Digital Stacks is a company that is very particular about its marketing quality
Experian Asia Pacific & Japan has been using the DSC’s marketing service since 2017. Sisca Margaretta, Chief Marketing Officer for Experian Asia Pacific talked about the importance of Asia and Japan market.
Yuta Sugiyama, Country Director of Decision Analytics division of the company, and Marketing Director Kosuke Seto talked the impression of our service.
(The title is based on the interview)
Sisca Margaretta
Chief Marketing Officer for Experian Asia Pacific
“It certainly is of strategic importance to Experian as we see continued significant growth from the region.
Japan remains one of the strongest and most mature economies in Asia Pacific. That’s why we believe it is critical for us to maintain a presence in Japan and continuously find opportunities to grow our business there, to enable more Japanese organizations to make smarter analytics-driven decisions and thrive, and to help them prevent fraud for the greater good of both Japanese businesses and consumers.”
Yuta Sugiyama
Country Director of Decision Analytics division Experian Japan
“I think the key to success in the Japanese market is cooperation with Japanese SI partners. After focusing on partnering with our first resource, it is important to conduct sales activities as much as possible. Japanese customers all visit our website, so the message there is important. I think DSC is a company that is very particular about quality. Our partners produce a wide range of products, and they have told us several times that the documents they receive from Experian are very good.”
(The positions are based on the time when the interview was conducted)
Sisca Margaretta
Chief Marketing Officer for Experian Asia Pacific
-How do you feel the characteristic of Asia Market? How do you describe the Asia Market?
Importance and position of Asian and Japanese markets in Experian’s global business.
Asia is a dynamic region with numerous countries and cultures that make it such an exciting part of the world. The fact that Asia’s the world’s most populous continents and the balance of the world’s population as well as economic growth is shifting toward the East from the West makes Asia an important region for any global organization. It certainly is of strategic importance to Experian as we see continued significant growth from the region.
Japan remains one of the strongest and most mature economies in Asia Pacific. That’s why we believe it is critical for us to maintain a presence in Japan and continuously find opportunities to grow our business there, to enable more Japanese organizations to make smarter analytics-driven decisions and thrive, and to help them prevent fraud for the greater good of both Japanese businesses and consumers.
Experian Asia Pacific & Japan has been a client of DSC marketing services since 2017. Sisca Margaretta, Chief Marketing Officer for Experian Asia Pacific talks about the importance of the Asian and Japanese market.
Yuta Sugiyama, Country Director of the Decision Analytics Division and Kosuke Seto, Marketing Director touch upon their impression of DSC services.
(The positions are based on the time when the interview was conducted)
-What is the key to success in Japan?
Sugiyama:
The most important thing in Japan is who you partner with. In Japan, most customers outsource their system development to system integrators. However, there are times when the system integrator is not capable of handling the case and turns down the job and this comes from personal experience. NoSQL is a database for handling big data and its implementation has been increasing in recent years. I once pitched it to a customer who liked the product but failed to gain the cooperation of the partner system integrator and failed in the end. No matter what the customer says, if the system integrator says, “We only support Oracle”, that’s the end. So, the key to success in Japan is the getting the cooperation of the system integrators.
Partners are important in winning the customer’s trust. It is only natural for a customer to be concerned as to whether products by a company fresh from the U.S. and handled by only a couple people can be used stably in the future. Having a partner in those cases as well as past experience implementing through that partner will reassure the customer. If the partner has a large clientele, it will make it easier for us to make the sale. Finding a partner in Japan capable of supporting our sales activity is a huge key to success.
Meanwhile, when we had just entered the Japanese market from overseas, we faced the challenge of starting the business with very limited resources. That is why it was important for us to focus on finding a partner first so that we could roll out our sales activities.
– We are happy that you are satisfied with the contents and material creation.
Mr. Sugiyama:
In this day and age, once a document is posted on a website, it stays there forever. So I think quality is very important. I think your company is very particular about quality. Our partners are working on a variety of products, and they have told us several times that the documents they receive from Experian are very good.
Yuta Sugiyama
Country Director of Decision Analytics division Experian Japan
Kosuke Seto
Marketing Director
Experian Japan
– Tell us about your sales and marketing in Japan
Kosuke Seto, Marketing Director:
For example, when building a Japanese site, we need Japanese contents to improve awareness, which means that the materials must be translated into Japanese. Of course, Japanese customers know their Japanese so quality is as important as speed in the localization process. Simple translation will only make it apprehensive.
We once asked a company in Singapore to translate a corporate report, “Fraud Management Insights 2017” but the quality was below the standard and we turned to DSC for help.
I think it was because the DSC’s writer had technical writing experience. Therefore, the report became very easy to read. Technical terms were precise and the overall tone and manner were exactly to my liking. So I was more than pleased. We publish various white papers and I will definitely be turning to DSC again.
DSC has also helped us with the office interior and created slogan panels for the employees to look at.
– What kind of services do you expect from us in the future?
Mr.Sugiyama:
Regarding marketing activities, a one stop shop that covers everything from event management and market research to PR. There are many companies offering individual services but it would be so helpful to have a place where everything is available in a bundle.
Mr.Seto:
We are past that phase now but it would be very appreciated by venture companies looking to enter Japan for example if you provide information on the status of the Japanese market, support the establishment of their corporation and organization in Japan, or match them with partners. Maybe if you could match them with partners just by hearing the nature of their business and their targets … A service offering all that in one stop would be a lifesaver for companies entering Japan and I believe they would continue to use the service subsequently too ..
Mr. Sugiyama:
In my experience, when a venture enters Japan, they usually hire a country manager (in charge of sales) and a support engineer first and there won’t be a budget for hiring marketing talent although it is really better to have three people However, even if they cannot secure a hiring budget they can often find a marketing budget to pay an agency. Because they know that marketing is most important for succeeding in a new overseas market.
Initiating marketing activities through an agency and securing sales is the first and hardest step of business but Japanese consumers always looks at homepages so the message there will be important. If the site is in English only, most Japanese will give up reading. That’s why it is critical that you have a proper Japanese message for them to see.
About Experian
Experian is a global information service company leading the world. From buying homes and cars, getting children through college, to business with new customers, the company enables consumers and businesses to handle data with confidence at important milestones. Through this, individuals can manage their finances, use financial services, make wiser business decisions and achieve business goals, support financial services in making sound funding, and support organizations that prevent illegal transactions and crimes. With over 16,500 employees in 39 countries around the world, Experian invests in new technologies, The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LON: EXPN) and has also been selected as the FTSE 100 index.
Please refer to:
http://www.experianplc.com
http://www.experian.co.jp (Japanese)
and Global News Blog www.experian.com/blogs/news/
Digital Stacks Corporation is a technology driven digital stacks based in Tokyo, Japan. We are supporting global IT companies to expand or grow their business in Japan. Our Xtensions services, provide key go-to-market services. From Japanese website operations, sales & tech support services to comprehensive services such as content translation and social media marketing.
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