Aiming for Japan's Globalization at a Conference Where Japanese is Strictly Forbidden!? ad:tech tokyo international Held

The all-English conference "ad:tech tokyo international" was held on August 23 at Sophia University in Kioicho, Tokyo. As a related event of "ad:tech," Asia's largest international marketing conference, it features all sessions conducted in English, including Japanese speakers. Launched in 2015, it aims to further globalize Japanese marketers and communicate Japan's initiatives overseas.

During the opening, Naoko Tsubaki of VOYAGE GROUP, who calls herself an "ad:tech evangelist," drew laughter with her remark: "Not everyone is good at English. But the important thing is to start. If I hear Japanese, I might punish you, so be careful."

The opening keynote was delivered by Jane Limberden, CEO of Isobar Asia Pacific (pictured), part of Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network. This office has won Campaign Asia's 'Digital Agency of the Year' award four times in the past five years. In the session "Winning in the Digital Economy in China," Limberden described the unique characteristics of China's extremely dynamic market as "Massive," "Agile," and "Dynamic" – or "M.A.D." (suggesting "mad" = beyond the ordinary). She explained that national policy and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese people shape this environment. He elaborated, using rich insights and case studies, how mobile e-commerce and electronic payments, ubiquitous across the entire country, have permeated daily life on a scale exceeding the imagination of many Japanese. He also highlighted how content with a unique cultural identity becomes key in this business. Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of "Brand Commerce," which seamlessly integrates branding and purchasing activities. He also noted that customer-centric innovation will become mainstream, making the utilization of behavioral data crucial. He introduced Isobar's partnership with UnionPay, the world's largest card issuer, enabling marketing based on customer behavior and purchase data.

The subsequent official sessions were divided into three tracks: "Globalization," "Asia/Localization," and "Japan/Localization," each featuring a rich exchange of insights from speakers both domestic and international. Under the theme of global marketing, topics included the characteristics of the Japanese market, differences in overseas marketing approaches, insights for Japanese products challenging the global market, and in the communication domain, programmatic advertising in the Asia-Pacific region and global trends in ad technology, delivering the international flavor characteristic of ad:tech international.

The closing keynote featured a session on "Challenge to Digital Marketing" by Shiseido's CMO Daisuke Otabe and Netyear Group CEO Futsuyo Ishiguro.