Business of Creativity: Japan and South Korea

Wrapping it up

Wow – it’s shocking to think that I have less than a month left of business school.  It has been a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs and a little bit of nausea (mainly because of some street dumplings I had in Shanghai).  Among the best of my Sloan experiences were the treks and tours I went on; these were the moments I will remember and treasure. 

1) A chance to learn:

Before this trip, I thought “the creativity business” meant the entertainment industry: a collection of artists, agents, coders, and business people who enable my bad habits (think Tetris-style apps and indie pop music).  I am really glad that we used this course to also study “creativity IN business” – we acknowledged that even the most tedious of tasks benefit from innovation.  Those managers who can lead an engaging brainstorm or those consultants who can help their clients see a new vision are using creativity on a daily basis.  Happy news for me is that these skills can be learned and developed, and companies like BCG are studying the ways to teach us how.

2) A chance to explore:

In just over a year, I’ve visited about 9 cities in 5 Asian countries – a part of the world I had never been to before Sloan.  In Singapore, I saw an island country with no natural resources become a global hub for water innovation.  In China, I discovered a passion for decoding hanzi (characters), and was able to translate words I didn’t know how to pronounce in Mandarin.  In Hong Kong, I studied the growing Asian luxury market – and contrasted it with the small markets in the city’s “ladder streets.”  In Korea, I saw a changing business climate that is rethinking everything from mobile apps to credit cards. And finally, I loved Japan: heated toilet seats (I know a number of my classmates have blogged about these!), magical photo booths, unbelievably generous people, stunning temples, and crazy themed bars… what a whirlwind.  These trips have been an incredible opportunity to begin exploring a continent I haven’t nearly gotten my fill of.

3) A chance to meet new people:

This may be an obvious part of business school life, but for a married gal living off campus, the opportunities to connect with other students (especially first years) are not as common as you might think.  These trips gave me the chance to get to know some of the 2011s, 2012s, and 2013s I will be friends with long after graduation.  (To illustrate this point, I’ll say that the best part of coming back to school after the trip was the constant hugging and high-fiving every time study tour folks met in the halls.) 

Any incoming MBA student should be excited about what is to come – opportunities, friendship, possibly a new career path.  But the best piece of advice I got during orientation was to take every chance to travel with classmates, even if it meant taking on an extra class or TAing to make some extra money (I did both!).  I can’t thank the organizers enough for setting up such a fabulous experience!

The best of Dentsu

Last time I spoke about one of my favorite companies we visited in Korea, so it is only fair that I now discuss one of my favorite Japanese companies: Dentsu.  This company, a powerhouse in Japan and one of the largest ad agencies in the world, really rolled out the red carpet for us.  We got a tour of the building (with a stunning view of the bay), a presentation on pop sensation AKB48, and best of all, a presentation on TV advertising that directly ties in with the Consumer Behavior course I am taking this term at Sloan.

This presentation was one of my favorites of the whole tour, in which a highly respected Dentsu exec led us on a tour of advertising tactics from basic TV spots to more modern tie-ins with YouTube.  My three favorites were:

Surprise and humor:  The commercial opens on a couple sitting down to a fancy dinner.  The woman checks her watch, realizes she is late for something, gets up and starts running away, leaving the man at the table.  The camera flashes to a different man standing on a bridge, checking his watch and waiting for someone.  We follow these two for a bit – the woman, still running, knocks over a jogger and pops up a second later having swapped her pumps for his sneakers.  After a series of funny scenes, finally the woman approaches the bridge.  The man is still checking his watch, looks up… and the woman blows past him, continuing her sprint as she crosses the bridge.  Finally, we see her arrive home, turn on the TV, and sigh – she made it just in time for her favorite program! (The commercial was for that TV station.)

Tear-jerker:  The first scene is a woman preparing lunch for her young son.  She painstakingly cooks the eggs, meat, and veggies, and delicately arranges them in his bento box.  The subtitle reads “good luck on your first day of school.”  We then see a montage of the mother preparing a daily bento box, each one unique, and using them as one-way messages to her fairly unresponsive teenage son.  When she sees him studying, the bento box translates to “I’m proud of you;” when she meets his girlfriend, the box says “love is beautiful.”  The mother accepts an empty box each night as the son’s only response.  Finally, after years of this, the son is graduating from high school – and leaves a note in his last empty box: “Thank you.  Sorry I never said it before.”  (Let me tell you, there were quite a few sniffles in the Sloan audience when we watched this one!  The commercial was for the utility company Tokyo Gas.)

Use of YouTube:  I saved the best for last!  Lotte Fit’s Gum ran a TV campaign of very brief commercials featuring 2 people trying the gum.  They then break out into a cute and goofy dance brought on by the tasty gum and catchy music.  In each commercial, someone or something (e.g., a dog, a deer, or even a cactus) in the background joins in the dance.  When our Dentsu rep told us that this had been the biggest campaign in Japan while it ran, we were confused… it’s a simple 15-second dance.  What’s the big deal?

The big deal was that Fit’s also ran a contest - $10,000 and a year’s supply of gum to whomever could come up with the best fan version of the commercial.  They received hundreds of submissions and millions of views on YouTube, becoming one of the most well-known TV campaigns in Asia.  Wow.

Clearly, these commercials stuck with me as a couple of weeks have past since this presentation from Dentsu.  Each is a lovely vignette of Japanese life – humor, family, surprise, and cuteness!  But beyond that, they serve their purpose as memorable advertisements for Japanese products and services.  Dentsu is doing great work, and I have to say that they’ve raised my bar for television commercials I see now that I’m back in the States!

Memoirs of a Sloanie

Since returning from Japan and Korea two weeks ago, I have spent some time reflecting on my experience. I can honestly say that it was one of the best experiences I have had so far in Sloan - that is not an easy feat. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from powerful creative and global minds, to experience a vastly different culture and to spend time getting to know classmates in a way that is not possible during school nor on other treks.  

While relaxing on beaches during some vacations in the past, I have been known to reach life epiphanies, such as  deciding to leave a cushy job or uproot myself to different part of the country or another country altogether. The study tour to Japan and Korea was no vacation; I did not even tan. However, amid the commotion of running to company presentations then dining with impressive executives and experiencing Kyoto's nightlife, I reinforced my desire to pursue entrepreneurship in the short and long-term.

After witnessing some of the Japanese entrepreneurs passioantely present their companies, I noticed that these entrepreneurs were similar to the ones I have been surrounded by at MIT - they have the "bug." The entrepreneurial bug that drives them to dream big and attempt to make an impact on the world doing something they love. I know that I will be a better entrepreneur having gone on this trip. If anything, I at least gained a whole new world perspective, one that is vastly different than mine and will help me think about products, technology and companies with a wider lens.         

Stuff I wish I did

I think I deserve a self-indulgent blog entry that has nothing to do with business and creativity, but all about Korea and Japan. The study tour was a whirlwind of meetings and visits and tours that I thought we sometimes missed the fact that we were in two countries that offered far more than creative companies. We had two weeks but such a short time really wasn't enough to fully experience even the cities we were in, so here's my list of reasons to go back:

1) Try good KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) in Korea

Yes, yes - I know we have Bon Chon up in Allston (and after my first Persuasive Presentation, all of my Core Team does too.) But if it's amazing here, translated and transported half a world away, what's the original like?

Unfortunately, I had no idea which restaurants were good, and in semi-desperation on our last night in Seoul, randomly walked into one which had piles of fried chicken in the window and ordered some.

Meh.

Still going to give it a second chance though, if anyone out there cares to point me in the right direction.

2) Try good samgyetang (Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup)

Same story with this one. The one and only time I got to try this was in the airport waiting for the flight to Osaka. Sad, I know. Still, it was pretty good, which kind of makes me wonder what the really good stuff served in specialty restaurants on Seoul would taste like. In any case, anyone has a good recipe, or knows of a place in Boston?

3) Complete the entire trek of the 千本鳥居 (Thousand Gates) of the 伏見稲荷大社 (Fushimi Inari Shrine)

One of the highlights of my time there - visiting the Fushimi Inari Shrine and walking part of the way of the Thousand Gates.

Unfortunately, it started to rain, and we had also planned to make a day trip out to Osaka that day, so we only had time to walk the short path. The longer path, which would take an additional 2 hours, would meander through the hills behind the shrine.

4) Climb Mount Fuji...

... instead of copping out and looking at it from a neighboring mountain, which we ascended by cable car.

Oh, and do it like the locals do - overnight so you get to see the sunrise on the summit.

5) Get up close with a life-sized Gundam

On Odaiba, a man-made island off Tokyo Bay, we see this:

Unfortunately, you can see that was fenced off when I visited because the mall behind it (which contains a Gundam Cafe), was still under construction.

6) More 寿司 (sushi), トン汁 (tonjiru - pork soup) and 甘酒 (amazake - sweet unfiltered rice wine) !

And not just the expensive sit-down お任せ from Jiro either, even though more of that on an expense account wouldn't hurt.

However, there's also something I keep telling myself to do more of next time I visit Japan, but for some reason always forget until the last day - go to the supermarkets and buy cheap (but still really good) sushi and sashimi close to closing time and eat like you're on an unlimited expense account. This time, I only remembered on our last night there. For some reason, there was a tuna sale going on.

Three pieces of 大トロ　(fatty tuna) sushi for 690Y. One piece of this would be easily US$20 or more in Boston.

Eight pieces of sashimi (including four 大トロ) for 880Y (discounted from 1290Y)!  (Tip - they provide wasabi and soy sauce for the sushi, but only wasabi for the sashimi. Buy a bottle when you're there.)

Bonus Item! Explore more of the randomness that is ドンキホーテ (Don Quixote): Would you believe Eiswein for 1500Y (~US$18)?

As you can see, I have ample reasons to return. Post graduation trip, perhaps?

Creative advertising in Seoul

We were all amazed by our visit to Dentsu in Tokio. The workshop that they kindly hosted was a great way to understand their sophisticated creative process and have a glimpse at the amazing track record of TV ads that last in people’s memory for generations. Touring around the streets of Seoul,  though, was also a great way to find creative ways of advertising in the most unexpected places, under the most surprising formats. The publicized products, at the same time, provide an immediate understanding of the trends in Korean society.

This ad, for example, was found in a cab window. The format will seem familiar to many: QR codes that you can scan to purchase a product that will later be delivered to you. Two facts surprised me, though: the placement and the products advertised. The decision to stick this ad in a window of a cap, in a direction where most people will stare when they have spare time reveals already brilliant. But the variety of beauty products offered, from make-up to plastic surgery advising services was completely unexpectable.

Similar products were offered in this ad, but in a cartoonish fashion that would be completely unsuitable for western standards. In eastern asia, publicity seemed to be more descriptive than eye-catching; it not only had to appeal but also explain. This trend would be even more evident when moving to Japan, where advertising trends have stayed even more authentic and independent from western influeneces.

This cab at its turn, offered translation services through the phone. By simply mentioning the words "free interpreter" to the taxi driver, he will opher you a phone with translating services without the need to understanding a word of what you say. This is another good example of how creative measures can be applied to go around challenges like language barriers, and secure the higher number of visitors that South Korea will receve in the next years.

On why we loved Japanese culture

I’m still amazed at how high the group’s expectations where for Japan and how the culture didn’t deceive us at all.  From the politeness of the citizens of Kyoto to the tidy chaos of Tokyo, the whole country did not fail to the clichés that we all had in mind, and at the same time it was so much more… I will try to summarize three unlinked aspects of Japanese lifestyle that define my experience in Japan outside company visits.

Transportation system: The subway system in Tokyo is just unbeatable! There could be many ways you could get lost in such a large city and such a complex transportation network. Surprisingly, in Tokyo it is relatively easy to move around. Lines are identified clearly, stations are numbered since 2004 to avoid the lost in translation symptom, and you can get mainly from anywhere to anywhere in the city. Just be prepared to spend up to more than an hour in the subway, as distances are much longer than they may appear on the map give the overall size of the metropolitan area. What you can forecast is the arrival time: every car will have screens with the forecasted arrival time, the position of the stairs in the next station related to the car where you are in, and other valuable details. Besides, many of the stations where huge commuting centers with shopping malls.

Helpfulness of people: We had several experiences in Japan that demonstrate the gentle nature of its people. When we approached a policeman to ask for directions, he looked up the name in several books, tried to make a few calls, asked everyone around until, after 15 minutes had gone by, we suggested him to let go. The cliché that a Japanese will try to help even if he has no idea of what you are asking proved true. Truth to be told, several people ran away from us when approached in English, but this was clearly made up for by the helpfulness of the vast majority that decided to listen.

Food: Nowadays everyone knows that Japanese food has more to offer than sushi and noodles but this study tour showed us the richness of this country’s cuisine. In Kobe we discovered local recipes like okonomiyaki (pan-fried batter cake) and takoyaki (octopus dumplings). Near mount Fuji, we had a taste of the best tempura in a vacation hotel placed in the midst of an incomparable landscape. In Tokyo, we had the chance to try all types of noodles, from restaurants with vending machines – a creative system to optimize waiting times that we completely messed by forming large lines while trying to figure out which button to push, to a weird restaurant with Italian recipes cooked with Japanese noodles. We also had the chance to try tonkatsu (pork chops), japanese ‘tapas’ at the izakayas, all types of bento boxes and sweets at the stations.

All in all, the cultural experience has been a great complement to the exciting visits to the most amazing companies, to an extent that it is now difficult to detach one experience from another.

 

 

Padlocks of Love

On Easter evening at my parents' house with a glass of Beringer merlot in hand, we took turns flipping through pictures from their recent trip to Germany and Austria, and from my trip to Korea and Japan.  My mom stopped her slideshow on one of a Bavarian bridge that she took a liking to, and I noticed several padlocks on the fence.  I told her to pause right there & pulled up my photos from the Seoul Tower.  Her jaw dropped – "what are all of those doing there?!"  I told her they were love padlocks and we found it curious that we each happened upon a similar tradition, executed to various extents, on our travels to vastly different countries.  Both now intrigued about the history and true significance of these love locks, we did a little investigation. 

 

It turns out that the exact history is not traceable, though love padlocks seemingly began to emerge rampantly between the 1980s (perhaps in Hungary) and the early 2000s throughout Europe.  The Great Wall of China has also become a well-known hot spot for love padlocks.  Interestingly, love padlocks arose in different countries for varying reasons.  Here is an interesting story from Wikipedia about the origin of love-locks in Serbia, dating back to the mid 1940s:

An attribution for the bridge Most Ljubavi (lit. the Bridge of Love—now named after the love padlocks) in Serbia exists, where they can be traced to even before World War II. A local schoolmistress named Nada, who was from Vrnjačka Banja, fell in love with a Serbian officer named Relja. After they committed to each other Relja went to war in Greece where he fell in love with a local woman from Corfu. As a consequence, Relja and Nada broke up their engagement. Nada never recovered from that devastating blow, and after some time she died as a result of her unfortunate love. As young girls from Vrnjačka Banja wanted to protect their own loves, they started writing down their names, together with the names of their loved ones, on padlocks and affixing them to the railings of the bridge where Nada and Relja used to meet.

Another inspiring story originates from Rome on the Ponte Milvio, where couples trace the footsteps of two characters from Fredericio Moccia's book, translated to I Want You in English.  The story goes that the male character persuades a potential lover to wrap and lock a chain around a lamppost on the northern side of the bridge. They then throw away the key and the boy tells the girl that now they "will never leave each other".  Moccia reportedly liked the idea of locks because they were something tangible, a physical embodiment of our emotions.  You can see a 360 of the Ponte Milvio bridge.

At the Seoul Tower, the pavilion where the padlocks are displayed is complete with love benches, slanted inward so couples fall together as they sit.

 

While these displays of love seem so innocent, there has been controversy across the world, and local governments and property owners have fought to have the locks removed! 

In Paris in 2010, the Town Hall raised concern over the "preservation of our architectural heritage" as the number of locks rose on the Pont des Arts, Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor and the Pont de l'Archevêché bridges, and the locks abruptly vanished.  French sweethearts rebelled and immediately repositioned their love-locks on the Pont de l'Archevêché.

Public opposition to removal of the locks kept them legal in Cologne on the Hohenzollern Bridge.  In Canada and Italy, love padlocks have been removed throughout the years claiming aesthetic disturbance, structural concerns, and distraction from natural beauty.  At one point there were over 5,000 locks on the famed Ponte Vecchio in Florence!

There are also a few captivating legends surrounding love padlocks.  One originates in Taiwan where lovers often position pairs of love padlocks (known as "wish locks" in Taiwan) on an overpass at the Fengyuan train station.   Legend has it that as the trains pass under the overpass filled with locks, the magnetic fields generated produce energy that collects in the locks and fulfills the wishes held in the locks. 

Another tradition exists in Montevideo, Uruguay, where there is a fountain with a plaque that reads, "The legend of this young fountain tells us that if a lock with the initials of two people in love is placed in it, they will return together to the fountain and their love will be forever locked."

While I had not seen these love locks in the USA, there is a company that creates custom-engraved padlocks and suggests places for a romantic adventure complete with recommendations on specific places to fasten the locks – who knew? 

I'll have to check the bridges crossing the Muddy Charles on my next run…

Dear E62 Cafe,

I have a business proposition for you.

See, there're two short windows of time when you could be making a lot more $$ selling coffee to desperate Sloanies. From 9:55am to 10:05am, and from 2:25pm to 2:35pm (and a bonus third during 3:55pm and 4:05pm, with a smaller crowd), those blocks of 10 precious minutes when everyone is running from one class to another, hoping to be one of the few who manage to get in line, get their coffee, then to the lecture before the dreaded "CLASS IN SESSION. DO NOT ENTER." signs come up.

However, the main problem would be the lines. Actually, I take that back - the main problem would be wait times caused by the person ahead of you in line who actually does not need to make the next class but chooses at this precise period of time to purchase a double shot mocha frappuchino with soy milk that should only come from the Alps - oh, and would like to pay by a credit card that's buried right at the most inaccessible place in the bag (you know, right next to the place your cell phone always mysteriously migrates to, when in the middle of class, it goes off ringing because you forgot to turn it off.) You get the murderous looks from the people waiting picture.

Faced with this, we give up. Gallons of lost sales because we can't wait to get to Ops. Thanks to actually attending Ops, however, and the happy co-incidence that I spotted this on the way to the subway from our hotel in Tokyo - there's a solution to keep Sloanies happily caffeinated!

Outside a restaurant, there's a dedicated stand selling coffee during the morning rush hour, especially for people who can't afford to stand in line, but only want a simple cup of coffee! No frills - just 2 options - Small or Medium ice coffee. Cash only. Takes 5 seconds to grab, and the restaurant has another revenue stream that was once lost.

So how would this work in E62? Simple. During those windows, have a separate coffee stand away from the main lines, along the flow of traffic (beside where the C-function T-shirts are usually sold, for example). Have it cash only ($1 for refill!), one size, 2 flasks of coffee (decaf and non-decaf medium roast). Sugar, milk, stirrers on the side, out of the way. Takes 2 seconds to pay, another 30 seconds max to fill up and go. Have this all on a movable stand, and it takes less than 5 minutes to set up and dismantle.

A quick calculation will get you your break-even analysis, which any Ops student will be able to do. Assume 10 minutes of total running time, service times as shown above, estimate the number of people running between classes, we can calculate average waiting times for someone in line at the quick service station. The additional cost is simply the cost of labor for those periods. Additional profit will be the additional amount from the coffee sold. Hey, this could easily be a homework problem for 15.761!

Oh, and the Japanese restaurant that came up with this idea?

It's McDonald's.

You're welcome.

Plant a tree, save the world

Much of my time at Sloan has been focused around sustainability.  Sloan offers quite a few courses in this field, and I took a number of them in an attempt to get the Sustainability Certificate.  Though I am finishing out school one class short of the certificate, it was still an invaluable experience to take these classes and develop relationships with the group of fascinating, creative, passionate students (and professors!) at Sloan who care about issues of sustainability.

So, it is always a pleasure to see a startup in this space really making waves.  On our third day in Seoul, after meeting with two of the largest conglomerates in the country, we had the opportunity to meet with D3 Jubilee and one of their nascent companies Tree Planet.

The concept is simple: download the app on to your mobile device - or, soon, on to your Facebook page.  Plant a virtual tree, designed by the immensely talented founder Hyungsoo Kim (his design background helped him create what may be the cutest cartoon tree I’ve ever seen).  Water it, help it grow, and before you know it, Tree Planet will have planted a real tree somewhere in the world – places such as the Korean Demilitarized Zone or Sudan.  If you’re wondering how a virtual tree becomes a real tree, it is mainly through the advertising that occurs in the background of the game.  Companies like LG pay to have their logo on such tree-planting necessities as watering cans and solar panels.  Thus far, this advertising revenue has been enough to help Tree Planet plant over 2,000 trees while also leaving enough left over to create a return for investors.

But doe it really work?  You, my dear reader, may be as skeptical as I first was when I heard about this business model.  Why would you want a Tamagotchi tree when you already have enough to worry about in your busy life?  First, let’s not undervalue the sheer cuteness of the tree – I’m pretty sure that every single Sloanie in the room let out an “aw!” when we first saw the little baby tree in the first part of the app.  But another key to the company’s success is its simplicity.  A big piece of this is the mobile platform.  People are constantly attached to their smartphones – especially in Korea, where almost every single person we saw on the subway makes his or her commute with phone in hand.  While many apps out there are pretty brainless, Tree Planet has a connection to the real world and is very easy to understand.  Finally, the idea is uncontroversial – whether you do or do not choose to accept the fact of global climate change, it’s hard to argue against adding some beauty and shade to a desert region, or planting a fruit-bearing tree in a hunger-ridden country.

The mood in Korea seems to point to a change approaching.  There is a duality in the country: on one hand, the conglomerates are steady and true, composing a huge percentage of the country’s GDP.  However, many employees are starting to search for a different work pattern, with more autonomy and creativity.  Tree Planet was one of the many very cool ideas we learned about on our trip.  As we see this trend picking up, I think we’ll start seeing more and more creative startups like this one coming from the Land of the Morning Calm.

EGG, meet MassChallenge

Following up on my post on entrepreneurship in Japan, I thought I would take the opportunity to mention something occurring here in MA to spur local innovators – MassChallenge, whose mission is to "Catalyze a startup renaissance".  Their vision is "a creative and inspired society in which everyone recognizes that they can define their future, and is empowered to maximize their impact."  This reminds me of the tendency in young Japanese business people to commit to tradition and stability, and hesitations to demarcate one's own path. Societies need companies like EGG and MassChallenge to encourage differentiation in business track, stimulate new ideas, and foster winning ideas and people.

In the MassChallenge, entrants have the opportunity to score coveted positions in the 3-month accelerator program, in which they have access to top mentorship and training, free office space, access to funding, media, and the chance at cash awards.  As MassChallenge proclaims, "We help early-stage entrepreneurs win" by providing connections to essential resources that startups need to turn the palm-size snowball into one that is full-fledged and life-size.  MassChallenege welcomes startups across multiple industries, including high tech, energy and clean tech, social impact, and life sciences/healthcare.  Each startup must create their elevator pitch, which stands as the company's mantra throughout the competition. 

To highlight a hip startup that is catered to a younger crowd, I will touch on one of particular eye-catching interest: whatsupnetworks.  Whatsupnetworks is a media lifestyle company that provides daily updates on its site with "What's up" in your city, which happen to be the coolest cities and destinations for consumers in the age bracket 21-35 years old.  One of their goals is to "stay true to the local roots", aligning with today's trend to localize products and services to better appeal to regional preferences across consumers.  Delivering local, relevant, and unique information in a useful way to those actively seeking it – whatsupnetworks has the young adult "tastemaker" consumer nailed. 

Whatsup has rocked Martha's Vineyard with 'What's up Martha', clad in what else but Vineyard Vines; Nantucket with 'What's up Tucket'; and 'What's up Stowe' in Vermont.  All wildly popular with over 5,000 combined "likes" on facebook, they're expanding to Newport, RI - check out 'What's up Newp'.

While slightly less hip, but equally driven by innovation, Staples, the local office products company is opening its new "E-commerce Innovation Center" in Kendall Square this summer – in the face of daily technological advancements on campus at MIT and in the heart of startups coming from all over, what better place to consider entrepreneurship and innovative business platforms?  Staples, already the world’s second largest e-commerce company behind Amazon, plans to add IT, product management, usability, and creative roles so it can more effectively touch customers, across demographics, on mobile devices, tablets, desktops, and in stores.  Staples understands how dramatically retail environment changes over time, and has stayed in the forefront to lead their industry for years.  Some might argue that initiatives such as developing an Innovation Center to seek new E-commerce solutions keep them there.