The Negotiation

This episode of The Negotiaion is part 2 of our conversation with Jeff Daggett, Founder and CEO of Aisonne. As a refresher, Aisonne is a brand and retail development & management company offering brand, retail, hospitality, and licensing management services and representation in Japan and the United States. Since 2002, Aisonne has assisted a number of big-name retail brands such as Apple, Columbia Sportswear, Nordstrom, Shinjuku Takano, and NBC Universal. Jeff’s background includes over three decades of experience at leading global companies in the Asia-Pacific, specifically in investment banking, real estate, retail operations, merchandising, marketing, and general management.

We continue the conversation by discussing Jeff’s time leading Disney in Japan; growing Baroque Japan Limited; discussing the common mistakes made in Japan by foreign companies; how COVID impacted the Japanese retail market; technology-related trends that will shape Japan over the next decade, and wrap it up talking about Jeff’s personal venture into the world of olive oil as the founder of Green Valley Olive. Enjoy!

Show Notes

Topics Discussed and Key Points:
●      Leading Disney in Japan
●      Growing Baroque Japan Limited
●      Common branding mistakes made in Japan by foreign companies
●      How COVID-19 impacted the Japanese retail market
●      Technology-related trends that will shape commerce in Japan over the next decade
●      About Jeff’s olive oil manufacturer Green Valley Olive
 
Episode Summary:
Today on The Negotiation, we continue our conversation with Jeff Daggett, Founder and CEO of Aisonne, a brand and retail development & management company offering brand, retail, hospitality, and licensing management services and representation in Japan and the United States.
Since 2002, Aisonne has assisted a number of big-name retail brands such as Apple, Columbia Sportswear, Nordstrom, Shinjuku Takano, and NBC Universal.
Jeff’s background includes over three decades of experience at leading global companies in the Asia-Pacific, specifically in investment banking, real estate, retail operations, merchandising, marketing, and general management.
This time, we focus much of our discussion on Jeff’s time as Disney Japan’s Vice President of Consumer Products from 2004 to 2011, followed by two years at Baroque Japan Limited from 2011 to 2013.
Jeff then talks about the major mistakes that foreign brands make in the Japanese market, pulling lessons from his current role as the visionary behind Aisonne, which he founded two decades prior. To him, while localization is an obvious consideration, the common thread that spells success for any company looking to succeed is a focus on effectively telling the story of the brand.
In fact, despite the aging population, Jeff believes that there is a lot of opportunity for foreign brands to establish a strong base in Japan as long as “you have a compelling product that’s attractively displayed and appropriately priced with a good story.”
 
Key Quotes:
“There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ corporate culture. Every corporate culture has evolved to be ‘right’ for that entity.”
 
“Japan is a different place, but what Japan is really looking for is your authenticity.”

What is The Negotiation?

Despite being the world’s most potent economic area, Asia can be one of the most challenging regions to navigate and manage well for foreign brands. However, plenty of positive stories exist and more are emerging every day as brands start to see success in engaging and deploying appropriate market growth strategies – with the help of specialists.

The Negotiation is an interview show that showcases those hard-to-find success stories and chats with the incredible leaders behind them, teasing out the nuances and digging into the details that can make market growth in APAC a winning proposition.