Some fashionable Japanese have also developed awareness about brand messaging, but their consumption behavior tends to remain social in nature.
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We carry your brand image and narrative to our networks for a test run and work from there. What we can build for your brand is a tipping point in the Japanese market by accessing the right media channels, seeding the right networks, and fine tuning a strategy up to the point where a social dynamic sets in. We can monitor an ad campaign. We monitor the successful endorsment of celebrities and use of magazines.
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Our audits provide deeply relevant insights from actual consumer networks. We enter those networks and access members to become intermediaries in the research process. This means, we do not question people directly for their opinion, but use a social link between our company and the respondent. Those so-called trend scouts can access their networks in a completely different way from a research company. This has several profound advantages over traditional interviews or focus group research:
1 _ Belonging to the social group you analyse. When studying an individual or group, your goal is to get inside the mind of the interviewed person(s) - experience their way of looking at products and services. Only members of the respective group know the finer details of the mindset of social networks. And only someone belonging to the social group can access the members without arousing suspicion or distrust.
2 _ Knowing the social dynamics of the analysed networks. Our scouts question peers, meaning friends, colleagues, relatives, in a natural environment, using special techniques in order to get to the core of information. By being members of the group they acces, they can establish a relationship of trust with the interviewed person. The social dynamics of the group are known or can be anticipated, the interviewee is in a natural environment, a comfortable setting, Further, the setting in which the interview is conducted allows conclusions on the questioned person.
3 _ Filtering bias. Possible bias can be filtered (in part) by evaluating the gathered answers in the context of the respondents background. Results can be interpreted more accurately.
4 _ Directing the flow of the interview. As the respondent is known and trusted, people can voice disagreements more openly. The interviewer can judge when a respondent is not telling the truth and can question again. An interviewer also knows how to provoke a more heated discussion.
5 _ Creating more relevant answers. Respondents tend to produce more "honne", their real opinion. The interviewer can judge when a respondent is producing a "tatemae" (front) opinion and can also put the answers into a critical context considering the respondents background (which is known).
6 _ Enabling disagreements, opposing ideas and conversations. Japanese persons tend to not talk back, to go for an easy and non-controversial answer. When being questioned by a friend or peer, they tend to respond more openly, voice disagreement and opposing ideas. This way ideas are built up using several responses, so you actually get somewhere, can produce new ideas and create a narrative.
7 _ Access more complex explanations of phenomena. Immense depth can be reached by digging deeper for more subtle and complete explanations of dynamics. The interviewer can judge the integrity of the information gathered and can pull out more interesting information from the respondents.
8 _ Unintrusive natural environment.  An interviewer who is part of the respective group is “socially invisible”, unintrusive and not considered invading your privacy. Focus groups on the contrary, create an artificial environment, and interviewing people are often perceived as an intrusion into your privacy.
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LUXURY CONSUMPTION‚ÄàIN‚ÄàJAPAN           IS ALWAYS‚ÄàSOCIAL‚ÄàIN‚ÄàNATUR
CONTINUOUS‚ÄàUPDATE‚ÄàON‚ÄàBRAND‚ÄàIMAGES
BRAND‚ÄàNARRATIVE‚ÄàAUDIT
SCREENSHOTS
BRAND‚ÄàNARRATIVE‚ÄàAUDIT
METHODOLOGY‚ÄàOF‚ÄàTHE‚ÄàBRAND‚ÄàAUDIT