In 1966, when nobody had yet known about American culture, SONY PLAZA started their retail business with imported goods and cosmetics from the United States. 

Their influence had a dramatic impact on Japanese culture at that time.

SONY PLAZA introduced the Japanese public to American culture, of which they had glimpsed only from TV, movies, magazines, and radio.

With SONY PLAZA’s business expansion, the store was lined with a variety of diverse goods such as interior and food items that introduced cultures not only from the U.S, but from Europe, Asia, and Africa as well. SONY PLAZA became an essential part of every special occasion like Birthday and Christmas.

 

 In order to compete with rival companies, SONY PLAZA started to consider their future strategy.

At this significant turning point, Unosawa was asked to direct their new branding and to rebuild their management structure. Removing "SONY”, which had high brand value, was a challenge for everyone. Unosawa thought his branding would be to get rid of their anxiety.

 

In order to take on the rebranding, Unosawa started by seeking to understand the organization, management structure, and management situation of each store.

He changed their conventional, top-down management style to a new style in which stores could suggest their ideas for product development while reflecting customer feedback.

Furthermore, he built a system which enabled stores to connect with each other in order to discuss and solve problems. He worked to improve these styles, while keeping the company's original philosophy. Unosawa restructured the branding strategy with a new concept.

 

Following marketing theory is not enough to accept changes and to advance.

What are the new guidelines for PLAZA? To find them, the staff need to think and try by themselves, 

instead of looking for answers, creating answers.

Philosophy is just a guideline, answers come after their action and inquiry.

Unosawa captured those ideas in "concept books”, an accessible visible brand concept available to all employees.

 

These "Concept books" are charming picture books, created with PLAZA-style communication, graphic icons, and simple sentences."Concept books" do not have answers suggesting how to work or how to act, but will assist members in developing their own ideas.