More than Media Relations
At Japan’s public relations agencies, a lot of the work tends to focus only on the actual execution of activities that generate coverage. But while press conferences, interviews, releases, and the like are a must for clients targeting articles in prestigious outlets like the Nikkei or the Asahi Shimbun, there are many more comms activities that do not fall neatly under the umbrella of “traditional” PR tactics. Alas, brands looking to enter the Japanese market for the first time are going to need more insights.
Luckily, one of the things at which Kyodo PR particularly excels is helping international clients to understand the intricacies of Japan's complex media market. We place a lot of value on our ability to guide your brand through all the unique local cultural nuances, based on six-plus decades of doing business in this country. And our resume includes countless examples of helping both domestic and international clients to map their communications objectives onto the ideal suite of activities to achieve results in Japan.
Strategic Communications & Consulting
Generally speaking, Japanese companies and government entities set their marketing and communications objectives in-house and then reach out to agencies for support in getting the job done. This has historically meant that most PR agencies in Japan have been located far away from where the decisions are being made in regards to strategic communications. As such, while additional perspectives and opinions may be welcomed, the overarching strategy for a project is often already defined at the outset.
In contrast, the majority of brands and organizations from New York, Paris, or elsewhere in the world are starting from the exact opposite side of the spectrum. With a less-than-perfect understanding of Japan and what works locally, such entities need a partnership with an agency that can take the lead and help to develop the right messages. All too often, however, Japan's PR firms are too used to dealing with Japanese clients and therefore lack the infrastructure to provide proper business insights.
At Kyodo PR, we have experts who focus all their efforts on how to best bridge the divide between the complexities of doing business in Japan and the ways in which media relations are conducted in other markets. For example, while the op-ed may be a media format that is common in the West, Japanese media instead focus on the reporting of facts, demanding an entirely different communications strategy.
Thanks to our dedicated team of bilingual professionals with a foot in both East and West, Kyodo PR is fully equipped to provide consulting on how to best approach Japan from a strategic communications perspective. Down the years, we've helped numerous global brands to research, develop, and deliver the right messages to the Japanese public, including well-known names like Spotify, Calm, and more.
Our typical retainer and spot projects include some mix of the following...
• PR Strategy & Planning
• Press & Media List Management
• Press Releases & Newsletter
• Public Affairs & Crisis Management
• Executive Interviews
• Press Conferences
Perhaps Kyodo PR's greatest strength is the deep relationships that our staff have developed with the media over our six decades of business. Unlike other media markets in the world where people come and go, most gatekeepers at Japan's most influential media outlets are established veterans who have been employed at the same outlet for much of their life. Thanks to the strength of our connections, we're able to cut through the noise and deliver the message to the right person regardless of the industry.
When coupled with our expertise in the local market, Kyodo PR's exhaustive media relations mean that we're perfectly positioned to accomplish the mission, whatever it may be. We've helped many large global brands execute their market entries across a wide spectrum of industries like healthcare, gaming, technology, etc., and are well-equipped to help you achieve the communication results you deserve in Japan.
Public Relations in the Age of the Internet
With a keen eye towards the future, Kyodo PR has been continuing to pioneer novel means of getting results for clients. While traditional media relations have been our go-to for years, more and more people in Japan are focusing most of their attention on digital media. To get key information out to an audience that is consumed by TikTok or Instagram, the same tried and true tactics that worked for products in the past will not work to sway the opinion of the public.
Seeing as audience attention is quite fragmented, it's important to have an omnichannel approach to Japan and the media market here. While it's true that the legacy media of the country still hold a lot of clout with the population of Japan, people's eyeballs are more and more fixated on digital devices. As a result, the situation is a lot more complex these days than it was in the past when everyone read the newspaper every morning.
Though legacy outlets like Nikkei Shimbun (Japan's leading economic newspaper) might still be relevant when looking to reach business leaders and government officials, the same approach to a communication strategy is not going to work for other demographics. Moreover, as more and more Japanese outlets shift their focus online, there is an ever-shifting need to continue to test and research what works in Japan.
Rather than look to tackle this complex web of communications channels, savvy companies in Japan realize that it is a much easier option to just onboard a partner like Kyodo PR that has the insights on how to maximize a brand's potential.
Putting it All Together
More and more these days, Kyodo PR is taking an omnichannel and integrated approach to how we propose which activities will best move the proverbial needle. To begin with, we'll look at how much news value the information that a potential customer has to work with. In the instances in which there is enough to eke out a steady stream of coverage, we like to lean into traditional PR solutions as Japan's legacy media still hold a lot of sway over topics of public interest.
Unfortunately, this approach can prove problematic when a potential client lacks anything that could be considered of news value for the Japanese media. Especially in the case of international businesses, it is often the case where we'll need to manufacture news via methods like trend jacking, leveraging first-party data, etc., to come up with pitch contributions that editors and gatekeepers would find in line with their editorial policies.
In other instances, we'll sometimes assess that a company's products don't really have anything relevant yet for the Japanese media. Rather than struggle uphill to promote information that is at odds with the needs of the press, we'll research some other ways of reaching the target audience. For example, we might find that content creators or social media ads are the best way to reach the sections of Japan's audience that we are looking to target.
Get In Touch
No matter what your brand's situation may be, the team of experts at Kyodo PR will help you figure out what should be the best approach for your brand in Japan and the local market. After some research and a thorough review of where you're at, the team will provide a communications roadmap based on our findings for the most effective way for your brand to get results.
Selected Work
- Conversion API, iOS, Meta, PR
Digital Marketing
As an agency, Kyodo PR has continued to innovatively reinvent the concept of cutting-edge communications since 1964. Im house, we’re able to offer the full gamut of digital marketing from casting influencers in a way that generates ROI to top tier performance marketing on Google and Meta.
Communication Strategy
We’ve now helped countless international clients navigate the complexities of the Japanese market in a way that leads to long term success. After getting a sense of what you’re working with in Japan, our PR strategists can come up with the perfect solution for your individual needs.
