Hakuhodo has Sei-katsu-sha Insight as its philosophy.

I work to realize Sei-katsu-sha Insight in ASEAN and exploit it in business.

Marketing ideas are born from having a good understanding of consumers as individuals. Having a good understanding of sei-katsu-sha means understanding their true desires and challenges. This makes coming up with ideas to solve their challenges easier.

However, you can’t find sei-katsu-sha’s true desires and challenges just by asking them what they are. Rather than asking questions at a group interview, going to sei-katsu-sha’s homes to closely observe their behavior is the shortcut to discovering their desires and challenges. This is because “what they did” reveals the truth better than “what they said.”

Turning this kind of understanding of sei-katsu-sha behavior into marketing ideas to provide value to clients is, I think, unique to Hakuhodo.

At the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living ASEAN we have so far conducted sei-katsu-sha research into such topics as gender equality, ASEAN millennials and the new ASEAN middle class, each of which has drawn attention in ASEAN. This research informs the solutions we propose to address our clients’ challenges.

It might look like a roundabout approach, but it is in fact a shortcut to increasing the chance of marketing success.

Roles and titles current when this article was published in December 2018.