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Vol. 7 : Nicolas Menat (beacon communications, k.k.)
April 11, 2007
Confidence waning as big exporters warily eye U.S.
Japan under pressure to ink more FTAs
'Keitai' firms fight for eyeballs
Roppongi welcomes new addition to skyline
Lots of life in elderly, investors hope
Travel firms eye China Olympics, boomers
Expanded coverage: New tower casts proud shadow
advertising agency：広告代理店
staid：生真面目な
TV-centric market：テレビ中心のマーケット
（ N: Nicolas, P: Peter ）
| P : |
I am Peter Barakan and I am talking today to Nicolas Menat who is the President & Representative Director of Beacon Communications, which is an advertising agency. Walking into your offices today, they are very cool looking.
I have never been in very many offices of ad agencies here in Japan, but Japanese companies seem to be a lot more kind of staid. This one looks very modern, very relaxed, well designed, is it typical of advertising or are you a special company in that way? |
| N : |
I do believe we are a special company in that way. I think we really have a very nice office. Since it has been built, we believe that the environment is encouraging the creativity of the people who are working in this industry.
And we all want to be creative, we all have to be creative in this industry and this building has been built in the way to encourage lots of exchanges between the people to have different people with different backgrounds and experiences working together for the brands of our clients.
And yes, I think it is fresh. I think the colors are vibrant. I think it is an agency where you see a lot of young people and I think all this combined creates this atmosphere which is quite unique, not only in Japan but in all the agencies I have visited so far. |
| P : |
As you said, Japan is a very different market for advertising compared with America. There must be difficulties. I mean, even if you are so closely related to Dentsu, what would you perceive as the major difficulties coming from a more American direction in creating advertising? I know this isn't in the list of questions.
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| N : |
Yeah, no, no. I think Japan is unique for at least two reasons and it is more difficult to enter for two reasons as far as my industry is concerned. First, the big players, the local players are bigger than anywhere else in the world. It is true to advertising.
When you think of the position of Dentsu, Hakuhodo and ADK, the three biggest advertising agencies, their position in this market is absolutely unique, it is not domination, it is more than this actually. And it is true in many, many other industries.
Quite surprised working more and more for French automobile clients that we won not long ago and that I am discovering a little bit more precisely the actual situation of the automobile market in Japan, I think that less than 8% of this market is open to foreign rights which is extremely small compared to any other countries in the world.
It is quite strange when you think that at the same time Toyota is becoming the leader around the world which means global brands are big everywhere. Well, in Japan, well, okay, Toyota is big but there is very, very little room actually for foreign players.
An advertising agency to a certain point is just facing the same situation and this is extremely different compared to my home country France, but even Germany or even the US where it is not so much local players anymore than global players that are actually running the show.
That's one very specific point for Japan. The second point I want to mention is even if technology is extremely advanced in Japan, Japan is way behind the world in terms of opening to new ways of engaging consumers or new ways of communicating with consumers. |
| N : |
Japan is extremely TV-centric market. When we look at the advertising spending in Japan, it is still very focused to TV media more than anywhere else in the world while at the same time you have 90 plus million keitais in Japan with people every day all the time using them, surfing with them.
You have an amazing network of HighBand internet in all households, so the quality of digital communication is better than anywhere else but the media spending are more conservative than anywhere else. This is quite unique to Japan.
But this is changing and I do believe that actually these two very specific points I am discovering for a year and half here in Japan are actually changing and will even change even faster in the coming months and years.
If we look at 2006, something like an increase of 30% of the media spending in internet in Japan shows that okay, there is a reality behind this shift from the traditional way of advertising to a much more modern, I would say much more personal, much more one-to-one, much more engaging way of brands dealing with their consumers.
Foreign brands, well, they are growing at least in some categories. We do have some clients that are leading their markets. It is a little bit slower because the local players are extremely strong. |
decisive：決断力がある
publication：出版物
media strategy：メディア戦略
（ N: Nicolas, P: Peter ）
| P : |
I guess we have covered some of these topics in a slightly indirect way, how would you like to see the market develop here in Japan? |
| N : |
There is no doubt in my mind that this market will change as anywhere else in the world, both... |
| P : |
It's a very cautious country in a lot of ways but when things do start to change, I found it's very quick and very decisive. |
| N : |
Yes. First there is no doubt in my mind that this country will continue because it started to open up the boundaries to foreign influences. We do know that some of the Japanese people do not want to open too quickly.
But we do know that Japanese young people as any young people around the world are more connected to one another, that internet and all these digital communication tools are opening the world that the products are traveling the world, the news are traveling the world much faster than ever and that the influence of the Japanese consumers will benefit from that, I do believe it is beneficial. |
| P : |
The message could be coming from anywhere...
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| P : |
Okay, are you aware of the Nikkei Weekly? |
| N : |
I am, I receive it and we have a desk where we put all the publications we receive and I have to say it is one of the very rare I can read. |
| N : |
So, and it's of a great help and I do watch TV but on the TV unfortunately I can receive just American and British news, I am thinking of CNN and BBC World of course. I do go online to receive some information about my home country, so I am connecting to the News Online from Paris.
And Nikkei Weekly is the only one that gives me the information about a country where I am living for a year and a half, and it's of a great help for me, it's very fresh, I don't need to read the news everyday so it gives me in a short time all the information I need about my home country now, Japan.
Otherwise I am quite familiar because of the nature of our job with the Nikkei Publications because every time we go see clients we do recommend the Nikkei Publications for our clients in their media strategy. So I know, but unfortunately I cannot really get why it's so successful. I have to trust their figures because I can't read unfortunately the Nikkei Business and so on, so Nikkei Weekly is the only one that gives me a touch with Japan. |
 Dr. David Nunan / President
Anaheim University 
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