Full Set of Services

Integrated communications… Everybody's talking about it. We have a special right to claim it.

Few of our clients are one-service-only; in most cases, we provide true integrated communications, an incorporation of marketing strategies, content, and interactive services.

We also are increasingly providing foreign companies thinking about entering the Japanese market with research, strategy and communication production.

• Advertising
• Branding and corporate identity
• Brochures and annual reports
• Custom publishing
• Editorial
• Event planning
• Internal communication
• Market research and surveys
• Package design
• PR and media relations
• Translations and localizations
• Video production
• Website design and development
• Social media strategy

Customer Magazines and Newsletters

The company's focus in its early days was on custom publishing—corporate magazines and newsletters—largely for Scandinavian companies operating in Japan.

We have since expanded into many other fields, but content with a strong, journalistically-driven editorial style is still an important part of our offering. For example, we have produced Volvo's Japanese owners' magazine, as well as Scandinavian Airlines' in-flight magazine in Japanese.

Corporate magazines and newsletters are some of the most effective marketing tools when communicating complicated information. They build the brand, and create and support an ongoing relationship with prospects and customers throughout the purchase cycle. They are cost effective: research shows that readers spend an average of 30 to 40 minutes with a customer magazine.

The power of corporate magazines and newsletters come from their credibility, and the trust of readers. Both are a result of editorial consistency and well-established editorial standards. Time is also a factor; magazines and newsletters need exposure over time to become well-established and fully effective.

Next Inc. has more than 25 years of experience in the publishing of corporate magazines and newsletters in Japan, targeted both to outside markets and within corporations, both in print and online. Our editors and designers have extensive experience in publishing and journalism, both in Japan and internationally.

Communications for Japanese B2B Markets

Changing a supplier requires strong nerves—and some very good reasons for the decision. Not only are vital economical or technical interests at stake, but often an individual's career. This makes a strong brand increasingly important in business-to-business markets.

The complexity of today's products and services makes it impossible for the buyer to evaluate all aspects of them. The more complex, the less logical and more intuitive decisions become. "When the economic risks are high, as in investment decisions, a person's choice among different options will often be irrational and unpredictable," says Maurice Allais, 1988 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics.

A strong brand supports the buyer when making risky and complicated choices. It offers a long-term promise of quality and competence, the promise of superior services, and a guarantee that the manufacturer will continue to stand behind the product in the future.

Next Inc. has 25 years of experience in working with world-leading companies in Japan. We provide integrated advertising and communication solutions for business markets. We deliver messages that help build your brand, and make it easy for your customers to buy from you.

You are so fired, Henry!
Read our new ad about the secrets of B2B branding (PDF) >>>

Translation is not Communication

Too much of the material localized for Japan is simply bad, even though the source material is often very high quality. It doesn’t have to be like this.

Next Inc. is not a translation company. We often work with translated material, but the actual translation is always outsourced to professional translators.

This is our basic policy, and the way we look at our work:

• A translator's job is to accurately render one language into another.
• Our job is to then take that material and transform it into a text that communicates effectively with the reader.

Next Inc. employs professional Japanese editors/copywriters and native English language writers/editors. All our editors have substantial experience in working with translated material.

Rewriting is the key. We believe that professional editing—even complete rewriting—of translated texts is necessary for good communication. The editor will work to understand the product/service, and the target audience, in a way the translator cannot.

Get Your Message Across
The art of effectively “trans-creating” foreign-source communication materials for the Japanese reader (PDF) >>>