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  Made in Japan: The Culture Behind the Brand
 
 Great article!It's the culture behind any great brands. Hope that Vietnamese entrepreneurs could learn from the lessons. Many thanks. 
LE CHI CONG, Brand Strategist, NEMO CONSULTING - April 11, 2009
 
 Chauncy

Seriously, what are you smoking? There are very few Japanese global brands that today are healthy. Many of them are in the toilet.

The main reason is their inability to understand the nature and benefit of diversity.

Try working for a Japanese company one of these days. 
- April 13, 2009
 
 Still interesting to know how the Japanese themselves think about their morals and values. They are almost fanatically driven by individualism and admire the Westerners for it. Very often the spot were an Artist jumped of a building is worshipped. 
Hwie-Bing Kwee, MD, Omnimark - April 13, 2009
 
 I enjoyed the thoughtfulness behind this article and think some missed the greater point of culture behind branding vs. great brands which isn't to say the two don't intersect but I think the bigger idea here was the philosophy embedded in the brand. 
michelle vasquez, Brand Strategist, Free lance - April 13, 2009
 
 Japan always was a benchmark of Success, is now and will be in the future. The main reason is Simplicity and Respect, which dwells in the middle of their Culture and Sole. And that will always drive to great things to do, hence great brands and great loyalty to those brands. Thanks to Chauncy for one more reminder of this great culture. Because, branding is nothing than Culture built on Vales and Traditions. 
Alex Chikovani, CEO - April 13, 2009
 
 If China is to achieve a creative economy it has much to learn and these lessons should come from Japan with whom it shares many values. The notion of continuous improvement and education are important in both cultures as is the notion that workers are motivated to make thier company ever better. The secret of Japan's success is the attention to detail in both craftmanship and more importantly design. In short Japanese design has a distinct and exportable brand identity rather than the 'copy' which defines modern Chinese style,Unfortunately in a clinate where the creative economy becomes increasingly important Chinese R and D means making yet another a cheap copy.
 
Fiona Jenvey, CEO, www.mpdclick.com - April 13, 2009
 
 I find Zalkin’s move from culture to the language of ‘repurposed’ culture or branding, unsettling. You may wish to imagine that these two worlds are the same and they are not, at best they are analogous. Recognize that culture simply ‘is’ and branding is a way to represent it, merely an interpretation. The latter is a lens of sorts, a relatively lazy lens that appears to simplify and manage elusive and complex social and behavioural constructs.I suggest that you read “Industrial Pollution in Japan”, (a historical account of a few of the environmental and human calamities in Japan – arsenic milk poisoning, Minimata disease, the Miike coal mine explosion), before you suggest playing follow the leader. I think if there is to be value at all in these types of investigations it is important note Japan’s fallibility and in doing so balance the ideal with the real, replacing romanticism with learning.Branding is a representation of culture. Advertising sells imagery. 
Robin Uchida, Associate, Torch - April 13, 2009
 
 A very meticulous explanation - but will it be understood? I find myself struggling to get point across about our Japanese customers expecations only to have them dismissed as over -demanding and eccentric.

Arrogance, something shunned in Japanese culture, is why we fail to succeed in such venues. 
Alex Fong, SVP, Optronic Laboratories - April 13, 2009
 
 Great article.Sorry, but genchi genbutsu (現地現物) really means not "mutual ownership of things", but "actual things, actual materials"and this phrase represents Toyota's belief in practical experience over theoretical knowledge:) 
KG, Research Analyst - April 14, 2009
 
 I so wanted to like this article but hardly anything in it is correct. Pity.
To be more specific, the observations from everyday life are wrong such as sake being drunk before the meal or irrelevant as metaphors such as simplicity to demonstrate why Uniqlos clothes are paired down. In fact they're not. My son is wearing a Uniqlo t-shirt right now which has a branded cartoon character on it. A cursory glance of any English Japanese media will throw up almost weekly examples of companies defrauding their consumers. Reverence for nature? Has the author ever seen the excess food packaging here? Or seen the denuded land that was once forest?
Sorry but this article is wide of the mark.
 
Graham Thomas, CEO, KeyWay - April 14, 2009
 
 Just another thought. As much as many of the things the author mentioned are existent in the Japanese culture, the fact that it is being romanticized by Westerners and considered as a "benchmark of success" regardless of the fact that things are not always going this direction for Japanese companies, is the very life raft that helps Japan preserve its face regardless of all the failures... 
KG, Research Analyst (IP) - April 14, 2009
 
 Actually, Genchi Genbutsu means 'go to the source (of an issue/problem) and see for yourself'... 
Claire Le Nouvel, Marketing Research, Toyota - April 14, 2009
 
 'Kaizen' (improvement) is usually translated into English as 'continuous improvement'. It may also be regarded as 'low cost / no cost improvement', 'making better use of existing resources', 'a refusal to accept the status quo'.
I'm told that 'kaisen' is a skin rash! 
Steve Milner, Consultant, SWM Consulting - April 15, 2009
 
 i have done extensive research and in working for two years with a japanese client working on a brand based on ancient japan, and interviewing across japan extensively, this article is well researched. in fact, the final article safely avoided any deeper cultural exploration for the sake of keeping it pointed toward branding. its an article using analogy. using culture as an inspiration for brand concept building. i'm not (as many got) lauding japanese brands but remembering ancient japanese cultural practices. yes, the sake thing is true, even if not true in some parts of modern japan. if you want to email me directly for some primary texts, feel free. thanks for your comment. 
chauncey zalkin - April 17, 2009
 
 Insightful and culturally relavant.
I thought of Shiseido and its impecable products of exceptional quality and I can't help but wonder why its market share is still so modest relative to its brand potential in countries such as the US, for example. 
Ana Terzi - April 17, 2009
 
 I really enjoyed reading this article. Insightful and very true to the experiences I have had with Japanese culture. I greatly appreciate the simplicity and incredible attention to perfecting the details which has in turn impacted business thinking, brands and innovation. 
Caroline Ghatt, Strategy Planner, Sydney Australia - April 20, 2009
 
 Great and very positive piece!A lot of undeniable truths in there.Although Japan and the noble spirit of its people and culture have been paralyzed for the past 15 years because of its economic stagnation, you can clearly see the rise of a new and very creative generation. They are the hope of the country. I hope the older generations, who will keep on ruling the nation, will allow for this new thinking. 
Jasper Momma, Owner of a Japanese company in Japan, Shigoto Fashion Ltd. - May 2, 2009
 
 
     
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