30 Years Of Helping Iconic Global Brands Enter Japan (Part 1)

In this episode of The Negotiation, we speak with Jeff Daggett, Founder and CEO of Aisonne, a brand and retail development & management company offering brand, retail, hospitality, and licensing management services and representation in Japan and the United States.

Since 2002, Aisonne has assisted a number of big-name retail brands such as Apple, Columbia Sportswear, Nordstrom, Shinjuku Takano, and NBC Universal. Jeff’s background includes over three decades of experience at leading global companies in the Asia-Pacific, specifically in investment banking, real estate, retail operations, merchandising, marketing, and general management.

This episode is part 1 of 2 with Jeff, in which we cover topics like what it was like launching GAP in Japan back in 1994 and recruiting its first management team there; how Levis became an iconic global brand; we discuss Jeff’s involvement in Nike’s first ever campaign to go global that originated in Japan as well as how Nike does retail differently than other top brands, and we finish this episode talking about Sephora’s restructuring in Japan and reversing declining year-on-year store sales in under six months.

Enjoy!

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

• Launching Gap in Japan in 1994
• Growing a retail brand in the pre-eCommerce economy of Japan
• Recruiting the first management team for Gap in Japan
• How Levis became an iconic global brand
• Building loyalty around an athletic brand in Japan
• Why Jeff’s involvement in Nike’s first campaign in Japan went global
• How Nike does retail differently from the rest
• Restructuring Sephora in Japan and reversing declining year-on-year comp store sales in under six months