Bella Katz on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

As someone who has spent several years living in Tokyo (1997-1999) I always have one eye on what goes on there. As a marketer it is (was) an even more remarkable place to see - the fashion, innovation, luxury, strict adherence to trend groups, kookiness, shopping… Tokyo has always been an especially insightful place to watch.

So it is with great interest, and a little sadness, that I read this latest research from McKinsey Quarterly on how the new Japanese consumer is becoming, well, more like us. I feel a little sad because when I lived there as a young professional new to my career, I loved how extraordinarily different the Japanese consumer lifestyle was from the New Zealand one I had grown up with. The shopping districts were like nothing I had ever seen before, the passion for luxury and labels was eye popping and the immaculate attention to how products and brands could define an individual was nothing short of extraordinary.

I happily allowed myself - and my meager first job wages - to be influenced, even in a comparatively tiny way, to become a more discerning (snobby?) consumer. I may not have bought a $10,000 Louis Vuitton handbag, but I happily and proudly offloaded the bulk on my monthly salary in Marui and discovered fashion labels I’d never laid eyes on in NZ. But change is inevitable and it’s hardly surprising what McKinsey has uncovered.

Some interesting findings from the McKinsey article:

• Sales of relatively affordable private-label foods have increased dramatically, and many consumers, despite small living spaces, are buying in bulk.
• Instead of eating out, people are entertaining at home.
• Change stems not just from the recent downturn but also from deep-seated factors ranging from the digital revolution to the emergence of a less materialistic younger generation.
• Luxury-goods companies are watching a decade of growth disappear, with year-on-year sales declines of 10 to 30 percent.
• They are also deserting department stores in unprecedented numbers, preferring to spend their time in malls and stand-alone specialty shops.
• More than 50 percent of consumers are buying more online than they were just 12 months ago.

Read the full article here: The new Japanese consumer

Bella Katz on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Recently I’ve become a bit obsessed with reading articles from the great marketing minds, old and new. I can pinpoint this down to three specific events that are going on for me right now.

1. My husband is doing his MBA and I’ve had lecturer and subject envy
2. My increased use of Twitter has led me to follow some exceptional people and read excellent articles (and conversely see how much tat it out there masquerading as marketing genius)
3. Working for myself over the last four years has meant I haven’t had a marketing mentor to work with

Banksy - monkey inspiration

For the four years I’ve worked for myself none of the above seemed to matter too much. I even stopped several papers short of completing my marketing Masters because I was fed up at regurgitating the same essay in slightly different ways to essentially the same marketing papers with slightly different titles. Marketing academia and marketing departments felt like they had frozen in time, the case studies were all the same ones from the first edition of the textbooks (Ford, New Coke etc), I felt I could learn a lot more by doing it instead of studying it.

However, a polite distance from marketing departments and a mood of change in the professional world has shaken things up and made them more interesting again. If anything good has come out the recession, for example, it may be that it’s forcing failing companies that had sat back and enjoyed the lucky good times to realise they had no recipe for success. The mediocre achievements of their mediocre execs was pretty much pure fluke.

As a result, I (would like to) believe that Thinking and Learning are making a humble comeback.

There are some true experts out there - individuals and companies - who didn’t get to where they are without constantly learning, applying good judgement and generally being excellent at what they do. Out of the seemingly endless myriad of online information I’ve found a manageable handful of those I admire and I’m going to make reading their articles, watching their presentations and seeing who else they recommend, part of my routine. There’s a lot I can learn from other fields as well as marketing - economics, science, psychology, sales, business etc. My professional resolutions have been made early this year.

Is there anyone you recommend?