To get OEM contracts from Japanese companies, a project of North American precision equipment manufacturer – Model Case

When trying to get OEM orders from Japanese companies, it is important to understand which segments you should approach, how to tell your products to prospective customers, whether you have potential customers in the Japanese market, and how your competitors are marketing their products in Japan.

This article provides a model case of how we assist non-Japanese companies in their marketing efforts when they try to obtain OEM contracts in the Japanese market.

We assist overseas companies who are trying to obtain OEM contracts from Japanese companies or who are planning to market to the Japanese market. If you need preliminary research or do not know where to start, please contact us. We will be happy to provide you with a simple proposal for your project.

The Case

• A North American precision equipment manufacturer was trying to get OEM contracts from the Japanese market.
• The company had partnerships with Japanese distributors already, but the number of orders were few and the volume of each order was small.
• The company had never received an order directly from a Japanese company.
• They had tried Google listing ads on their own, but due to few experiences & language problems, that hadn’t worked at all.

Step1: Thorough understanding of the client’s business, prospective customers and competitors

A deep understanding of the client’s business, prospective customers in the Japanese market, and competitors would determine the strategies and measures to be taken.

Since we need to grasp the market with high resolution to develop the strategy & measures that are optimal for our client, in this case, we conducted the following research.

Understanding the client’s business

To understand the client company’s products and business model, we conducted interviews with their sales and business departments.
We also conducted a hearing on current marketing efforts and their results.

Understanding prospective customers in the Japanese market

Interviews were conducted with prospective customers to find out who in the company collects information, which channels are used to gather information, and how decisions are made, when purchasing products.

Understanding the Competitors

To understand the competitors in the Japanese market, we have analyzed their websites and promotions to find out which segment they were targeting and which keyword they were using.

Step 2: Strategy development

Strategies were developed based on the information that were obtained in Step1.

In this step we analyze & design the channels to focus on, attributes of prospective customers to target, value proposition of the client company, steps leading up to conversion including specific measures, and marketing structure & schedule.

In this case, the client company’s products were highly specialized, we found that it was not the procurement department but the engineers who actually worked on developing or designing who were gathering information and selecting products for purchase.

Based on the premise above, we have chosen the specific measures.

Lead Acquisition (Online)

• Improvements should have been made to the existing website because the information that the engineers wanted to know needed to be posted on the website in an easy to understand manner.
• We first identify keywords that prospects would search for when looking for information about products and OEMs, and then implement SEO, Google listing ads, LinkedIn ads, etc. based on those keywords.

Lead Acquisition (Offline)

• A brochure dedicated to OEM services needs to be created in Japanese, as prospects need to first become aware and learn about the client’s products and OEM services.
• Placing advertisements in specialized media to gain industry trust in the client’s products and OEM services.

Lead Nurturing

Since it was assumed that most of the lead customers would not make an immediate decision, it was necessary to nurture them over the medium-term span of time. To this end, contents such as case studies of past OEM services and new product introductions should be regularly disseminated through both online and offline channels.

Step 3: Execution of measures

Based on the strategy developed in Step 2, measures were implemented in the following sequence.

• Execution of specific measures
• Review and report on the results of measure execution
• Verification of effectiveness of measures and make improvement

We worked to improve efficiency by utilizing information and points that needed to be enhanced obtained through the execution of specific measures. The results were shared with the client company as regular reviews, and we made change in strategies & plan if necessary

Conclusion

• When companies outside of Japan try to get OEM contracts from Japanese companies, it is very important to thoroughly understand prospective customers and competitors in the Japanese market before conducting marketing.
• Since it was found that, through interviews with prospective customers, it is not the procurement department but on-site engineers who actually gather information and make selections when purchasing products, we conducted marketing with focusing on them.
• Offline lead acquisition is important in addition to online marketing in some cases. For a product like this case, lead nurturing over a medium-term span is also very important.

For overseas companies trying to obtain OEM contracts from Japanese companies, we not only do research on the Japanese market and develop a strategy, but also conduct specific measures on behalf of our clients. If you are considering expanding your OEM service to the Japanese market, please feel free to contact us.