Interview: Hakuhodo Singapore's Romy Mishina

Appointed to the role in June, Mishina expects the advertising industry to grow in line with the country’s economic growth of 2 to 3 per cent, especially the digital advertising growth that currently stands at 10 per cent, compared to Japan’s 15 per cent.

“I think the slow mobile growth here is probably due to the geographical reason. Everyone here is so near to shopping malls, compared to Japan. When the younger generation get used to mobile, then it would grow.”

As managing director for Hakuhodo Singapore, Mishina’s role involves looking after both the operational and finance aspects for Hakuhodo Singapore and Hakuhodo Communications Asia.

The client portfolio under Hakuhodo Singapore includes Isetan, Toshiba, Daikin and Yakult, while for Hakuhodo Communications Asia, Canon is its long-term client.

Mishina has been working with the Hakuhodo network since her graduation in 1986, where she was attracted to the company for its potential to allow her to break the gap between cultures. She landed at Hakuhodo Japan as an account planner for non-Japanese clients, with her first client being Unilever and her early work focusing on brands such Jif, MasterCard, Lipton [which did not belong to Unilever back then] and Pfizer.

She was then transferred to the international division for an operational role in 1994 to support the management of overseas offices before moving to the Singapore office as the account director in 1999, working on clients such as Panasonic, Isetan, Hitachi and Sharp. She then returned to the international division in Tokyo six years later to help establish new offices as well as oversee mergers and acquisitions.

“It is surprising to come back here, because Hakuhodo doesn’t send the same person to the same market,” she told Campaign Asia-Pacific. “And I never expect to come as well because of my age [48].”

The Hakuhodo network, has a mid-term plan from 2010 to 2014 to change its business model to achieve better growth. It is looking at diversified profit model, moving from traditional marketing to integrated marketing solutions that include three key business areas, namely digital, global (profit from overseas agencies) as well as marketing promotions (non media advertising).

Under the plan, the company aims to change its revenue ratio between mass media and non media from 60:40 earlier to 50:50 by March next year, accross all agencies.

The current ratio in the Singapore office stands at 70:30, and the company hopes to close the gap through Hakuhodo Consulting, which has been operational since January. It is also seeking new business from local clients.

“The economy in Japan has saturated with no room for improvement, so Japanese companies are looking for overseas businesses and to hire local talent who understand the local consumer insights, behaviour and relationship,” Mishina said.

Hakuhodo Singapore is celebrating its 40th anniversary at the end of this year, and Mishina aims to make the office a place its employees are proud to work at, thorugh initiatives like training workshops, raising the company’s profile, improving talent acquisition and bringing in new business wins.

“The 40th anniversary is a good opportunity to raise profile for the company by winning awards and new businesses to showcase our creativity, strategy and service,” she said.