In Tune with Asia

As anime emerges from niche into the mainstream, its status within the fashion industry has also increased exponentially.  In today's episode, we take a step back to look at how anime has inspired trends in East Asia, from idol fashion to school uniform subcultures. We then look forward to explore how fashion brands can embrace anime fandom culture beyond just brand character collabs to create more meaningful crossovers while embracing this powerful commercial force. 

Around 3 in 5 consumers expect personalised shopping experiences in Asia. Many also increasingly seek personalised or customised products. In this episode we speak with Johanna Monange, the CEO and Founder of Maison 21G, about how she is revolutionising the perfume industry and the meaning of personalization. After over 20 years in the industry, with a career spanning Paris, Shanghai, and the rest of Asia, developing major fragrances, such as Lancome’s ‘La Vie est Belle’, Johanna returned to what true ‘parfumerie’ is all about - and Maison 21G was founded.

The metaverse has been one of those topic that has been talked about a lot but still leads to much confusion. And while we hear about the metaverse in the West or China, we rarely hear about what is happening in South-East Asia. In this episode we sat down with Elaine Pai, Customer Success Lead for South East Asia at Meta to uncover what is driving this technology across the region and where it will go in the coming years - and how when it comes to technology, the workplace and consumer worlds are closely intertwined. 

In this episode we talk about mothers in Asia, a really interesting category as it is a role that has shifted tremendously over the past decade within changing local societies, the influence of technology and of course also an expanding definition of who can be a mother. We will be looking at what those changes are, what has driven them and how brands have adapted and should adapt in the future. To answer these questions we will be speaking with Kelly Togashi. Kelly is a Strategy Director who has worked in global advertising and branding for over 10 years - most recently working in the APAC region. Her job in these creative industries is to listen and learn about moms, their dreams, their concerns, and to help brands shape their story to better support these parents. She’s worked on various categories, like breakfast cereal, infant formula, baby shampoo, and laundry detergent - all targeting moms and their wallets.

Welcome to our first episode of In Tune with Asia! Today we will talk about Coffee Trends in Taiwan. It’s a small island, but it also happens to have one of the highest concentrations of cafes in the world. The market is dominated especially by convenience stores like 7/11 and the sector is growing rapidly, at about 20% per year. Among young people it has become a lifestyle, driven by the emergence of a coffee and barista culture and by social media. To find out more about this we spoke to Weilun Tsao. Weilun is the Managing Director and Head of Country Management Taiwan for DKSH, the world’s leading market entry and expansion company in Asia with over 11.5 bn CHF in annual sales. He has over a decade of experience in strategy, marketing and sales of products in Asia - including coffee machines, roasters and anything else needed to make coffee. Amongst his customers are some of the largest convenience stores & cafe chains, and DKSH has been an important part of the coffee history in Taiwan.

One continent, thousands of cultures, over 4.5 bn people. Asia is large, heterogeneous and constantly shifting. No country is the same. In this podcast, Yijing and Laura will dive deep into what makes this myriad of countries, cultures and subcultures tick by speaking with industry experts and leaders. We will uncover hidden trends and surprising facts, with the goal of gaining a bottom up understanding rather than making top down assumptions. With a combined decade of experience in thinking about consumers, brands and culture, Yijing and Laura are united by a passion for understanding why people do what they do and think what they think. So welcome to this journey of staying In Tune with Asia!