AdAge Article on Toshiba Smart Community’s Global Content Marketing!

More great news! AdAge wrote an article on Toshiba Smart Community‘s ongoing B2B global content marketing campaign.

The article introduced Toshiba’s B2B global marketing campaign using social media as a primary platform. The campaign was launched to raise awareness and re-establish the Toshiba brand as a B2B company, and to acquire global lead generation for the Toshiba Smart Community business. Toshiba also issued a press release in Japan about the coverage.

Toshiba’s digital marketing division at their Tokyo headquarters and JaM worked with gyro sf, a B2B agency based in San Francisco, also named the 2014 Global B2B Agency of the Year, as our creative partner. Focusing on the copy “Bring Life Forward,” we are supporting Toshiba’s global content marketing effort, with video and infographics currently under production. The Toshiba+JaM+gyro team is thrilled to get this mention!

Toshiba Smart Community LinkedIn Page Surpasses 200,000 Followers!

We are happy to announce that Toshiba Smart Community, which JaM has been helping execute their global B2B branding, has just achieved a major milestone — their LinkedIn page follower count has surpassed the 200,000 mark! With 300 million worldwide members, LinkedIn is the premier business-based social media platform, where Toshiba became the first Japanese corporation to establish a Showcase Page in February 2014. Over the next ten months, they acquired a business community of more than 200,000 professionals.

This major achievement in their B2B global marketing effort has been a result of consistently building good content, and it’s exciting to see such good engagement from the community!

A Toshiba Smart Community Case Study: Miyakojima Energy Management System

We have been helping our client with social media and content marketing of Toshiba Smart Community over the last two years to the global market. As of this year, we are seeing more and more case studies of its development and deployment. This video shows what the island of Miyakojima (Okinawa Prefecture) is doing to become self-sufficient for its energy needs:

• Recharging Stations Using MEV (Micro-sized Electric Vehicles)
• 100% Self-Supporting Renewable Energy on Kurimajima Island
• Miyakojima Island-wide EMS (Energy Management System) Demonstration

・Video: Toshiba Smart Community Case Study: Miyako Island, Okinawa, Energy Management System
・Toshiba YouTube Brand Channel　

This universal model by Miyakojima could help other islands around the world achieve energy self-sufficiency and help reduce carbon emissions. Toshiba’s advanced technologies and solutions that truly help people and the planet are highly regarded, and we at JaM feel privileged to be helping them expand into the global market.

JaM Helped in Product Development for Subaru’s New 2015 Outback

We have some exciting news! JaM’s long time client Subaru, who we have been working with in product development, announced on April 17th their all new 2015 Subaru Outback at the New York International Auto Show. We worked together with the development team to do in-depth, on-the-ground research of Americans’ families, lifestyles, communities and their cars. The findings took shape in this product, and we are so proud of this achievement. We were also happy to hear Fuji Heavy Industries’ President Yoshinaga talking about listening to their customers and responding with this newOutback, and thanking the US customers for their support.

JaM’s unique strength is in providing deep insights into US consumer’s thoughts, beliefs and behaviors which is often difficult to understand for Japanese companies by offering background and analysis to them from their perspective. With this happy occasion in our hearts, we will continue to provide quality services like this as we continue forward.

Hisami Ohshiba on stage at adtech tokyo Sept 18-19, 2013

Hisami was on stage again at ad:tech tokyo 2013 for the fifth time, appearing at three different sessions.

Sept 19 2:20-3:10pm Session C-8: Creative for Engagement Building as a panelist.

At the exhibit hall:

• Sept. 18 3:00-3:30pm at Omnibus’ “Chabudai Talk.”
• Sept. 18 4:20-4:50pm at Hakuhodo DY Group stage.

Sharing some good news about JaM’s great clients

It’s been a great pleasure and privilege for us at JaM to be working with some great clients over many years. We just want to share some wonderful news about them.

• One of JaM’s key services and core strength is providing in-depth insights about US consumers as part of product development for Japanese companies doing business globally. They include global brands like Kobayashi Pharmaceutical in a wide range of consumer products, Subaru’s Outback, and Yamaha’s Helm Master (introduced in November 2012). We offer customized field and ethnographic research specifically for Japanese companies, and we believe our ability to effectively explain the US consumer mindset and culture to them is unmatched. Product development ranges from three, five, to ten years so we are always thrilled to see the final products when they go on the market.
• Aside from manufacturers, Japan’s first major social media site mixi launched their new smartphone app, “nohana” in February 2013, which is a family-centered photo book maker built with privacy and security in mind. Ten days after its launch, they gained an impressive 18,000 registered users. We were involved in its conceptual development to help create a new type of family-based social media service.
• We have also been working over the past year with All Nippon Airways (ANA), who has thanked JaM for our recommendations. They have since executed and achieved great results in their social media operations. Being actual passengers on ANA flights, we are always amazed and grateful for their quick implementation of suggestions.
• Finally, we are supporting Toshiba’s “Smart Community” global branding initiative, by operating various social media channels, with Facebook as the main focus. Our role has started from strategy development to execution, providing insights from alternative communications.

At JaM, we love to work with companies and brands that we truly believe in, and help them succeed through our services. By sharing common values and goals, we work as a single team with clients, and our ultimate joy is to celebrate their achievements together.

another successful ad:tech tokyo

The fall ad:tech tokyo 2012 again ended with great success.

The featured session and the “Chabudai Talk” that followed were both lively sessions, and with the good fortune of having great panelists, Hisami enjoyed her moderator role. (Session report in Japanese and photos here.) After the main session, two non-Japanese attendees complimented Hisami, saying, “We’ve never seen such natural interactions in a panel before in Japan — kudos to the moderator.” But, after asking colleagues for their honest critique, it was apparently a more lukewarm performance than usual, so for that she is humbled.

Yet that criticism proved to be just the kick she needed to launch into a spirited discourse, as seen here on Ustream’s archive (in Japanese): Omnicom’s Chabudai Talk.

Some photos from the conference…

Hisami on stage again at ad:tech tokyo in October!

This will be the fourth time on stage at ad:tech tokyo, and when counting ad:tech san francisco in 2010, it will be a total of five. As an advisory board member, her wish is that ad:tech tokyo will continue to serve as a meaningful and worthwhile event in Japan. Hisami spoke on various topics so far, and this time she will appear as moderator at the first session after the first keynote on October 30:

12:40pm – 1:30pm A-1 Listening & Engagement: Establishing Brand Equity in Social Media

Hope to see you there!

JaM’s May Highlight: “ANA’s Facebook Page success owed to JaM”

Some good news we’d like to share from JaM:

We’re happy to report that our client, All Nippon Airways (ANA), said that they owe their success as the top airline FB page in Japan to JaM. Since we consulted for them last year, we are thrilled that they have executed their FB page and have already achieved this top ranking. Thanks for the “thanks”!

We believe this accomplishment is a result of ANA’s serious undertaking of their social media plan, their speed in understanding the advice, and quick deployment. We are just jazzed hearing about their success from the ANA folks on the front lines. Go ANA!

JaM’s April Highlights: ad:tech sf & Ustream “KEYMAN” Appearance

Highlighting JaM’s April activities, we started with supporting the group visiting from Japan who attended ad:tech san francisco held April 3-4. We reviewed the key points and background of the sessions and enjoyed some in-depth discussions with everyone. Thanks for the great feedback — that we were able to explain some difficult content when listening in English, as well as providing insights into the US market. The photo below was taken at one of these after-hours, “unofficial ad:tech” sessions. Kao‘s Mike Homma and Sukedachi‘s Nori Takahiro also provided compelling explanations.

On April 26, Hisami made another appearance on “KEYMAN” on Ustream. The episode was titled “Today in Silicon Valley” and had abundant discussions about the latest news from the US withMother‘s Mr. Yasozumi and White Knight‘s Mr. Arai. One of the topics was about Facebook Fatigue happening in the US from a user’s perspective. Hisami will be in Japan until end of May, so please contact for F2F meeting requests.