Using Digital Marketing to Transform Japanese Organizations Part 1

Interview with sembear

Kotaro Haruta, Founder & CEO at sembear

Nozomi Arioka, Co-Founder at sembear

sembear is a company based in Tokyo, Japan that provides digital marketing related trainings and educational programs. The company is a one-stop provider of HR development, marketing support and platform provision based on an understanding of the various stakeholders involved in digital marketing.

We had the opportunity to interview Kotaro Haruta, Founder and CEO and Nozomi Arioka, Co-Founder. of sembear. In part 1, we delve into the challenges and causes of digital marketing that many Japanese organizations are facing and in part 2, we will hear about the solutions to those challenges and the mission and vision of sembear.

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Watch the Original Interview [Japanese]

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Interview Part 1

First of all, can you tell us how you founded sembear?

At my former job at a foreign digital marketing company, I have been involved in human resource development for advertising agencies, particularly in the training of consultants. As I gained a better understanding of the perspectives of both ad agencies and business owners, I realized that the key to a successful digital marketing strategy is not to leave everything to the agencies, but to create an equal partnership between the two parties.

To achieve this, both advertising agencies and business owners need to improve their knowledge and skills in digital marketing. With an awareness of such issues in mind, I began working as a private business in 2012. Then, in 2020, Nozomi, who had been in charge of marketing at a major cosmetics company, joined the company and we founded sembear.

Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, DX (Digital Transformation)  and digital marketing are said to have advanced in Japan. What is the current situation like?

From my point of view, the gap between companies that actually promoted digital marketing and those that only took a "band-aid" approach has widened considerably during the pandemic. What the former companies have in common is that they are really customer centric. 

As the new normal expands, what do customers want and what kind of value does the company provide to customers? 

Companies that can continuously answer these questions and can adapt to external changes, like a pandemic, have found opportunities for the future, even during hard times.

We often tell our clients that CX (customer experience) comes before DX (digital transformation). We need to envision the ideal customer experience for our services and platforms, and how to deliver it. It is more important than ever to develop DX and digital marketing strategies from this perspective.

What are the reasons why digital marketing is not being promoted well in many Japanese organizations today?

The reason is that there is a lack of people in the organizations to promote digital marketing. The reason for this shortage is that Japanese organizations are rooted in a conservative culture that resists going outside of their "comfort zone" and tries to avoid change. This is how organizational rigidity has occurred.

According to the "Management Issues for Japanese Companies 2021" survey conducted by the Japan Management Association, DX initiatives are increasing year by year, and about 60% of all companies responded that they are seeing results from their initiatives. 

In reality, however, it is said that about two-thirds of companies do not even fully utilize Google Analytics. Even when it comes to digital marketing, the correct knowledge and know-how has not been accumulated within the organization and is not being utilized.

In such an environment, it becomes difficult to recruit and train personnel who are willing to make changes. Even if you are able to hire specialized personnel who promote change, they will be treated as "foreign" (heterogeneous personnel) in an organization that is still stuck in its existing values, and they will not be able to communicate with the existing members of the organization. This means that the new talent will not be able to demonstrate his or her abilities, and will likely move on to other companies.

In Part 2, we will talk about what Japanese organizations should do to break out of this situation.

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Misato Matsuo

Japan Interviewer's Association certified interviewer and writer
Content Manager at Flier Inc.

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