【A Glimpse Behind the Scenes of International PR!】Four Ways to Make a “Sunny-Side Up Egg” Famous Overseas: How to Make a Japanese Egg Popular in the World.

Hello. I’m Tatsuhiro Hattori, in charge of international PR at SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP.

In recent years, our group has been winning numerous international PR awards.In this blog post, I’d like to introduce a bit about my work in international PR.

Our group is now in its 35th year since its founding. We have adhered to the philosophy of our representative, Tsugihara, that “PR professionals should not be in the spotlight but stay in the shadow”—though he himself has no sense of being in the shadows… As a result, until a few years ago, we did not focus extensively on our own corporate communications.

A few years ago, when the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were confirmed, and the city of Tokyo gained global attention, we decided to launch an international PR project to promote the Japanese PR agency “SUNNY SIDE UP” overseas. I researched and developed strategies on my own to determine what could serve as a hook for international PR—raising our company’s profile abroad.

A key hint came from my experience in the film industry, which I’ve been involved with since my previous job. In fact, when films or film directors are recognized at international film festivals (winning awards), their profile rises both domestically and internationally, and it becomes major news.

Drawing on that experience, our team focused on the following four main initiatives:

• Entering International PR Agency Rankings

First, we decided to enter international PR agency rankings. In the “Top 250 PR Agencies in the World” ranking hosted by the PR media outlet PRovoke (formerly Holmes Report), major global PR groups such as Edelman at No. 1 and Weber Shandwick at No. 2 typically dominate. This year, our group ranked 18th globally and 3rd in Asia.

I still remember how surprised the entire company was when we first entered a few years ago and discovered that our agency was actually large enough to rank among the top in the world.

This result not only advanced our international PR efforts but also motivated us to aim even higher.

• Entering International PR Awards

Next, we turned our attention to entering international PR awards. Our research revealed that there are numerous PR awards worldwide, and we decided to submit our own projects as well as those with our clients. We were delighted to receive recognition from overseas, and in recent years, our group has won many international awards.

Recently, projects such as “Shibuya Scramble Square PR Campaign,” “Mori Building Digital Art Museum: Epson teamLab Borderless Opening PR Campaign,” and “Indeed Japan PR Campaign” have won awards at the Golden World Awards (GWA) hosted by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) and the Lisbon PR Awards, which launched in Portugal this year. All were recognized not only for publicity but also for driving behavioral change in society.

Golden World Awards: https://ssug.co.jp/news/2020/07/31/ipragwa2020/
Lisbon PR Awards: https://ssug.co.jp/news/2020/09/11/lisbonprawards2020/

Examples of International Awards Won

• Debut as an International Award Judge

On a personal note, this year I received an offer from international award organizers and was appointed as a judge for the PR Awards hosted by the marketing communications media Campaign and PR media PRWeek, as well as the Lisbon PR Awards. I am honored to have contributed in some small way to the PR industry, and it was a great learning experience for me to gain deep insight into creative PR projects and campaigns from around the world.

As a global trend, there is an increase in sustainable PR projects that are conscious of the SDGs, as well as projects that change human behavior and social momentum—and these are winning awards. Also, in this year dubbed the “Year of Video,” there is a growing trend worldwide toward campaigns using video, social media, and YouTube.

• Partnership Initiatives with International Agencies

In our increasingly globalized marketing and communications market, there is growing demand from clients for international PR campaigns.

However, as a Japan-based independent PR agency, we need local partners overseas to work with us on projects. Therefore, we decided to build a network with independent PR agencies like ours in various countries.

As a result, agencies such as M Booth in New York, SLING in Sydney, and Prain in Seoul—agencies that share our mindset—have become our sister agencies overseas, significantly strengthening our international network.

Team photo of SLING in Sydney, Australia. They look great!
©SLING, Sydney

Last year, we also formed a business alliance with Red Havas, the core brand of the PR and communications division of Havas Group, one of the world’s largest global communication groups. Havas Group has offices in 38 locations worldwide. This partnership enables us not only to plan PR events and campaigns for domestic and international projects but also to preferentially acquire projects when companies and organizations from the United States, Europe, and Asia enter the Japanese market. For more details, please see here.

1. Entering International PR Agency Rankings
2. Entering International PR Awards
3. Debut as an International Award Judge
4. Partnership Initiatives with International Agencies

As a result of our team’s trial-and-error efforts with these initiatives, our group’s recognition in international markets has increased, leading to more inquiries and projects from overseas! If you’ve read this blog and are interested in international PR or international awards, please feel free to contact us. I’ll share some tips!

That’s a brief overview of how to make a “sunny-side up egg” famous overseas!

Looking ahead to the post-COVID era, our group will continue to move forward.