TMCnet News
Businesses, academia launch campaign to heighten Japan's brand image+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, Jan. 28_(Kyodo) _ Leading businesses including Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. as well as universities and designers launched a three-year campaign Saturday to heighten Japan's brand image based on its traditional culture. A total of 48 companies, seven schools, 11 industrial groups and 20 individuals set up a council to promote the campaign under the slogan of "Japanesque modern." The initiative is aimed at boosting the nation's competitiveness by creating new products and digital and cultural contents that would incorporate Japan's traditional culture and craftsmanship and also meet the needs of contemporary society, council members said. Matsushita Electric President Kunio Nakamura heads the council, while Masayuki Nakai, a Toyota Motor executive, serves as a deputy chief. Ad agencies Dentsu Inc. and Hakuhodo Inc., cosmetics maker Shiseido Co., television broadcasters, filmmakers, department stores, trading houses and airlines are among members of the body. "In fierce global competition, only the world's finest things can survive," Nakamura said at the inauguration ceremony of the council. "We will incorporate Japan's traditional symbiosis with nature and craftsmanship in creating new products and services and spread the Japan brand." Shinji Fukukawa, who serves as the council adviser, also pointed out that the focus of global industrial competition has been shifting from price and quality to brand power and that it is imperative to establish the Japan brand and disseminate it to the world. During the three-year period, the council will select 100 items representing the Japanesque modern concept, hold festivals to promote the campaign in Japan and abroad and help companies create new products and digital and cultural contents, the members said. Nakamura said Matsushita Electric is willing to collaborate with council member companies and individuals to produce new items under the campaign. His company's power-saving plasma display panel television could be marketed as a product representing the concept, he added. British Ambassador to Japan Graham Fry said Britain had introduced a similar campaign in the late 1990s nicknamed "Cool Britannia" under the initiative of Prime Minister Tony Blair. It was to some extent successful as an industrial promotion policy, he added. South Korea has also been implementing a similar campaign to improve its national brand image. The council was established after an advisory panel at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry indicated the need to launch such a campaign in its report last July. METI, the Foreign Ministry, the Cultural Affairs Agency, and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry are observers of the council. |