Give overseas customers a reason to choose you.
At home, customers may already understand the care behind your product. In a new market, that context is missing. A translated brand story can explain everything about the company and still leave a buyer unsure why it matters to them.
NodeMode helps Japanese brands shape their positioning and communications for overseas audiences, drawing on creative experience in Japan and the United States. We identify the qualities worth carrying abroad and find a way to make them relevant to the people you want to reach.
Discuss a projectWhat we can work on
- Positioning for a specific market
- Examine the audience and competitive context, then define the brand's role and the reasons to choose it. Start with the intended market rather than a single message for everywhere.
- An English brand narrative
- Build the story around what a new customer needs to understand. Decide which product details, origins, and evidence earn a place in the message.
- A brief for overseas creative teams
- Turn the strategy into campaign directions and a working brief. Make the brand's character clear enough for local partners to develop the work without sanding it away.
- Presentations for partners and decision-makers
- Develop the narrative and materials for overseas agency conversations, partnerships, or internal approval. Bring Japanese and English discussions back to the same strategic choices.
Norio's experience
Selected work includes projects at previous agencies and companies. Each case study explains the role and credits.
Before we start
- Do we need to change our Japanese brand identity?
- That depends on the audience and the problem. We separate what makes the brand distinctive from the context a new customer will not have. Sometimes the identity can stay while the explanation and creative approach change.
- Where does the engagement start?
- With the target market, the customer, and the materials you already use. An initial review can identify gaps in the positioning and narrative before you commit to a larger campaign or production.
Start with the brief you have.
Tell us which market you are considering and what overseas customers need to understand about your brand.
Discuss a project More about Norio Ichikawa