外資系企業元気企業「プロクター・アンド・ギャンブル・ジャパン株式会社」- 外資系企業の求人紹介はJAC

Naoki Fujimori

P&G Singapore
Assistant Brand Manager, Hair Care, Beauty& Grooming

Q1．What are your current job responsibilities?

I am in charge of the h&s brand for the Japanese market.
In order to expand h&s business in the Japanese market, I am responsible for designing the marketing strategies for the Fall and the Winter seasons. As the project leader, in order to advertise the brand wider and deeper, I also develop TV commercials/ Digital/ Magazine communication plans.

Q2．What did you do before joining P&G?

I was a producer of global business events targeting senior executives in foreign capital companies
The business events are designed for senior executives to give them the opportunities to meet their peers and share business information in the events. I worked at the Asia Pacific headquarter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The team consisted of people from different background. We produced events mainly for Japan, South East Asia and Australia & New Zealand markets. In my career, I worked with nearly 1,000 top-notch practitioners, investors and politicians across the region. As a highlight of my career, I would like to share my invaluable experience that I worked with the former prime minister of Australia, Sir John Howard. He was the keynote speaker for an event that I produced for the Australian market. During the cocktail party, he greeted all the participants in a very gentle and kind way, but once he started his presentation, his charismatic power overwhelmed the audience. It was the first time I witnessed the power of leadership that engages and envisions the people.

Q3．What were the reasons to apply to P&G?

I applied to P&G because of two reasons. 1) I wanted to deep dive into marketing based on consumer understanding and 2) P&G commits to offer various trainings to grow people who have no marketing experience like me.
For 1), I believe P&G is the best place not only for my career development but also to learn how to delight consumers. I was deeply inspired by the company's motto, "Consumer is Boss". For 2), as I mentioned above, my previous job was B to B business, not directly consumer-related. However, during the job interviews, I met a couple of brand managers who joined P&G without any marketing experiences; this fact encouraged me to become like them and gave me the confidence that I can become a marketer as long as I have a strong passion to grow.

Q4．What did you find most unique about P&G after joining?

P&G has a result oriented culture regardless of your background.
When I look around, there are non-Japanese brand managers who are growing their brand business in Japan, and a Japanese director who is leading the team of talents from more than 10 countries. This fact tells me that their culture,nationality, age, or gender neither will be an advantage nor a disadvantage in this company; we must deliver the results to become successful in P&G. This is very fair to everybody who is working at P&G.

Q5．When do you feel most fulfilled at work?

It is when I see consumers' positive reaction to our marketing plan.
As mentioned earlier, P&G's motto is "Consumer is Boss". Thus, we invest lots of time and effort in consumer research, where we test the marketing effect on our target customers about our forthcoming materials such as TV copies/ product designs etc. I feel very happy when they give us positive feedbacks during the researches; this ensures us a tangible result of our plan.

Q6．What kind of skills have you acquired since joining P&G?

Working at P&G marketing, I believe I could acquire leadership skill in global environment that is second to none.
I work at P&G Singapore which is one of the regional hubs for the Asia Pacific region. h&s Japan team is a mixture of people from different backgrounds, and I interact with them on a daily basis. I do believe this multi-cultural environment at P&G truly helps me to develop my leadership skills day by day.

Q7．What are the difficulties to work for a global company? What do you do to overcome them?

I struggle with engaging people from different backgrounds in order to initiate actions.
Interestingly, this is the skill I want to develop at P&G marketing. Until joining P&G, I thought this was one of my core strengths because of my experience in working at another multi-cultural company. Being in a melting pot of people from different backgrounds at a global company like P&G, it is essential to make myself visible in the team, I think this is the key to engage people. Nobody listens to someone they don't know well. Therefore, to overcome this challenge, I try to speak out at any meetings and to contribute to the team rather than holding back my idea.

Q8．What is your mid-term goal?

My mid-term goal is to become a leader with a good balance of brand marketing skills and brand management skills.
Since joining P&G, I have seen strong leaders with a good balance of marketing skills and business sense. I found that my brand management skill and ability are not yet strong enough to lead large organization, therefore with the help of my manager and the support of the team, I want to develop this area further to become a strong leader in the organization.

Q9．Do you have any advice for the people who are looking for a career change?

P&G is the best place if you want to be a global leader.
Working at P&G marketing is not just doing marketing, but also manage a brand. To do so, strong leadership skills as well as marketing knowledge are essential to become successful in P&G. P&G is a rare company that gives a big responsibility to each employee from day 1. If you want to be a real global leader, P&G is the right place for you.