James Loginov

What can you expect from this episode:

• Learn how to effectively navigate the collaborative and slower decision-making culture in Japan.
• Discover practical tips for presenting and advocating your ideas to win support and approval within Japanese organizations.
• Understand the importance of building strong one-to-one relationships and how they can significantly impact your success in the Japanese market.

Marketing in Japan can come with a unique set of challenges. What do you find are the most important cultural factors to be aware of when doing business in Japan?

One significant challenge is the slow pace of decision-making, which is traditionally done collaboratively. Unlike in America or Europe, where a CEO or department head can make decisions, and we move quickly, Japan requires more time for consensus. You need to invest considerable effort in explaining and winning people over.

I’ve had to balance my unique perspective and strengths with the need to work within the Japanese context. This means not getting frustrated with the slower pace and seeing the time spent on explanations as an investment. Sometimes, you have to convince individuals who you may think, in a hierarchical sense, are not the key decision-makers, but they can be quite influential. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate this investment in building understanding with a large group of people within an organization.

Do you have a personal challenging story that you can share with our audience?

At my previous company, we manufactured sensors for the renewable energy industry, competing with American and European brands. The buying cycle for our products was long due to their complexity and the niche market. Customers often stuck with familiar brands they had used throughout their academic and professional careers.

To address this, we needed to reach potential customers much earlier in their development, when they’re still at university and starting to engage with these kinds of instruments and tools. That’s a tough sell. That’s a long-term marketing project, and you’re not going to see an immediate benefit from that, certainly not in terms of direct sales. So I really had to convince people, to help them imagine the value of a 10-year initiative, to really think long-term.

The shape this took was that we sponsored five or six university-based solar car racing teams from around the world, competing in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a biennial race across Australia. These teams used our instruments to design their cars and optimize the efficiency of electrical generation as well as race strategy.

By providing our instruments to these students, we aimed to familiarize them with our brand so that, later on, when they are the decision-makers, we’ve eliminated that problem of them not knowing who we are and just going with what they already know. I’m also happy to say that our teams performed well, both winning and breaking records.

Now coming back to how I sold that in Japan, selling this long-term project really required a detailed proposal outlining the benefits, costs, and timeframe. So, I identified the influencers throughout the organization from the bottom and I went each stage up and up and up. Now, traditionally in Japan, you would go from the top because of the hierarchical structure. But I recognized that if I can get internal buy-in from the people within each section, we’re going to influence the decision maker. Then, when I do this big meeting and present this to them, I already know what the questions are going to be. I already know how to answer them. And I’ve already got the support of each team. It’s much easier for the decision-maker then to jump on board and be supportive.

How do you identify these influencers? What’s the data or quantified information that helps you pinpoint the right individuals at various levels to connect with?

Honestly, there isn’t a programmatic or automatic database for this. In Japan, business culture is still very much about interpersonal, one-to-one connections. This was true in my PR career as well. In the UK, I could send a cold email or make a cold call and approach journalists indirectly or in groups. In Japan, it’s all about the one-to-one.

Within an organization, you kind of have to talk to everyone, really. I think perhaps one strength that foreigners bring to Japan is that we don’t always think about hierarchical relationships in the same way. This presents challenges in understanding proper reporting lines and the correct way to do things, but it also means we’re willing to talk to anyone at any level. I don’t make assumptions about who might have the biggest impact. Being passionate about my ideas, I’ll discuss them with anyone, which often leads to the next important conversation. Being open to talking to everyone has served me very well.

Is there a connection or evolution of this approach you see happening in the future, or any related challenges you anticipate?

That’s an interesting question. Each Japanese company I’ve worked for has had a different style, identity, and tone, very different from companies back in the UK,or in the charity sector and local government. Each organization’s character is often determined by the people at the top and whom they hire.

For example, in my current organization, there is much less resistance to creative ideas and more support for new initiatives. We’re undergoing a significant digital transformation, changing fundamentally what we do, how we provide services, and how we communicate with and support our customers. This project was one of the main reasons I joined, and it’s been an exciting journey.

The challenges I previously faced are much less pronounced here, and the skills and techniques I developed in the past are now, as a consequence, even more effective and impactful. This has allowed my team and I to develop a bold programme of work, and key initiatives designed to support the whole region.

Over the past year, we’ve achieved significant buy-in and support from a wide variety of organizations and colleagues, in turn creating a sense of excitement and forward momentum. The best thing about that is how we begin, as Marketers, to inspire each other.

If there is an evolution in my approach, it will be driven by those relationships. By continuing to invest in building trust and understanding, we will be able to address any challenges we face, together, with optimism and confidence.

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