Sleeping Baby – Building Your Brand in the Japanese Market

Client Details
Project type:
Industry | Premium baby clothing. |
Product | High-quality sleepsuits and swaddles for newborns and babies up to 3-4 years old. |
Audience | Japanese parents looking for baby sleepsuits and swaddle transition solutions. |
Objective | Developing the Japanese website and increasing brand awareness in Japan. |

Project details:
Sleeping Baby is a premium American brand behind the innovative sleepsuit and swaddle for newborns up to 3-4 years old which was featured on Shark Tank. Their premium product is designed to help babies transition out of traditional swaddles, prevent startling, reduce crying at night, and help millions of babies and parents around the world sleep better each night.
Upon entering a partnership with Sleeping Baby, we took on 3 key marketplaces: Japan, The UK, and The US, and achieved notable success in each.
To enhance the client’s visual identity in the Japanese market, we developed a full local visual identity of their brand, including localized product naming, logos, icons, and product images. Simultaneously, we helped build their Japanese website by localizing their existing US website. Lastly, to bolster brand awareness, we took strategic PR initiatives and executed PPC advertising campaigns on both Meta and Google.
Brand Localization: When in Japan, Do It the Japanese Way
Brand localization is crucial for foreign brands entering the Japanese market due to the unique language and culture of the country. Unfortunately, many foreign brands struggle to resonate with Japanese customers during this initial phase.
One unique psychological trait of Japanese consumers that many foreigners fail to understand is their uncertainty avoidance tendency. Compared to their counterparts, Japanese consumers are more conservative in their purchasing habits, usually preferring established products and brands. Additionally, they often seek detailed information about products and services before purchasing.
Keeping this in mind, we prioritized establishing Sleeping Baby as a recognized and trusted brand in Japan, ensuring consistent and reliable information across all customer touchpoints.
Starting with the brand name, we decided to set the Japanese brand naming as “スリーピングベビー” (Katakana of ‘Sleeping Baby’) based on industry research and search volume impact for the keyword element such as “ベビー(Baby)”. In addition, we added the Japanese brand name on top of the official logo to communicate local and international feelings about the brand.

Alongside the iconic Sleeping Star in the logo, we introduced two new characters exclusively designed for the Japanese market, which were Okurumin (the Japanese version of the Zipadee-Zip Swaddle Transition) and Musasabi (the Japanese translation of Sleeping Baby’s original Flying Squirrel pajama).
These characters not only strengthened Sleeping Baby’s product identity but also cultivated a deeper connection with the brand.


It is noteworthy that Japanese customers commonly appreciate products that have received awards. This inclination is prevalent in Japanese web design and product packaging.

Make Sure You Get Localization Right
Bringing Your
Brand to Japan?
Meta Ads In Japan
Meta ads is a tremendously useful tool to drive traffic and conversions in Japan considering 45.7 million active users on Instagram and 15.1 million active users on Facebook (for more details check out our annual comprehensive report on social media trends in Japan: Japan’s Top Social Media Platforms for 2024 – 9th Edition).
In campaigns aimed at increasing conversions, we sent users to the official Sleeping Baby website. This allowed us to use pixel tracking for better targeting. On the other hand, in campaigns focused on generating traffic, we directed Meta users straight to Sleeping Baby’s online shops on Amazon and Rakuten, aiming to maximize the number of clicks on the links.

Our advanced testing strategy involved exploring various targeting options based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and user interactions with the brand. This approach enabled us to reach all relevant audiences, particularly by leveraging:
- Email list targeting
- Lookalike audience targeting (based on website visitors and newsletter subscribers)
- Creative manual interest-based targeting
- Targeting audiences that interacted with other ads (driving customers down the sales funnel)
- Remarketing to shoppers who visited the online store but did not finalize the purchase
Additionally, we continuously experimented with different ad formats including:
- Static images
- Animated images
- Videos
- Carousels
Through our observations, we found that animated images and videos tended to generate significantly higher CTRs among Sleeping Baby’s customer base. So, we assisted our clients in producing more content of these kinds.
PR in Japan: Building Trust and Awareness for Foreign Brands

In Japan’s intricate market, Public Relations (PR) is crucial for foreign brands to succeed. By understanding Japanese culture, foreign brands can use PR to showcase their offerings and connect with local values.
For Sleeping Baby, which aims to help parents and children with great products, these ideas can build a strong brand presence, especially considering that Japan is enhancing support for child-rearing to reverse the declining birth rate.
However, there’s no one-size-fits-all PR approach for a brand like Sleeping Baby. We make a customer persona for each product and find its unique selling points. Then, we target the right media in Japan to promote each product effectively.

Our efforts, along with strong partnerships with local media outlets, have led to over 40 media features, including one on the SmartNews app, which has over 50 million users. This resulted in an estimated outreach of 400,000 impressions.

To enhance the brand image further, we helped Sleeping Baby partner with Little Ones, a non-profit aiding single parents and addressing child poverty in Japan. Through this, Sleeping Baby donated swaddles to many struggling single parents. One mother even sent the brand a heartfelt letter thanking Sleeping Baby for their generosity.
Customer’s Voice
I cried with joy when I received it. I don’t have anyone to turn to, so I’m grateful that there are brands like this who can help me!
– A single mom who received the donation from Sleeping Baby
