Introduction
In Tokyo, the core branding strategy at the moment is the process of turning the whole city into a symbol of responsible tourism and smart resource allocation. The city’s administration intends to send a message to everyone and have locals and tourists understand the underlying importance of Tokyo’s looks and available spots of interest (Duignan, 2021). It is a beneficial strategy because it allows the government to cooperate with private organizations and convey the idea that Tokyo is for the people. Such a creative decision led to Tokyo becoming a brand ambassador and a worldwide known city where technology and culture intertwine in unique ways (Kwak et al., 2020; Roman and Bury, 2022). The key advantage of this approach is enhanced domestic awareness of people’s needs, while the fundamental disadvantage is an excessive focus on resources.
Overview of Social Media Marketing
Speaking of social media usage, the most popular social media platform that can be utilized for various types of advertising is LINE. With more than half of Japanese Internet users having LINE installed on their devices, it can be safe to say that there is no relevant competition in the region (Duignan and Pappalepore, 2021; Nguyen, Esteban, and Onuki, 2019). Outside of LINE, the three most popular social media services are Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. It shows how people in Tokyo love to interact with businesses while remaining relatively shy regarding their relations with others. It is vital to remember that the rate of engagement in Tokyo does not necessarily equal consumer interest because Japanese users rarely display any significant activity related to an advertisement (Duignan, Everett, and McCabe, 2022). The key finding to remember is that 98.5% of Tokyo Facebook users access the application via mobile devices.
Evaluation of Marketing Strategies
To evaluate social media branding strategies, it is vital to learn consumers’ strong points and make informed decisions related to marketing efforts. Thus, the overall focus has to be reviewed to understand if targeting is flexible enough and what is the intended structure of the given approaches (Mason, Narcum, and Mason, 2021). In other words, many marketers tend to look at the whole country when coming up with an effective strategy to attract new consumers and appeal to tourists. Even with an open mind, marketers may fail to share updates on time or release sponsored merchandise (Lund, Cohen, and Scarles, 2018). In this case, real-time adjustments will have to be made to social media content, as these platforms can engage people of any age and reach beyond Tokyo, even if the outcomes can be unexpected.
Potential Improvements
Marketing inconsistency and the lack of reach could negatively affect tourism because many businesses and top-tier managers in Tokyo are fixated on reputation. Without brand credibility and social proof, there is no reason for a business to launch its products and services in Tokyo because locals take this issue rather seriously (Cheung et al., 2021). To demonstrate commitment to local ideals and establish a trusted presence in the media, businesses have to side with the ideals of collectivism. The latter can be utilized to shape end-user decisions while also prioritizing the inherent focus on Japanese culturalism (Berger and Berger, 2019). This bandwagon approach can help marketers achieve massive support from local customers and popularize it among tourists as well.
References
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Cheung, M. L. et al. (2021) ‘Examining the role of social media-based destination brand community in evoking tourists’ emotions and intention to co-create and visit’, Journal of Product & Brand Management, 30(1), 28-43.
Duignan, M. B. (2021) ‘Leveraging Tokyo 2020 to re-image Japan and the Olympic city, post-Fukushima’, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 19, 100486.
Duignan, M. B. and Pappalepore, I. (2021) ‘How do Olympic cities strategically leverage new urban tourism? Evidence from Tokyo’, Tourism Geographies, 1-25.
Duignan, M. B., Everett, S. and McCabe, S. (2022) ‘Events as catalysts for communal resistance to overtourism’, Annals of Tourism Research, 96, 103438.
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Roman, M. and Bury, K. (2022) ‘The tourist attractiveness of Tokyo in the opinion of surveyed tourists’, Tourism and Hospitality, 3(1), 184-209.