Dentsu & First Journal Prompt

Because I didn't have my camera at the first meeting of day 4, I didn't mention anything about it, so I”ll add it here. Dentsu visited our hotel Tuesday morning. We weren't able to go inside their building because of swine flu fears so we met in the Presso Inn conference room. Dentsu is the largest marketing company in all of Japan and also a top marketing company in the world. When foreign companies enter Japan, they often approach Dentsu to help with their marketing campaigns. The most interesting thing I got from this presentation was the difference between what Japanese consumers prefer in a commercial versus western consumers. In the west, consumers identify more with the intrinsic benefit of a product. For example with Coca-Cola, our commercials center on the refreshing taste and flavor of the product. In Japan, consumers will be more interested in a commercial that focuses on the extrinsic benefit of the product and want an emotional bond.

Dr. Borgman also gave us a journal prompt for day 4: “If we could bring anything from Japan what would it be, and if we could suggest anything for Japan from our home country what would it be?” Well the first thing I wish we had in the US is of course the Japanese toilet. Seat warming, bidet, and “flushing sound” all built in make for a very nice restroom experience. I also very much enjoy the culture here. This may not be something you can "bring back" but I am amazed that there are still women who dress in traditional komonos walking around the subways, and the festivals, traditional inns, and shrines are prevalent.

Here in Japan, some of the things I've found lacking that I truly miss are:

• Trash cans on the streets. It is very difficult to find a trash can in public. It makes you wonder how they keep things so clean.
• Toilet paper and a place to wipe your hands. Many public toilets in Japan have no way to dry your hands. One was even completely without toilet paper, and I don't mean it was just out; there was no place for it at all. Thankfully we had tissues on hand.
• Cereal. On man am I every craving a bowl of cereal for breakfast. It's very possible it does exist but we haven't visited any grocery stores so I have had no cereal or milk for 5 days.