Companies in Japan have started tackling this dilemma by developing products and business models that help customers make quick and simple purchase decisions. KDDI, for example, introduced the Kantan Keitai, a mobile phone that strips away all the complicated and high-tech gadgets that are the standard for most Japanese mobile phones. The company’s target group are consumers who want to simply buy and use the talk feature of a mobile phone.
Simple and low risk product choices are the base of Ranking-Ranqueen’s business model. The company targets consumers who might shy away from buying simply because the choice of potential products is too overwhelming. Based on the best selling items of its parent company, the Tokyu department store chain, Ranking-Ranqueen produces a ranking of the most popular products each week. The hit products in each category are displayed in the shops and consumers do not have to come to any decision as to which product is the best. The concept has already been copied by big retail chains. In theory, this lowers the risk of customers buying a product that might turn out to be wrong for them or of low quality. In turn, customers show higher satisfaction with their purchases and place greater trust in the company.
Tokyo offers a wide variety of innovative marketing techniques and strategies that are constantly evolving due to the high competition. Tokyo’s consumer groups represent the future of all industrialized societies. The number of baby boomers, singles and overwhelmed consumers is on the rise around the world. The way Tokyo caters to these groups and adapts products to them can provide a lesson for other nations.
As knowledge about the marketing innovations in Japan becomes more widespread, Japanese marketing may become the new focus of Japanese management training over the next couple of years.
Dr. Parissa Haghirian is associate Professor of International Management at the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University in Tokyo and Editor of “J-Management: Fresh Perspectives of the Japanese Firm in the 21st Century.”
She is also the author of the soon to be published book “Innovation and Change in Japanese Management.”
www.parissahaghirian.com
Additional Research by Paul Gaspari. Gaspari is a masters student of International Business and Development at the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University in Tokyo.
www.paulgaspari.com
