Cultural Brand Strategist: Managing expectations across borders. Bridging the gap between Western brand identity and Japanese cultural reality, backed by three decades of technical, creative, and marketing leadership.
My first SEMA Show, the automotive aftermarket’s premier trade-only convention held annually during the first week of November at the Las Vegas Convention Center, was in 1994, and it was a total sausagefest, cuz can't dudes have a hobby? For me, it turned into a career. Also, one assumption I want to get out of … Continue reading A Three-Decade Sausagefest of Car Dudes and Fanboys
Dave Chappelle grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland (which was roughly 77% White), while commuting into Washington, D.C., to attend the Duke Ellington School of the Arts (where the student body was about 85% to 90% Black). That background enabled him to act as a cultural bridge between two worlds. A similar dynamic applies to … Continue reading From White Bread to the Asian Buffet
I have summed up what the objective of the woke narrative is: you always root and side with the underdog. That's simply, and unfortunately, it. Nothing deeper than that. This is obviously a contentious topic. Under this framework, no matter the facts or the massive amount of hypocrisy and contradictions within it, the only objective … Continue reading Cultural Critique: How the Woke Narrative Colonizes Japanese Culture
Brand Audit: The Bastardization of “Ramen” in the U.S. Market — How American Producers Have Turned a Protected Japanese Noodle into Generic Instant Noodles ObjectiveIndependent assessment of the misuse of the term “ramen” in the U.S. food industry, identifying how non-Japanese producers have diluted its cultural and technical meaning, resulting in lost equity for authentic … Continue reading Brand Audit: The Bastardization of “Ramen” in the U.S. Market