Marketing in Japan for international brands · Tokyo
For international brands entering Japan or already selling here. We plan your marketing, run experienced Japanese agencies for you and report to you, with every yen checked against your real sales. Keep your current agency, or let us bring one.
Beauty & fashionConsumer goodsE-commerceServicesB2B software
M01Sound familiar?
"We get a report every month, but we can't tell what's really working."
"Head office asks what the Japan budget produced, and the numbers don't add up."
"We lead our category abroad. In Japan, buyers don't even find us."
"Most sales happen on Amazon and Rakuten, but the ads are judged on our website."
Japanese buyers search in Japanese, trust the rankings and talk to brands on LINE.
M02What buyers see
Pick a search Japanese customers make every day (〇〇 = your product):
M03Services
Execution is by established Japanese agencies, introduced by name before you sign.
Ongoing
We run your marketing in Japan end to end: the plan, the Japanese agencies, measurement and monthly decisions.
An independent second opinion on your Japanese agency, with a clear plan it can carry out. The 12 questions we start with →
New to Japan: a launch done in the right order. Changing agency: a handover with no lost data. The 90-day plan →
Keep your agency. Each month, its results checked against your real sales, with the decisions to make next.
M04Pricing
Monthly management: a fixed percentage of your ad spend, agency execution included, so there's no second layer of fees. Projects: a fixed fee, and smaller budgets usually start there.
Your price, in writing
Pick what you need. We send the price for your budget within one business day. No call needed.
Monthly work has a three-month minimum, then 30 days' notice.
A typical agency fee% of ad spend
With Meridiansame kind of fee
Same kind of fee. Instead of an agency on its own, you get a marketing office in charge of the whole thing, with the agency's execution inside it.
Optional add-ons: in-depth monthly report, tests of what each channel adds, LINE and CRM, creative and Japanese copy.
M05How we work
We brief, check and manage the Japanese agencies, and we answer for the numbers.
M06Guides
Pick the one that fits where you are.
Here it is. Print it or keep it open in your next meeting.
Download the PDF ↓M07Questions
Something else? Write to contact@meridian.tokyo. We reply within one business day.
No. You can keep it. The diagnostic and the independent monthly review work alongside your current agency.
You do. Accounts are opened in your company's name, with full admin access from day one.
It's yours to keep, whatever you decide. We look at what Japanese customers see and, if you send it, your agency's latest report. Nothing is shared with anyone.
Monthly management fits brands spending a few million yen a month or more. If you spend less, or aren't advertising in Japan yet, start with the free outside review. We'll then suggest one fixed-price project or monthly management, and explain why.
A fixed fee for the diagnostic, or a fixed monthly fee for the independent monthly review. You don't pay us a second percentage on top of your agency's.
A clear view of your accounts, tracking and spend: what's working, what's wasted, and a prioritised plan your agency can carry out.
Yes. We work with your head office and your importer together. The importer keeps its channels, ad accounts are opened in your brand's name (or jointly, if you agree that with the importer), and we invoice your head office directly.
Yes. Many brands in Japan are run from Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Europe or the Americas. We work directly with your head office team, and with your team in Japan if you have one.
Whenever you're ready. Have a date to work back from, like a launch, a big sale or a review with head office? Tell us, and we plan the work back from it.
M08Free outside review
Tell us where you are. We send the three opportunities we would act on first. Free, and yours to keep.