All Articles
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- Blog
・ July 10, 2026
Why foreign cybersecurity brands keep losing Japan’s open market
Japan’s cybersecurity market is open, but fear-based pitches keep failing. Here’s why winning foreign brands lead with trust, not threat data.
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- Blog
・ June 25, 2026
Japan wasn’t behind. B2B buyers just caught up
For 20 years, global CMOs called Japan’s B2B buying process slow. They cited anonymous research, committee decisions and vendor-skeptical buyers who’d already made up their minds before sales got involved. Turns out, that process is now the norm in every market.
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- News
・ June 23, 2026
Custom Media’s AIM B2B Launches South Korea Office to Support Growing Demand for Market Entry and Expansion
Tokyo-based B2B agency strengthens its presence in Seoul to help global companies accelerate growth in the region.
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- Podcast
・ June 18, 2026
Episode 12 – Marketing Transformation in the AI Era: Storytelling, Trust, and Leadership with Dr. Laura Bonamici
Asia AIM Podcast Episode 12 – Dr. Laura Bonamici on why marketing must lead enterprise transformation, how storytelling beats AI noise, and why radical curiosity is the skill of 2026.
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- Blog
・ June 11, 2026
Understanding Japan’s Energy Transition: A Guide for New Entrants
Japan’s energy market is opening, but navigating Japan energy policy, renewable energy Japan investment, and regulatory complexity requires more than capital. Here’s what new entrants need to know.
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- Blog
・ May 22, 2026
Japan’s $385bn M&A Boom: B2B Marketing’s Biggest Blind Spot
Last year, Japan recorded $385.9bn in M&A activity – the highest since records began in 1998. That’s hundreds of companies facing new ownership, repositioned brands, and stakeholders whose trust is suddenly in question. The marketing industry should be in the room for every one of those deals. It isn’t. That’s the biggest missed B2B opportunity in APAC right now.
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- Podcast
・ May 19, 2026
Episode 11 – Japan’s Talent “Epidemic” (and How to Fix It), with Dr. David Sweet
Japan’s talent shortage is not a pipeline problem. It is, in David Sweet’s own words, an epidemic, and most foreign companies are making it worse by using the wrong tools and hiring for the wrong things. In Episode 11 of the Asia AIM Podcast, host Robert Heldt speaks with Dr. David Sweet, founder and CEO of FocusCore Group. With nearly three decades in Tokyo executive search, David explains why LinkedIn is a mirage, why authority matters more than salary at the C-suite level and what every expat leader should do on day one in Japan.
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- Blog
・ May 11, 2026
Agility of Independents. Strength of a Global Network.
Four years ago, six of us had sat in a room at the Hotel Indigo in Bali, talking about what this network could become. The ambition wasn’t growth for its own sake. It was the right combination of independent agencies, willing to learn from each other, challenge each other and grow together. Returning this April, that ambition felt more real. Twenty-five of us, 12 agencies across the region. Humbling, but also a sign of something bigger happening in our industry. This is the era of the independent agency.
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- Blog
・ May 1, 2026
The SaaS Source: April 2026
April 2026’s Japan SaaS roundup covers a Series A for a satellite data platform backed by NTT Docomo and JR East, a scholarship management SaaS closing its Series B, a Niigata-based 3D decision-support platform raising its first-ever outside capital, and construction SaaS giant rolling out AI agents across its platform.
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- Blog
・ April 28, 2026
Cybersecurity Compliance for Foreign Firms Entering Japan
Entering Japan’s market means navigating a patchwork of cybersecurity laws, from the far-reaching APPI to sector-specific ESPA requirements. Unlike the US or EU, Japan has no single overarching framework, making compliance both nuanced and critical. For foreign firms, getting it right isn’t just a legal obligation. It’s the foundation of trust in one of the world’s most reputation-driven business environments.
