Brand Narrative Marketing

Japanese consumers perceive brand images in a different way from Western consumers. The image of who is using a brand - having clear and consistent associations with the right user group - is the most important attribute of a luxury or premium brand in Japan. Japanese fashion lables are very adept and proficient at using the Japanese media and models to create these associations. Foreign brands are often not even aware of the ubiquitous and complex messaging sent out by using certain magazines in favor of others. Further, as import brands they have a stronger role as status markers and therefore operate under different premises than Japanese brands.

Brands have to be aware of their social role in networks in Japan. Unwillingly or not, they participate or are passive participants in a complex and sophisticated game of styles and accessoires that is played by the consumers and the media. Not understanding and influencing these dynamics can be risky, especially on the long run.

Our brand narrative audit performs two important tasks. First it updates a brand on what Japanese consumers really think about it, their conversations. Instead of simply analyzing the status quo, we take a look at the potential of the brand, on how it can be developed for both short-term to impact sales and on the long-term to build a consistent brand image, and for luxury brands, how to create “the dream”, the desire to purchase as the product is yet out of their reach. Second, we explain the dynamics that have led to the present brand image and how the actual media usage influences this.

EXPLAINING CONSTRUCTION OF THE BRAND IMAGE
In the Japanese context, brand images, if questioned, often produce opinions about who is considered the main customer, not about the personality or abstract values of the brand. This means that the first immediate image that comes to mind when hearing the brand name is often an image of the perceived customer group. In the surveys that Japan Access has conducted, about 70% of the answers on brand image formulated in own words have been sentences such as "a brand for OLs" or "for mature women", "for students" and not about the the culture or the personality of the brand.

The personality of a brand does not have any real relevance to most social networks of Japanese consumers, and is thus conveniently ignored by magazines and consumers alike. Japanese do not understand abstract brand images. They do not even bother trying to understand it. This is one of the principal reason why brand advertisements do not work well in Japan.

Foreign brands are predominatly consumed as handbags and accessories. Since 1996 when the luxury market hit its peak in Japan, looking at the distribution of market sales, the ratio of clothes went down gradually while the ratio of handbags went up steadily. It is a common pattern now for import handbags to be combined as status or taste markers with Japanese clothing brands and fast fashion (uniqlo, Forever21, H&M), to add a touch of “class”, making the purchase of an expensive bag an economical venture. It is important for foreign luxury brands to understand how their brands are combined with domestic styles. Brands have to navigate under this premise and understand that their brand images and narratives become fractured in Japan, often devoid of any meaning. Their luxury items become status markers, not only of financial wealth but especially signifiers of belonging to social groups.

In Japan, a strong self-image is often built up by giving a consumer a socially safe choice, a choice that is legitimate and has relevance to their lives. Japanese consumers are heavily influenced by the opinion others have about them within their own relevant networks. This might include school, university, the company, their friends and family. Most Japanese are adept at categorizing themselves into style categories, such as gyaru, girly or mote-kei (onee-kei or older sister style). Alone their choice of magazines often makes it possible for themselves or others to judge and define what style segment they belong to. With choosing a style come expectations from other consumers following similar styles.
Buying a certain magazine gives others the impression that the person is interested in the specific style promoted by the magazine. Wearing a certain handbag brand does not define your personality in the eyes of others, nor does it make an abstract statement of values, but shows belonging to social groups, of being 'oshare' (trendy, fashion-conscious), or of belonging to a certain life-stage (mature, student). Of course, these messages are not universal and often function only in combination (a certain handbag in combination with certain clothes).

The complexity of the conbinations possible and the grade of understanding them gives others who are adept at reading the signs a grade of understanding how "oshare" the wearer is. In order to be able to judge these signs, consumers have to constantly keep themselves updated by reading magazines, blogs and other sources that "inform" them of actually practiced trends and their possible conbinations. Persons considered oshare by people, who keep themselves informed successfully, are able to navigate safely and easily through the complex system of messages.

The perceived customer of a brand is an image that is often entirely arbitrary, stemming from problematic communication of the brand in the Japanese market, missing relevance to customer groups or not advertising in magazines read by the questioned person. The Japanese are less likely to form a positive self-image about using a brand if the reflection of the brand is not associated with their own peer group, or if the being seen owning the brand has no relevance within their networks. So in order to construct any relevance within a specific network, you need to align the perceived customer group of a brand with the targeted network.

Let us recapture: using abrand causes a social reaction in Japan. So the aspect of the brand when seen owning it is extremely potent. Knowing what others might think of me when I use a brand or wear it, constructs my image of what I believe others will think about me wearing the brand, and thereby constructs my self-image when owning it.

models and the advertising context and contents create the brand personality in the first place in Japan. Brand personalities in Japan are much more versatile, and customers most of the time do not consider it as a big problem if a brand tries to change the brand image. But instead of heavily influencing the brand personality, which Japanese consumers have difficulty relating to, a model influences more the reflection, the relationship and the self-image in Japan. If the model's personality or image can be aligned both with the preferences of the consumer as well as being consistently associated with the style that the consumer has chosen for herself, thereby creating an effect of security, of not making a choice that would be considered out of style or strange, then the brand is considered a relevant brand.

Now we have two proplems. The personality of the model is in most cases not known to the marketing departments of foreign luxury brands as the choice is often made by media agencies with motives that deviate from the goal of creating a consistent brand image (which is a concept that is foriegn to start with for the people that handle the media account). The second problem is that a consistent brand image is not understood in an abstract sense as in the West, of "values" that fit, but is more tangible, like the image of a young woman in a life stage of the consumer as the model and the perceived reflection, who wears it actually.

To summarize, advertising and marketing in Japan should emphasize and explain one thing: who is the brand for? Who will wear it?