Cultural Landscaping

Trend Watching & Consumer Pulse

Unmasking the trends and insights that will shape future trends and new business opportunities in Japan is something we take pride in.

Market Reports

We create engaging market research reports for a wide range of clients and industries, going beyond just the data to explore Japan means for you.

Cultural Analysis & Semiotics

Taking the cultural Zeitgeist pulse of consumers, semiotics lets our clients get ahead of the game today to what’s emerging tomorrow.

Cultural Immersion

Learnings are always best shared. We create customized immersion sessions, getting our clients up close and personal with their consumers.

Vox Pop Videos

We bring the consumer into the boardroom with documentary quality and fully edited theme based video learning.

Enhancing your direct-with-consumer qualitative or quantitative primary research

When assessing viable options in markets as complex as Japan, our clients often find it helpful – if not imperative – to secure a well-informed view of the cultural and competitive landscape in addition to listening directly to consumers.

Taking your market research one step further

Our 30+ years of working with international clients seeking to either enter into or leverage the Japanese market have given us much experience in crafting multi-faceted approaches to doing just that, and we delight in combining quantitative and qualitative market research methods that ensure your deepened understanding of customer needs within the context of the existing and emerging business landscape.

Gain an informed view of the competitive context and challenges in Japan

We employ a range of techniques to help you augment and enhance your view of consumers with a well-rounded perspective of the cultural and competitive landscape, including:

  • Ongoing, continuous monitoring of macro and micro trends across a number of key product categories (e.g. food and beverages, skincare, OTC and supplements, pharmaceuticals, and gaming) and lifestyle aspects (e.g. work, play, entertainment and leisure, and fashion)
  • Secondary research (existing market facts and figures, review of analog and digital promotional materials to produce a market overview report)
  • Semiotics analysis
  • In-person observation of retail and entertainment experiences via Team Immersion and Safari Tours
  • Production of VoxPops Videos that highlight key cultural points and help bring the market alive for you

Customized design - always - to meet your specific market research objectives in Japan

Our consultants are highly experienced in designing and conducting both local Japanese and multi-country regional studies in Asia, and our project managers and analysts are bilingual and bicultural, allowing the best combination of reliable output and truly sensitive synthesis of findings.

Cultural landscaping components can be mixed and matched as needed to meet your market research learning objectives. An example would be a combination of a market overview report, influencer interviews, semiotics analysis and market safari tours. 1,000+-person representation of both genders and 5 age brackets.

This would explore and define the following insights for you:

  • Holistic 360-degree market overview of the consumer and market and category
  • Macro-driving currents for daily consumer life (both beyond and specific to category)
  • Nuances of social context, frameworks and influences in Japan – from consumer, cultural, and market contexts – specific to category
  • Case studies of relevant launches both in the category and beyond
  • Semiotics analysis focusing on Dominant, Recessive and Emergent visual, language, meaning and metaphoric themes for the category in Japan

Flexible, customized design to meet your specific market research objectives

Our consultants are highly experienced in designing and conducting both local and multi-country regional studies, and our project managers and analysts are bilingual and bicultural, allowing the best combination of reliable output and truly sensitive synthesis of findings.

Regionally in Asia, we design and manage all study aspects, partnering with long-trusted local moderators, and utilizing their inputs to deliver final study outcomes.

Seeking human expertise for your research? Look no further.

Our team provides quality research with the human touch needed to interpret meaning and direction.

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