The Negotiation

In this episode of The Negotiation, we welcome back Charles Lavoie to talk about creativity and its role in APAC marketing. Charles is the VP of Creative & Head of Creative Labs at WPIC Marketing & Technologies.  Over the course of the conversation, Charles shares insights on how technology is transforming the creative space in APAC and illuminates why it is critical for brands to lean into creative marketing if they hope to drive growth in the region. He talks about how brands and marketers can harness the significant evolutions in digital platforms and digital commerce in Asia today to improve their creativity, marketing and, ultimately, sales performance. In particular, he gives pointers that help brands learn how to leverage social media and social commerce on platforms like Douyin for product discovery, brand affinity and awareness, and conversions.  Enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• Charle’s background. 
• The importance of creativity in APAC for all brands.
• The democratization of content creation.
• How technology is transforming the creative environment in the APAC region.
• Social commerce strategy and best practices.
• The adoption of e-commerce live streams globally.
• Gamification of the purchasing experience.
• Between traditional and social commerce, which is stronger?
• Consumer product discovery shifts.

In recent years, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with countries such as China, India and Japan leading the way. They have been developing businesses quickly by deploying new technologies and building massive startup ecosystems. As a result, VCs in this region is witnessing huge opportunities for growing companies. The number of startups in APAC is increasing rapidly, presenting massive opportunities for consumers, businesses, and capital allocators. 

This episode of The Negotiation is part 2 of our conversation with William Bao Bean. William is a General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director of Orbit Startups. Orbit Startups helps companies scale breakthrough technologies across emerging and frontier markets- the regions with the strongest growth potential. William is a senior advisor at SOSV and has been a pioneer in the tech and telecommunications space in Asia. During his time with SoftBank China & India Holdings, he led investments in companies such as Yodo1, DemystData, Lekan, and Massive Impact. 

In this insightful episode, William shares his insights on what is happening in the APAC region. He talks about the current, turbulent waters in the private, crypto and public markets, and discusses why it is essential to identify a startup's unfair advantage in today’s landscape. He also discusses his view of M&A activity in Asia over the coming years and explains why there is a flood of capital coming to the region. Enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• Turbulent waters in the APAC region for the private, crypto, and public markets as we head into 2022
• Identifying a startup's unfair advantage and why it matters
• M&A activity in Asia over the next few years
• Why is there a flood of capital coming to Southeast Asia?
• Maintaining a "startup attitude" is important when entering new markets.
• How technology has been used in the USA, specifically artificial intelligence, to bring about major changes
• How there are fewer barriers to starting a business in China thanks to technology
• Demographic changes in China and Southeast Asia and the opportunity for start-ups in the region.

Over the past decade, businesses have witnessed an incredible evolution in how people communicate. Along with this shift came innovations and technologies that changed the way we interact with one another, not least in business. Where communication was once centered around traditional means such as face-to-face meetings or phone calls, it is now increasingly driven by technology such as email, text messages and video conferencing. This has given rise to new social practices, enabling us to carry out some tasks faster. In fact, many businesses would struggle without modern technology for core functions such as recruiting new staff and managing customer enquiries.

This episode of The Negotiation is a return to the show for William Bao Bean. William is a General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director of Orbit Startups. Orbit Startups helps companies scale breakthrough technologies across emerging and frontier markets to the regions with the most aggressive growth. William is a senior advisor at SOSV who has been a pioneer in the tech and telecommunications space in Asia. During his time with SoftBank China & India Holdings, he led investments in companies such as Yodo1, DemystData, Lekan, and Massive Impact. He was also an equity research analyst at Deutsche Bank covering the Internet and Telecom Equipment sector in Asia for 11 years before joining Innov8 Ventures as Managing Director where he focused on supporting China investments.

William discusses his work as a venture investor, what he did during the pandemic (and how COVID impacted his activities), and what defines successful startups in Asia. He also unravels some of the brilliance during accelerator programs, describes why founder characteristics may predict success, and what distinguishes teams he works with from those outside Asia in their approach to building a startup or portfolio company. Enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• A brief description of Orbit startups' activities.
• Consumer internet became widely used during the COVID period.
• The discipline of designing and running experiments
• How to drive engagement and value over a screen or through the power of voice.
• William's startup activities and how COVID must have affected them.
• Some of the brilliance that happens during accelerator programs.
• What you need to do a startup revolution in the USA.
• Communication is vital for international startups
• The culture of experimenting in Asia is pretty strong. 
• Japan as a market is generally focused on Japan. 
• Potentially predictive factors for startup success in Asia.

The recent unprecedented growth of Chinese brands, most of them being start-ups, has become one of the hottest topics in business and marketing. The growth of Chinese brands is starkly contrasting when compared with other global categories such as western brands in China. There is no doubt that China is one of the most exciting markets in the world. The sheer size and number of people living there make it very difficult for a foreign company to enter. For domestic brands, it's even harder to compete with their sophisticated and vast technological and geographical advantages. But all this is changing fast and we are seeing more Chinese companies making inroads into other countries and regions. One of the biggest trends we are seeing at the moment is how they are transforming themselves from traditional Chinese brands into global players by leveraging their knowledge, technology and scale to penetrate new markets like the west.

This episode of The Negotiation is the second part of our conversation with Louis Houdart, Founder of Creative Capital. He is also an entrepreneur, business and investment coach, board member, and advisor to many start-up companies. The Creative Capital China team has worked with European companies in China as well as pushing little-known brands in Western markets. By establishing pre-eminent international brand awareness and strong brand relationships, Creative Capital is one of the only firms in China that focuses on widening awareness of Chinese companies beyond their home market.

In today's episode, Louis shares insights on how the world is truly changing from a geographical and category angle when it comes to Chinese brands, especially in the West. He highlights why better-positioned product categories are necessary for Chinese brands to succeed in the west. The podcast also explores brand loyalty, The relationship between the success of Western brands in China and Chinese brands' increasing competency over the whole product life cycle is also explored in detail. Why are Chinese brands successful in places where it is least expected in the world like Indonesia? Louis also discusses the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem in China, among other topics. Enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• How the world is truly changing from a geographical and category angle when it comes to Chinese brands, especially in the West.
• Chinese brand perception.
• Louis’ updated viewpoint on brand loyalty.
• What lessons should the West take away from the East and China?
• Why better-positioned product categories are necessary for Chinese brands to succeed in the west.
• The relationship between the success of Western brands in China and Chinese brands' increasing competency over the whole product lifecycle.
• Why Chinese brands are successful in places where it is least expected in the world like Indonesia.
• Chinese startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Chinese entrepreneurs make sacrifices that the West is renowned to indulge in and enjoy.
• Why are Chinese consumers so demanding and what drives them to be so?

The truth is there’s a lot more to China than just Alibaba. Getting your business in China can be a challenge. It is not like other countries where you can open up a shop around the corner, with time and patience. In order to enter the China market, you need to get your branding right. The Chinese market has been very competitive and difficult for giants like Apple, Google and Samsung to penetrate. Many brands are getting it wrong because their marketing strategies are not focused on the Chinese customer. Getting your branding right before entering a new market can make all the difference.

This episode of The Negotiation is part 1 with Louis Houdart, Founder of CREATIVE CAPITAL, Entrepreneur, Business and Investment Coach, Board Member and Advisor to many start-up companies. The Creative Capital China team has worked with European companies in China and pushed little-known brands into Western markets. By establishing pre-eminent international brand awareness and strong brand relationships, Creative Capital is one of the only firms in China that focuses on widening awareness of Chinese companies beyond their home market.

In this thought-provoking and engaging episode, Louis Houdart shares his story about how he founded Creative Capital, what Chinese culture means to him, and how he got rid of "The Secret Garden." Also covered are the importance of strong concepts, branding in China, why Creative Capital is relevant and why we should care when it comes to brands being successful and much more!

Please enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• Secret Garden and how Louis got rid of it.
• How Creative Capital was founded and what they do. 
• Why Louis found the wedding business to be both amazing and nightmarish.
• Why Creative Capital was relevant in China.
• The significance of a brand's concept strength.
• The meaning of creativity in China and Europe, as well as the nuances surrounding it.
• The lazy economy and what it entails.
• Glamping and the rise of Frisbee.

Notable Quotes

“So, we were in 2006 in Shanghai and China was changing both in terms of the way consumers were consuming and also in the way brands were developing in China and saw a market opportunity in the retail of flowers.”

“In terms of a top line, it was an interesting business. In terms of the operation, it was a total nightmare for me for many different reasons..”

“In France, it's very easy to get bank financing as a small entrepreneur in China, I mean, you are definitely on your own.”

“The steward of Creative Capital is very much of course linked to a history of secret Garden; I think it's also very much linked to the way China intrapreneurship has been developing. So being a very fluid thing, I had this beautiful little secret gallery business. It was very painful to operate but still an interesting small business.”

“China is not a place where you come with a small amount of money when you want to play on the Commerce part.”

“Most of the branding agencies in Europe in the US are not really there to create brands, they are there to fine-tune an existing concept, which often is fairly good.”

“If you try to be perfect, the market is already gone and your competitors have taken your spot. So, we were trying to be maybe not 100% Perfect, but being like 85% or 90% fair but in a very, very, very quick period of time. So, the concept would have taken two years in Europe, we are delivering them in four to five months.”

“In the past, I've seen so much creativity in China in solving problems, turning the wrong puzzles and resulting in solving them. I think there's definitely a lot of creativity, so much creativity in China going on.”

The APAC region is witnessing the most exciting innovation of recent times. Technology platforms and disruptive business models are entering industries traditionally dominated by incumbents. Traditional business practices are being challenged and disruptors are leading the way. In the coming years, the digital economy in APAC will continue to expand at a faster rate than in any other region. The adoption by private institutions of technology and innovation is no longer an option for every entrepreneur, but an opportunity for every entrepreneur. The capacity for startups to address market failures and create new value is growing exponentially. 

This episode of The Negotiation is part 2 with Akio Tanaka, Co-Founder and Partner at Headline VC. Headline VC is a technology-focused venture capital firm that sees the world’s future through the lens of exponential technologies. The aim of Headline is to identify, fund, and partner with companies who are building these new products and services—and to make them more accessible to mainstream consumers. Akio has over 20 years of technology experience. He served as the Senior Director & CTO at Macromedia Japan; in 2005, he spent less than a year as the Vice-president and technology advisor to the CEO at Macromedia Inc.; since June 2008 he has been the Co-founder and Managing Partner at Infinity Venture Partners. Akio Tanaka is one of the most influential investors in Japan and has been known to be passionately committed to the local ecosystem.

Incredible insight into the investing landscape in Asia with Akio Tanaka. He gives us his thoughts on the investment landscape and what drives success, discusses the characteristics he looks for when evaluating founders and startups, shares unique insights into the failure of startups there and how they address it and talks about private and public markets, Blockchain gaming and cryptocurrency - one of the biggest opportunities we've seen in years. You don't want to miss this episode!

Let’s delve in!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• How investment in internet/software eliminates the physical limitations of traditional businesses. 
• Why business guarantees were detrimental to the growth of the start-up culture in Japan.
• The emergence of female founders in Japan.
• The structure of investment deals in Asia.
• Why it’s better to have multiple co-founders with significant equity stakes on the cap table.
• Headline’s increased investment in blockchain gaming.
• How traditional gaming concepts are becoming applicable to modern blockchain technology.
• What is going to make crypto a mass phenomenon instead of a playground for a minority of Internet users?
• Institutional barriers to expansion in Asia compared to Europe.

Entrepreneurship in Japan fits the definition of the word ‘entrepreneur’. Japanese culture is one that can be described as ‘wabi-Sabi’, which literally means "frugal, simple, and expressed in a refined way’. Entrepreneurship is a newly emerging culture in Japan. The gap between the traditional business and the new generation of start-up companies is widening. A small number of entrepreneurs in Japan have gained attention and investment by large enterprises through focusing on innovation, expansion and improvement in the quality of business operations. Japan, not unlike China, has a very unique startup ecosystem, due to its somewhat homogenous society and unique ways of doing business, something not easily understood upon market entry.

Today on The Negotiation, we have Akio Tanaka, Co-Founder and Partner at Headline VC. Headline VC is a technology-focused venture capital firm that sees the world’s future through the lens of exponential technologies. The aim of Headline is to identify, fund, and partner with companies who are building these new products and services—and to make them more accessible to mainstream consumers. Akio has over 20 years of technology experience. He served as the Senior Director & CTO at Macromedia Japan; in 2005, he spent less than a year as the Vice-president and technology advisor to the CEO at Macromedia Inc.; since June 2008 he has been the Co-founder and Managing Partner at Infinity Venture Partners. Akio Tanaka is one of the most influential investors in Japan and has been known to be passionately committed to the local ecosystem.

Akio Tanaka talks about his own professional backyard and walks us through his investment methodology with some examples of the companies he likes to invest in and why. He also talks about his own startup background and the acquisition by Adobe, along with some insights on the Japanese entrepreneurial ecosystem, and some conversational dabbling into personal-interest verticals like ski equipment-on-demand services and self-storage in Japan, among other exciting topics. Enjoy!

Please enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• How Adobe was created.
• Why geeks can create far bigger companies than salespeople.
• Who performs better, technical founders or non-technical founders?
• The story of  Freee the Cloud-based accounting company and why it was created.
• Why an entrepreneurial society in Japan was started.
• Headline VC and their early-stage investments.
• The beginning of the entrepreneurial culture in Japan.
• Lessons learned from Groupon in Japan.

The future of omnichannel retail in Asia is inspiring. With the barriers to omnichannel integration falling, consumers are more comfortable switching channels and purchasing goods online, while retailers are evolving beyond physical retail stores to become full-service providers of products, services and experiences.

Today on The Negotiation, we continue our conversation with Patrick Deloy, who is a Managing Director at Merkle, an award-winning e-commerce solutions provider which supports medium to large B2C and B2B companies with the planning, development, localization and long-term support of multi-country e-commerce website deployments in the APAC region. 

Patrick’s insights on the future of omnichannel retail in Asia and beyond are a must-listen for all retailers, e-commerce businesses and product owners. He shares his thoughts from the perspective of both a storeowner and an e-commerce entrepreneur trying to figure out how online and offline retail will coexist in the future.

Please enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points: 

• The merging of omnichannel retail consumers in Asia and the metaverse.
• Prominent trends following COVID's emergence.
• How curbside pickup became popular.
• Why there's still plenty of room for growth in omnichannel retail in Asia.
• The fractured ecosystem across APAC.
• The concept of total commerce
• The partner ecosystem and why it is critical
• Why customer experience is everything and how to enable superior customer experience.
• The future of offline retail and what customers expect from offline retail.

Notable Quotes

“A lot of people, you know, had an interest in the metaverse, even though they did not know what it really was.”

“South Korea itself is not, you know, a huge country, but it's one of the largest, you know, crypto markets.”

“The response, obviously, to the emergence of COVID in countries across APAC has been very varied.”

“There’s still a big pool of, you know, consumers that have not, you know, done a lot of, you know, online commerce transactions, yet, you know, have not ordered a lot on DTC channels online.”

“Consumers will more and more expect that whatever they do offline is reflected online, whatever they do online is recognized offline.”

“Asian markets have become so important for most international brands that they know, you know, they can't screw it up, right, they have to get it right.”

“There has to be a layer of, you know, centralization, and, you know, enough room for localization as well.”

“Well for us Customer Experience is everything, really, the way we look at it, really only a superior customer experience will make consumers real and loyal advocates for the brand. So only, you know, superior customer experience can help brands as well to outgrow their competition.”

APAC has been a hotbed of e-commerce innovation for some time, with companies like Alibaba, Amazon, and Tencent leading the way. But where does this leave traditional retailers? And what's next for the omnichannel retail ecosystem and environment?

In today's episode of  The Negotiation Podcast, we are joined by Patrick Deloy. Patrick is  Managing Director at Merkle, an award-winning e-commerce solutions provider which supports medium to large B2C and B2B companies with the planning, development, localization and long-term support of multi-country e-commerce website deployments in the APAC region.

Patrick talks about his journey from a DTC entrepreneur to becoming one of the top experts in APAC. He talks about what he does, where he is physically located, and how he entered into e-commerce and became the DTC expert he is today. Patrick also shares some insight on what omnichannel ecosystems are and the environment today in the APAC region!

Here are key things to listen out for: 

1. Patrick's entrepreneurial journey into eCommerce.
2. About the Dentsu group.
3. How the whole eCommerce landscape and consumer expectations are evolving across all the markets in APAC.
4. The development of omnichannel retail over the past few years in the APAC region.
5. Companies with the highest eCommerce growth and what has held these companies back when it came to omnichannel retail.
6. How COVID propagated consumer habitual change.

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

●      Being a news anchor for CNN Japan

●      How foreigners can partner with Japanese companies or government entities

●      Managing influencer marketing for 3Minute

●      Best practices for entering the Japanese market

●      The future of marketing in Japan

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we continue our conversation with Chuk Besher, Executive Producer at 3Minute, the digital media arm of GREE, a Japanese internet media company that provides mobile social networking and mobile technology services.

A content marketing specialist, Chuk’s clients range from the luxury, hospitality, fashion, and pharmaceutical industries. He leads the production of a variety of branded content for these companies, from events to video storytelling to advertising.

In 1997, courtesy of his father’s encouragement, Chuk had the opportunity to be a news anchor at CNN in Tokyo for its budding Japanese language broadcast section. He talks about his first-ever experience being in front of the camera and how he found success in his brief role by learning to connect to audiences via imagination.

From 2006 to 2007, Chuk served as the Japan Director for The Asia Foundation, where he developed partnerships within both the public and private sectors to engage in dialogue regarding international affairs, ODA, national security, and Corporate Social Responsibility. He discusses the best approach to developing relationships with Japanese companies and government entities as a foreigner.

Chuk breaks down his current role and the most memorable campaigns he has worked on so far as Executive Producer for 3Minute, a media and influencer marketing company focusing primarily on young female consumers in Japan.

Finally, Chuk gives his best advice to those who are looking to enter the Japanese market in a post-COVID world. He says that cultural insight is foundational, as well as a commitment to patience since, as with other foreign markets, establishing roots in the country takes time.

Key Quotes:

“Whatever you are trying to communicate, it’s important to imagine how other people are seeing it and to put it in context around what is the best way to reach them. You have to make sure that the story isn’t meaningless, but that it resonates with them.”

“Whether you’re partnering with a government agency or a corporate entity on a project because you need the funding or a venue, you have to think in terms of what the benefit is to them.”