ACCJ Journal 2010 Relaunch

As of this issue, the ACCJ Journal has undergone major changes in its management, direction and appearance. Crafted by a new team of experienced editors, designers, account executives and publishing professionals, these changes have a very specific purpose and goal. In order to illuminate the reasons behind some of those changes it may be helpful to contextualize the spirit from which they flow…

About a year ago, in Tokyo’s Jingumae district, the fashion retail forest that boasts a natty Bohemian crust anchored by a creamy opulent center of luxury commerce, a very New York City neighborhood kind of thing happened to me during a routine trip to Starbucks. Upon ordering my caffeinated beverage of choice, the smiling barista took advantage of my brief pause and finished my order: “That will be no foam, and no cream, correct?” Genuinely surprised, I slid my shades off to take another look at the person and confirmed the order. I didn’t recognize him, and I have a pretty good memory for faces, so I asked, “Do you remember me?” The barista’s smile seemed to beam just a bit brighter as he said, “Yes, sir!”

The same scene played itself out again at yet another Starbucks with yet another barista on the other side of Jingumae about a week later. In both cases I had been startled by a kind of personalized customer service I had only come to expect from my local 99-cent cup-a-joe corner café in Manhattan, not from the global corporate chain that had breathed new life into the Japanese coffee business with upmarket bean juice in the ‘90s.  Japan is famous for its detail-oriented customer service, but in large cities like Tokyo, that service is often robotically sincere, and, in the main, not exceptionally personal.

So it was that these recent experiences led me to pay closer attention to the customer service culture of a Tokyo neck-deep in the same economic crisis that continues to hold the world’s markets in its grip. Taking stock of my normal retail activities, I began to notice that, despite the economic downturn, there appeared to be more service people in front of the stores welcoming customers in and assisting with questions, more attention paid to even the most casual shoppers, and what appeared to be an investment by many shop owners to spruce up their store presentations and product offerings.

In an attempt to make sense of this style of business, I put the question of this seemingly counterintuitive (at least to my Western consumer training) practice to my Japanese business associates. What I came up with was a general consensus that this style of business is nothing new to Japan, and is deeply ingrained within the nation’s culture.

This practice of improving customer service is known as “kokyaku sabisu no koujou” or 顧客サービスの向上（こきゃくサービスのこうじょう）. While this ethos applies to Japanese customer service in general, in this case the idea is to improve services and products during rough economic times to boost consumer confidence in one’s brand and secure repeat patronage rather than allow a bad economy to bring any question into the consumer’s mind regarding a brand’s quality and fortitude.

Although recent reports reveal that high-end fashion brands like Versace and French Connection UK have become victims of the economic downturn and will soon leave the posh confines of Omotesando, the streets of the famed shopping district remain packed every weekend due in large part to the kokyaku sabisu no koujou that shoppers are sure to experience at every turn.

While this response to economic tumult runs counter to the kind of batten down the hatches, cut services to the bone style I’ve experienced in America, I’ve also noticed that the foreign business community in Tokyo has largely embraced this “enhanced service in the midst of chaos” ethos to great effect.

It is in this spirit that we are relaunching the ACCJ Journal. In a market that is small in footprint, yet nearly unparalleled in economic reach, the foreign business community in Japan understands the practice of improving service during the tough times. In conceiving the new ACCJ Journal our goal was to move the magazine into a new phase of editorial direction and design that more accurately reflects the forward-thinking tastes and aesthetics of the ACCJ, and thus improve the service the ACCJ Journal renders to its membership community.

Our new mission is also focused on more ACCJ member engagement and involvement. This involvement will extend across both mediums, from the print version of the ACCJ Journal to the new website (www.ACCJJournal.com). For the first time ever, ACCJ members will have the opportunity to directly share their executive insights and connect in a more immediate manner with some of the most experienced thought leaders within the ACCJ community. From features, to blogs, to member forums, the website will serve as a new space for ACCJ members to express themselves on a wide range of topics related to the ever-changing international business landscape.

To successfully execute our mission to improve the service the ACCJ Journal provides, we need the help of the members. As we move forward into 2010, we here at the ACCJ Journal rededicate the publication to the mission of membership input in the form of editorials, engagement in the way of interviews and advocacy issues, and communication via community building—the very reason the ACCJ exists and continues to thrive. We also hope to receive more ACCJ member suggestions and advice to help us navigate the unique challenges that lay ahead for us all. Let us take this moment to refocus our efforts and extract opportunity from what is clearly a major turning point in the history of our collective future.

Best Wishes for 2010.

Please contact us at editorial@accjjournal.com