Kentaro Katsube: The Work of Turning 1 into 1,000

2020/09/01

After graduating from university, I joined the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. That same year, the bank collapsed and was nationalized. I decided to change jobs because I wanted to study marketing, which I was interested in, and help rebuild the bank. I was fortunate enough to be hired by Mercedes-Benz Japan, where I learned the basics of marketing and business. Three years later, I heard that the bank was building a new business model targeting mass retail customers, so I returned to the bank. My wish came true, and I was put in charge of all marketing, including mass advertising. We received so much response from customers that the call center was overwhelmed, and hundreds of billions of yen worth of financial products were sold through a single direct mail piece. I experienced the true thrill of marketing, where you can achieve a 1,000-fold effect by taking a single, well-thought-out idea and broadcasting it through the appropriate media.

After that, I moved to UNIQLO, where I was in charge of internet communication. At the time, UNIQLO was in the midst of globalization. When we used the internet to disseminate information—transcending borders and time—we received a massive response from users around the world, and I was able to work on projects that served as a foothold for UNIQLO's global branding.

In 2010, I established Unit One. Through a fortunate connection, I worked with the people at MUJI to develop the "MUJI passport" membership app. It has been used by tens of millions of people in Japan alone, and we were able to create a standard for retail business utilizing apps. Additionally, since 2015, I have been involved in product planning and communication development at BALMUDA, launching high-quality creative work and strong products like kitchen appliances that provide wonderful experiences. Sales, which were 3 billion yen at the time, have now grown to over 10 billion yen.

Except for my first year after graduating from university, I have worked consistently in marketing for over 20 years. Marketing is a proposal from a company to society. It is a technology that can change lives and create new culture when products, creativity, and social responsibility align. In the post-COVID world, as individual lifestyles and mindsets change, I want to consider what kind of happiness the world seeks and what kind of business is truly needed, and continue to engage with society through marketing activities.