Make your brand make sense in Japan.
A global campaign arrives with an approved idea, finished assets, and a launch date. The Japan team still needs to decide whether people here will believe it, understand it, or care. That decision needs to happen before production.
NodeMode helps overseas brands and their agencies adapt brand strategy and creative work for Japan. We look at the audience, the category, and the idea itself, then work out what needs to change and what gives the brand its character.
Discuss a projectWhat we can work on
- A diagnosis before the brief
- Review the campaign against local expectations, trust barriers, category habits, and potential cultural misreads. Identify the assumptions worth testing.
- A position the local team can use
- Define who the brand is speaking to, why it matters in Japan, and what evidence supports the message. Give headquarters and the Japan team a shared basis for decisions.
- Creative routes built for Japan
- Develop campaign directions and Japanese copy around how people here think and behave. Set out what to retain from the global work and what to rebuild.
- Direction through production
- Guide agency briefs, casting, partner selection, and creative reviews. Production and activation can be scoped separately when the work needs them.
Norio's experience
Selected work includes projects at previous agencies and companies. Each case study explains the role and credits.
Before we start
- Can we keep our global campaign?
- Often, parts of it. The first job is to assess the idea and assets against the Japanese audience. The recommendation may be a focused adaptation or a different creative route; the brief determines how far to go.
- Can you work with our existing agency?
- Yes. NodeMode can work alongside headquarters, the Japan team, and your agency, helping them agree on the brief and make creative decisions in English and Japanese.
Start with the brief you have.
Tell us what you are bringing to Japan, what is already decided, and where the team needs help.
Discuss a project More about Norio Ichikawa