Profiling HNWIs - Professional Rich _WH0054

The HNWI travel report takes a deep look on how HNWIs (富裕層) in Japan travel, and at their images of hotel brands. This report offers a different perspective on HNWIs and their travel behavior in Japan. The difference lies in the amount of detail, its relevance and closeness to the consumer group analyzed, and in the way to access this information. Through continuous interaction with Japanese millionaires over the course of over 10 years, we acquired access to their networks and permanent exposure to trends and changes in their consumer behaviour and mind-sets. 

Great care was taken in analyzing the results, and due to the enormous amount of data—nearly 700 pages of hand-written answers—we spent 3 months entering and formatting the material. All materials gathered are the voice of HNWIs, with all contents derived directly from their opinions, their accounts, the essays that they wrote for us. Each survey sheet was filled out by the HNWIs that are all personally known to us. Throughout the report we inserted complete lifestyle profiles of selected HNWIs which will give a more complete picture of who these affluent Japanese are.

The graphic shows one of the 97 profiles that form the basis of the report. She is an example of the professional rich—doctors, lawyers, financial dealers, fund managers, and also successful bureaucrats, and are characterized by one common attribute: they are caught up in a routine of their jobs and have high earnings they generate through a steady work-life. They use consumption and travel as a way of rewarding themselves for their hard work over the years and often have high demands when it comes to products and services and very personal preferences. 

In Japan, being a member of the professions mentioned above almost guarantees a well-to-do lifestyle. The individuals analyzed here were the more successful ones from a class of affluent professionals, they made it to become millionaires. From all the analyzed groups they are the most busy and are used to a fierce and clearly defined competitive environment. Socializing with their clients is part of their lifestyle and defines in many ways the way they travel and spend their leisure time. 


Over the next weeks we will publish more sample profiles that allow a glimpse into the real world of HNWIs in Japan. The results are as fascinating as they are often unexpected. Did you know that Daikanyama is one of the most popular shopping districts for rich Japanese or that Japanese affluent travelers spend in average 20 days per year traveling, spending an average over 27,000 US$ per year on travel? Or were you aware of the fact that 42% of rich Japanese have never used concierge services even though most have the opinion that they could enhance their travel experience if they would offer more precise information?

Shopping districts for HNWIs - visualized

Shopping districts of HNWIs, n=97

HNWIs in Japan show very distinct shopping patterns when it comes to choices of shopping districts. We have visualized the results from our HNWI survey executed among 97 HNWIs and show the difference to young consumers from elite universities. What surprised even us is the prominence of Daikanyama among HNWIs, with 26% shopping in that district, reaching the level of Roppongi Hills and Midtown. The very bad image that Shinjuku commands among HNWIs was confirmed by our statistics.

Shopping districts of female university students of Elite
private universities (Keio, Waseda), 18-25 years, n=342

Magazine Survey 2012 being executed

The magazine market in Japan is in constant flux and current developments are a proof of this. Western celebrity styles emanating from LA and foreign blogger sites, magazines such as Gisele, Glitter, lately also Post-Gyaru titles such as ViVi and Sweet, and of course the popular gossip magazines (with Gossips as the most popular choice) are keen on keeping their readers up to date on who wear what, with Gossip Girl stars making the front pages of many publications. And of course there are Vogue Girl, Elle Girl, and the more complex reasoning behind Nylon and why it fits neatly into the fashionista narrative among Japanese young female consumers.

We wanted to know more. So we started to back up our data that we have gathered in over 100 deep interviews with concrete statistics that will show us how the magazine market has developed since 2010 when we conducted our first large-scale survey among Japanese elite university students. Back then we gathered 1,483 responses, with 890+ female respondents. 

Now we are on campus again and will go to to the core of what, how, and who. Expect updates on our insights within the next weeks. I am back to reading Tokyo ViVi now, one of the interesting "hybrids" that are the result of the recent developments, with a yet to become clearer concept, somwhere between ViVi and Nylon from the design, with a sort of "grunge/blogger-esque/top shop/american apparel" style but basically unchanged brand selection when compared to ViVI. Even though the name would imply, there is no overly focus on Tokyo in this magazine.

Luxury marketing as a social game

Luxury and Japan appears to be a love affair (to quote Chadha and Husband) that has reached a stage of crisis. Japanese consumers are famous internationally for their immense consumption of luxury goods, especially handbags. Star brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermès and Chanel managed to attain a status as social entities, as part of the Japanese society. The reasons for this phenomenon and the  crisis in the luxury market in Japan that went hand in hand with the rise of fast fashion, are complex.

What we want to focus on here is a neglected aspect concerning the marketing strategies of luxury brands. Even though many phenomena in Japan can be attributed to band wagoning, a need to show social status, conformity to group pressure and the fear of standing out, there is another level of attention for these luxury brands, that the consumers themselves are often not aware of consciously.
 

Brands often respond to shifting market circumstances by trying to micromanage every aspect of the brand. But it is exactly the brands that embrace the market by being as fluid as possible while maintaining a consistent brand identity, that are able to flexibly translate themselves into the Japanese market dynamics.
 

Luxury marketing in Japan is not solely about attracting customers. It is about winning a complex social game, about creating opportunities and access to gatekeepers, to opinion leaders. As a long-term strategy, luxury brands should direct themselves in achieving a sustained relationship, a conversation, with the consumers within the market place.
 

The simple fact is that many brands lost touch with their Japanese consumers. Their strategies no longer resonate with what is happening in Japan. Without a narrative that can sustain a conversation in the market place, the tendency was that Japanese consumers took hold of the brands and consumed them in ways that are out of the hands of the brands. Luxury brands in Japan used to be present as a dream, something to aspire to, that was closely integrated into the society and its modes of social stratification. But society changed dramatically and brands started to become painfully aware of the fact that somewhere along the way their own narrative was lost.
 

It was the construction of the dream that went wrong. The dream was part of Japanese society with its status markers, and not part of the narrative of the brand. European super brands with history and prestige must understand how much of their tradition has been stripped from their brand stories, be it because of the language barrier or the missing need to display sophistication and knowledge about brands in Japan.

Luxury brands exported only the product. Due to this brands lost control over the fate of their brand image in Japan. Brands must start to develop lasting strategies, both online and offline, that can also export the narrative. They must create topics to be discussed within networks, which are then turned into categories by which brands are evaluated (heritage, quality, craftsmanship, country of origin, and production sites). Talking about the story of a brand has to have social relevance within networks.
 

Luxury brands in Japan should not mellow with age but present their meanings anew, reinterpreting them within a new cultural paradigm. Luxury brands should not have to constantly reinvent themselves, but they certainly should constantly reinterpret themselves.
 

Our beliefs for a luxury strategy in Japan are summarized below:

1 _ Clear associations Clearly defined associations to social groups are important in Japan. Brands without clearly defined associations to reference groups have trouble bestowing meaning on the products to the consumers. Ambiguous associations bring about confusion and rejection of the brand narrative and create insecurities.
2 _ Legitimacy in the West. In Japan there is still a strong tendency that a purely Japanese face can rarely legitimize a product whose aura is located abroad (compare with W. David Marx, 2007, Race as a Fashion Signifier, http://neomarxisme.com/wdmwordpress/?p=80). Brands can create legitimization through continuing brand advertising in high fashion magazines (Vogue, Elle, Numéro, Souen) while using selective high class advertorials in popular Japanese magazines with half-Japanese models (as Chanel did in Glamorous with Hasegawa Jun in the October 2010 issue).
3 _ Sensual orientation of the Japanese. In the West the hedonism of consumption is not as concrete and sensory oriented. It is more abstract. Brand signs and signals in Japan are manipulated much more loosely and have to be visually compelling.
4 _ Understanding the best customers. The best customers account for a disproportionate amount of the sales, depending on the brand and segment in question. It is then of paramount importance to deepen the relationship with the best customers (CLV, Customer Lifetime Value) and referrers (CRV, Customer Referral Value). Brands must understand and delight them. It is more important to spend significant amount of time with them to obtain first hand insights as opposed to reading standard market reports.
5 _ Create a dream, do not sell. If consumers see a high class luxury brand as a dream (that they develop “akogare”, something to aspire to) as a university student or younger, and then begin to buy into the dream later, then you have started to develop a lasting brand image. Therefore do not advertise to sell, but build a dream, a brand image. Kapferer (2008, The Luxury Strategy) emphasizes this heavily, and it is as true in Japan as it is in Europe. Yet, Japanese marketing departments are often unfamiliar with the concept of branding and see it as a distinct discipline.
6 _ Transgressing life stages. Brands should understand the different dynamics among working women (office ladies or OLs) and students, the transition into adulthood, and later becoming married or a mother. Dreams, or “akogare” should be crafted accordingly transgressing life-stages. Luxury consumption in Japan is about social mobility and communicating the right signals throughout.
7 _ Adult consumption. The self-reflection of OLs is more sophisticated then the students, naturally for they now have adult responsibilities, more serious relationships, and money. Working women want to limit their choices, discard certain behaviors as being inappropriate to their new life as judged by themselves and society at large, and of course in their social network. Their brand choices become more realistic and practically oriented.
8 _ Create narratives to fill a lack of dreams. Working ladies and moms do not spend as much time socializing as students do. Consequently many working women’s lives seem to lack narratives that fulfill them. There is an unoccupied space waiting to be filled by a high quality narrative, a narrative that sells a dream, an “akogare”.
9 _ Engage, do not pamper. Luxury brands must engage luxury consumers, but not pamper them. The strategy is to create exclusivity, a dream, then reign with charisma and intimacy. Do not do as your customer wishes, but know how they feel and think. Then guide and inspire them. The famous quote by Henry Ford: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” is often cited by marketing officials to question the usefulness of marketing reports and consumer insights. This is a grave mistake in our opinion. Simple put, marketing luxury products has little to do with constructing cars 100 years ago, and marketing seasonally changing taste is more complex than this. Knowing what people want does not in one instance imply that you do what they tell you.
10 _ Be creative and intimate. Japanese are fast at becoming tired of any approach. Get an intimate feel for the networks, achieve a closeness with your customers through informal channels and keep your finger on the pulse of Japanese consumer trends. One brand update every few years is not enough, you must continuously feed your brand with information from relevant networks. Recreate the brand in a fresh way.

Magazine Lifestyle Paths

Japan Access has conducted highly sophisticated studies on magazine readership among female consumers. Based on the results of over 1,500 surveyed individuals and over 300 personal interviews with women on their shopping behavior and media usage, we were able to recreate what we call "media lifestyle paths". In figure 1_01 we have summarized most of the women magazines in the Japanese market into a diagram. The diagram looks complicated, but is in truth only complex, which is not the same thing. Treat the diagram like a map, only focus on the part of the terrain that you are interested in, and look what can be seen there. The X-Axis shows the style orientation of the magazine (and its readers) while the Y-axis shows the age category.
 

Figure 1_01_WOMEN MAGAZINES The "magazine map" will be updated regularly. Magazines can move by changing their contents, which will change their readership mid-term (and long-term). This can go faster than many magazines anticipate. The easiest way to change your style orientation is by changing featured brands and especially models. The departure of Hasegawa Jun from ViVi last year has caused great confusion among ViVi fans who followed her style.

[magazines are not only read by a very defined age category. Mainstream titles such as Sweet are read by women ranging from the 18 year old college girl to the 36year old mother with child. For reference, indulge in looking up the forum discussion groups in the Sweet Mixi Group.]
A typical Japanese fashion obsessed girl does not read only one magazine. She reads between three and ten. Each magazine has a very different and distinctive image of its typical readership, set of models, set of brands it displays, and values it propagates. Brands must understand that which magazines a brand uses or does not use creates highly complex messages to different consumer groups, forming the image of the brand. Ignoring this is to leave a huge chunk of the development of the brand image up to chance.
Furthermore, women who read a specific magazine tend towards reading a specific set of other magazines that conform to the same style group, or complement it. We have statistical information on this that shows the following points:

• Readers of one magazine tend to cross-read other magazines, often from the same style group. To show an example, over 60% of readers of Non-no also read Mina, 63% of readers of Glamorous read ViVi, and 50% read Sweet. (see figure 1_03 and figure 1_04)
  
• There are connections between style groups that form very distinctive patterns, and allow conclusions on how Japanese females combine styles and will absorb brand images and commercials presented in multiple magazine categories

Figure 1_03_READERSHIP VIVI The arrow shows the connection between Post-Gyaru style and High Fashion. Even though only a small percentage of ViVi readers read Vogue, about 20% of young Vogue readers read ViVi. Fashionistas in university tend towards either street style (spring, cutie, fudge, especially in art schools) or post-gyaru (ViVi, Sweet, Glamorous, Glitter) in combination with High Fashion titles (Vogue, Elle) and their younger sister magazines (Elle Girl, Vogue Girl). Even though only a small percentage of ViVi readesr are fashionistas (most are followers who imitate mainstream style choices to blend in), the ones who are are highly influential in networks, nearly all of them own iPhones and follow or write fashion blogs.

Figure 1_04_READERSHIP GLAMOROUS This map shows the fascinating fact that 63% of Glamorous readers are also reading ViVi. Such a high percentage among young female readers allows for some interesting marketing strategies to be executed. Imagine an advertorial in ViVi for two months, followed by a tie-up in Glamorous the following month with a slightly altered messaging, using a different art director and a creative approach for the visuals. 63% of the Glamorous readers will be aware of the messaging from the last two months in ViVi and will now experience, again, exposure from a brand that they will perceive as increasingly relevant to their style. The message will be much stronger and more sophisticated by using two magazines, than by only continuing the ViVi advertorial. Such highly targeted messages are only possible if the cross-readership among target consumers and their magazine lifestyle paths are know.

• Word of mouth spans different magazine groups. This means that readers of one style group will often be informed by others about the contents of the magazines that they do not read themselves.
• Awareness of the messaging of different style groups is very high, the more stylish and fashion-conscious the person is, the higher the understanding of the specific messaging and the presence of brands within the magazines.
• Magazines are associated not only with styles, they are associated with brands, shopping districts, and shopping complexes. As an example, the Mote-Kei Magazine CanCam is heavily associated with the department store Marui, as Marui features most of the brands that are presented within the magazine pages.
• Female consumers "graduate" from styles and magazines, only to pick other magazines that form a logical taste development, vis-a-vis life-stages in the Japanese society. When a life-stage ends (i.e. university time) and another starts (shakaijin, becoming a working member of society) then the magazine of choice that now tells you how to dress for that life stage changes too. As an example shown in figure ... a common path is Seventeen (high school) to CanCam/Ray (university) to AneCan (early office lady stage, just entered the job) in combination with Oggi/Classy (conservative office lady style) and in combination with Glamorous (for more eye-catching "off-time" outfits), to Domani (late 20s to early 30s) and finally Story (after marrying a rich husband) and 25ans. The path described is a process of more than 15 years.
• Magazines evolve. 5 years ago, Mote-Kei Magazines (the old sister style) with Ebihara Yuri (Ebi-Chan) were considered the mainstream taste. Within the last 5 years there was a heavy shift towards a little more assertive style group with Post-Gyaru style (Gyaru influenced fashion and hairstyles that focus more on the cute side of this style influence, making it socially acceptable to wear) that emphasizes bringing cute elements into adulthood, something that people call "otona-kawaii" (adult cuteness), represented by models such as Rinka and Hasegawa Jun. In the last two years celebrity styles from abroad, inspired by American series such as Gossip Girl, The OC and The Hills, have had a strong influence on the fashion scene, culminating in the development of a whole new category of magazines (Glitter, Gisele, Elle Girl, Vogue Girl). In order to get the messaging right and navigate proficiently through the codes and associations presented in the magazines, companies must keep themselves continuously updated on recent developments within the Magazine worlds. The key lies in understanding how the consumer is perceiving and using the magazines.

Taking all these observations together, they form something we call a lifestyle-path. This is like a chosen "menu" of Magazines that are consumed in complex combinations over a consumer's lifetime. The messages absorbed from these media lifestyle paths profoundly influence the perception a consumer has of the brands featured within them (or not featured within them).

We hope to show brands the complexity of the market and at the same time the simplicity with which you can accurately navigate through all these styles if you embrace the structures and styles in a holistic and not in a simplified way. 

To summarize, in Japan, the terrain is more complex and extensive, but there are also more detailed maps out there, and they tend to be amazingly accurate. We encourage brands to make full use of those maps to navigate through the possible style groups and select the ones that offer the best potential to translate and interpret a brands brand message and DNA in the Japanese market.

Social proof - what is behind the desire for feeling safe in brand choices?

ViVi 03/11 page 31

Magazines are not just pages for advertisements, they are different worlds, very distinguished environments, and readers expect their magazines to present them with inspirations that fit their styles and models they aspire to. Ignoring these expectations will create tie-ups that lack resonance, that do not generate interest in the brand, and will ultimately produce a negative brand image. It is like going to a party in the wrong dress.

The true power of social proof can pay big dividends in your attempts to persuade Japanese consumers to take a desired course of action. The key in Japan is to understand what is counted as social proof and to see that for a person following a certain magazine, that magazine is considered social proof and the message is relevant to her, while another magazine is not.


Unlike in other countries where advertisements are mostly intended to establish an abstract brand image, a successful communications strategy in Japan is focused on one thing: the legitimization of the brand.
Young Japanese fashion consumers—particularly females—only want to buy brands that are seen as "correct" or "socially acceptable." Girls want to wear legitimate brands because that gives them the assurance that no one can criticize them and they will not upset the social order. Although this consumer insight sounds somewhat extreme, it is only that Japanese consumers are just much more concerned with the social aspect of their fashion than their counterparts in other markets.

We want to focus the attention of brands to the highly important comments that we picked up in every discussion on brand images that we ever hosted. The following quotes are representative for what we heard in many different versions, yet with a clear underlying message:

1) They do not advertise in MY magazines, so I thought the brand is not for me. 
2) They use models that I don't like and can't relate to, so I don't check out their offerings. 
3) My friends don't like the brand, so I am not inclined to every check it out. 
4) They advertise in so many different magazines, I am confused who they are targeting, so I don't consider checking out their products."

Let us translate the above in more detail. What are the feelings behind these statements. But please remain aware of the fact that "we know that people's ability to understand the factors that affect their behavior is surprisingly poor. In asking themselves, 'What would motivate me?' they might well have discounted the very real influence that others would have on their behavior." [Goldstein, Martin Cialdini (2008): Yes!]. The following accounts are explanations of social dynamics, often complex, and many times not understood by the consumers themselves. Different consumer segments might also have different reasons. The ones below are examples.


1) I chose the magazine because I realized that if I follow this specific style in my network, people will react to me in a certain way. I have to follow the style propagated in my magazine, in order to be sure that others will see me following that specific style that has the desired effect (that I found out will happen). If I wear a brand that is outside this style world that I decided makes me feel comfortable, I run the risk of being criticized, or that my message gets diluted, that people think I am a different style or not oshare. That might ruin the effect, so I am afraid. I don't feel safe and comfortable choosing that brand. 

Elle Girl 2011/03, page 31

2) I know that certain people like the same models and how they dress, and more importantly, what roles they play in my networks. If I chose brands that those models endorse, I can be pretty sure that the majority of those friends/people in my network who like those models, will also like the brand, because they will feel like me about it. So I can feel safe choosing the brand. I can predict the development of the brand in my network if this model is wearing it. Certain people will like it. Then I can decide if I want to be like those people. If they chose too many different models, then I will get confused. Who will like the brand? Who will wear it? Other people will feel confused, too, so it becomes a social gamble. I feel insecure, so I don't choose the brand. There are other brands out there that are cute and my taste, that do not produce that insecurity. 

3) I talk with my friends everyday. My relations with them is good, but I had the experience before, when I did something that upset them, that they stopped calling me, or treated me with distance. Other people saw that and joined in. I am very afraid of being left out. If I show too much individuality, then people might stop liking me. That might or might not be true, but I don't know. It stresses me to just think about it. I want to talk with my friends about the brands I like. It's so much easier if I choose brands that are safe. You know, there are so many brands that are considered safe, they do it right in magazines and with the models, why should I care to choose from the ones that produce confusing messages and are criticized by my friends. 

4) If I am confused about who they target, then others will be confused, too. That makes me feel so insecure. If I would wear the brand, others might get the image that I am not oshare or I don't know what I am doing. I love the social position I am in right now, so I don't want to risk that. My friends criticize brands pretty fast when they (the brands) do a mistake. I want to purchase a brand that does the right messaging, makes no mistakes. I want to trust the brand, that it will not do something confusing or stupid in the future. You can feel that, you know. If you look at the magazines and how they do advertisements. You can see if they know what they are doing, if they understand the way we think. If they do, I feel safe. I can choose the brand anytime and it will be no mistake.

Fashion Magazines in Japan as sophisticated brand building tools

Fashion magazines in Japan are not an objective review of market offerings based on expert analysis nor are they about statements. They are sources of raw information expertly selected, following a set of seasonally changing rules within a given subculture – an authoritative source of information. It is a practical top-down legitimization of fashion brands, and how to coordinate and wear them.

[
[note] parts of this article are heavily based on the theories and articles from W. David Marx, who assisted in uncovering many of the dynamics described in this text.
]

Those with money can choose more freely which subculture they wish to belong to. Being able to choose (and afford for that matter) certain luxury products, means being able to belong or to produce the image that you are able to copy more complex social codes. Japanese consumers study magazines to be educated enough to conform to the rules of the season and interpret them according to the demands of their networks. Magazines readers want to pick an individual style out of the framework of safe and socially acceptable clothes selected with media approval.

In Japan, buying a certain magazine gives others the impression that you are interested in the specific style promoted by the magazine (mote-kei, post-gyaru, girly, high fashion, to name a few). Wearing a certain handbag brand does not define your personality in the eyes of others, but belonging to social groups, being 'oshare' (trendy, fashion-conscious) or belonging to a 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 combinations 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 or what social group she belongs to. In order to be able to judge these signs, consumers of social segments have to constantly keep themselves updated by reading magazines, blogs and other sources that "inform" them of actually practiced trends and their possible combinations. A person considered oshare by people who keep themselves informed successfully, is able to navigate safely and easily through the complex system of messages.
There is involved both a positive and a negative experience in the fashion imperative of Japan. That is the desire and feeling of belonging, and the fear of standing out or even being cast out of a group, respectively.

When the consumers follow authorities (magazines, famous brands) it decrease the amount of social choices or social situations, freeing them from having to constantly worry about being judged negatively and wear what they like in a safe context. Without a safe context living in a highly structured society like Japan may cause substantial stress. Generally speaking, the only consumer products that succeed in Japan are the ones that have been legitimized by some sort of authority. Mass media acceptance is solid proof that a brand is among the safe choices and is socially relevant.

HOW SHOULD WESTERN BRANDS USE THE MEDIA?
Brands are often not aware of the ubiquitous usage of styles for messaging and their meaning in Japan. The important thing is to understand how this system works, how foreign brands are combined with domestic styles, and how much of their original brand image is stripped away or dispersed, and replaced by perceived images of status and ownership groups.

Which group of people wears a certain brand? Which group of people usually follows this style? These images are largely formed also by the magazines that the brands choose to advertise in. Japanese consumers simply assume that if a brand advertises in a certain group of magazines (that are representing a certain style) then that brand is to be identified with the readers and styles of those magazines. Simply put, if a brand advertises in magazines for young “girly style” magazines then the readers will assume that the brand is for young girly Japanese consumers. Use a certain model for endorsements of the brand, and women who identify with the model will identify with the brand. These dynamics are also known in the West, but in Japan the categories are more clear cut and therefore allow a much clearer identification of styles and user groups. As W. David Marx has put it in one of his latest articles for Neojaponisme, "Real Harajuku Girls, For Real":

“In Japan, you can often judge a book by its cover. Consumers embrace a total, well-defined “taste culture” in which to consume, and once inside that group — usually defined by a specific magazine — they buy goods very faithfully to that culture. We should also remember that there is a certain predestination in which “taste culture” consumers gravitate towards.”

More important than the image it creates when a brand advertises in some magazines is the image that is created if a brand does NOT advertise in a certain magazine. For the readership reading that magazine, the brand will have no relevance and will not be able to change the messaging to those readers. What will remain are preconceived ideas that the consumer will receive from within networks through word of mouth.

Now it gets more complicated than this. A typical Japanese fashion obsessed girl does not read one magazine. They read between three and ten. Each magazine has a very different and distinctive image of its typical readership, set of models, set of brands it displays, and objective. Magazines are categorized into style categories, and certain styles form popular combinations with other styles (i.e. post-gyaru with high fashion). Others are on opposite sides of the spectrum, hard or impossible to align.

Brands must understand that which magazines a brand uses or does not use creates highly complex messages to different consumer groups. The effect heavily contributes to forming the brand image. Ignoring this is to leave a huge part of the development of the brand image up to chance and to dynamics within networks.

So where is the problem for Western brands using Japanese media? Most high end brands advertise selectively in high fashion magazines that give the brand legitimacy, but are not read by the majority of the young consumer audience. They place their brand’s products in magazines advertorials, where the location and style presented has nothing to do with the brand image originating from the country of origin.

Moreover, many high luxury brands advertise and select advertorials only in magazines that are perceived to have a readership of potential buying customers. As Kapferer emphasizes in his book “The Luxury Strategy”: “...don’t advertise to sell”. Luxury brands leave the complex process of building up a brand image among young consumers to chance. They miss out on the opportunity to convey the brand’s story, the narrative, and image to young consumers. Consequently the “akogare” (the looking up to) to the brand is constructed within networks, and does not originate from the brands themselves.

Depth and context are perceived as being minefields for Japanese brands. But foreign luxury brands operate within this context and are mixed in with the Japanese narrative. Broader cultural context could make adoptions of foreign brand narratives difficult. Although they do not do so, Japanese magazines could easily convey messages of heritage, and references to the history of brands or their more complex meanings and statements. Popular Japanese magazines are not interested in brand building and foreign brands do not use them as brand building tools. But if used correctly, magazines in Japan are a highly sophisticated tool for building up brand images. You have only to understand clearly the dynamics.

The life of a brand or its brand image is simply not sustainable without a deep narrative that becomes embedded in the cultural landscape. The question is how to construct a narrative that goes beyond the dichotomy of East/West status markers. How are we to create narratives with depth, intimacy, and relevance that leads to sustainable outcomes?

What we are proposing is that the way to build up a brand image is not exclusively through abstract statements, a relatively foreign concept to Japanese consumers that they readily ignore. Using magazines successfully is about becoming part of the machinery or the flow of the fashion consumption dynamic.

To illustrate: Using a half-Japanese model is a key tactic of Japanese brands. They look foreign enough to enhance the image of the clothing but close enough to the Japanese consumers to send a message of commonality. Also, half-Japanese models tend to be more extroverted, embodying “akogare” (someone to aspire to be like) not for their looks, but their attitude vis-a-vis a highly structured society that leaves women with limited choices. A model such as Hasegawa Jun embodies this “freedom of expression”. Yet foreign brands do not consider the use of half-Japanese or Japanese models for brand building, as it is still considered not appropriate for Japanese or half-Japanese models to represent a brand whose aura is originating from the West. Many Japanese consumers consider Western models as superior to Japanese ones and would lose some sort of respect for the brand as a status symbol if Western brands would use Japanese models for brand advertising. Especially women reading high fashion titles such as Vogue, Sou-en and Spur would not be fond of this. At the same time it is accepted to use Japanese and half-Japanese models in advertorials wearing items from Western brands. In this case the Japanese woman "consumes" the brand, but does not "represent" it. The statement that a Western brand should never let itself down to the point where it "allows" a Japanese woman to represent it is voiced by the majority of Japanese consumers, not by Western observers. The issue seems to be complex and deeply rooted within the roles that Western brands played in the 80s and 90s in Japan and the way Japanese women see themselves vis-a-vis the West.

Japanese magazines use Japanese models (Senzoku system) in order to create sympathy and self-association between readers and models. Japanese OLs and students for the most part have no fantastical aspirations towards the artistic side of fashion. They are happy to see themselves in the shoes of Ebi-chan. Aspiration means seeing yourself in a slightly elevated version of your own reality (standing on tip-toes, “Se no bi o suru”). A heightened version of yourself, basically.

Each magazine’s visual approach not only creates the proper environment for appreciating the clothes/bags, but submerges the reader into a slightly upgraded and aspired to version of his or her own reality. It is verily not an abstract image that creates a complicated personality association.
Magazines are a reference point offering basic information. After that you need confirmation from your networks. This is how brands can reach the tipping point to becoming legitimate. When a certain threshold is reached within a group, a tipping point might be reached. What follows then is fast and thorough adoption. We advise brands to think differently, think social, in Japan. You must look for thresholds of tipping points.