Influencer Marketing
Expand your reach and engage with your target audience using this trending technique that blends celebrity endorsements with social media marketing.
Leading High Performing Remote Teams
How can leaders ensure that performance remains high in remote or hybrid-work environments?
Design Thinking
Learn the 5 phases of this problem-solving methodology and switch from technology-centered to user-centered thinking.
Gantt Chart
Invented in the early 20th century, the Gantt Chart is one of the building blocks of modern project management. In this online course, you'll learn how this tool can be used effectively to monitor progress and achieve your team's goals.
Navigating Change Successfully
The working landscape is continually shifting and being disrupted, so how to employees maintain a sense of stability? Listen to CEO and president of Carl ZEISS Japan Stefan Sacre share his expertise on dealing with change in organizations and entire industries.
Halo Effect
The halo effect is often leveraged for marketing and promotion. But as a type of cognitive bias, it can also have a subconscious impact on decision-making in the workplace. Learn why and (how to overcome it) in this online course.
Anchoring and Framing
Want to increase your confidence during negotiations? Master the principles of anchoring and framing to take your negotiation skills to the next level.
ZOPA and BATNA
Understanding ZOPA and BATNA will help you become a better negotiator, create more value, and feel more confident at the table.
Content Marketing
In this course, you’ll learn how compelling blogs, videos, podcasts, and other media can reach customers and drive sales. You’ll also learn steps for creating an effective content marketing plan, and some important ways to measure its impact and success.
Content marketing is a essential digital marketing strategy for companies looking to provide relevant and useful information to support your community and attract new customers.
Get started on your content marketing journey today.
Sustainable Innovation in Times of Disruption: Choices for a Better Society
There are opportunities for progress all around us. The key is to innovate on these opportunities sustainably.
To help identify most effective path forward, you'll need to gain a global perspective to these challenges in an open discussion. How can Japan and the world take action to create a more sustainable, innovative world? Where do you fit in?
It's time to find out.
Social Media & Digital Communications: Impact on Global Public Opinion
Social and digital media have dominated the communications industry for decades. But it's no secret that social media has the power to sway public opinion, and the way in which many companies use these platforms could be seen as manipulative.
What do companies need to be aware of when utilizing social and digital media? How can these mediums be used to better communicate strategically with the world?
Discover what top media and communications experts have to say.
Blockchain
Blockchain is one of the most captivating technologies out there. Learn what it is and how to make use of its opportunities in this short online course.
Mehrabian’s Rule
The 7-38-55 Rule, developed by Albert Mehrabian, suggests that effective communication relies less on the words we choose than on our tone of our voice, appearance, and body language. Learn how to put this theory to use for better communication in business.
Pareto Principle
Your time and resources are limited. Efficiency means learning to prioritize. The Pareto principle (also called the 80-20 rule) can help you identify the best way to use your time for maximum results.
Country Analysis Framework
Overseas expansion requires careful planning. The Country Analysis Framework can help you look beyond an industry-level analysis and reframe your view based on performance, strategy, and context. Try this short course to learn how it works.
SECI Model
The SECI model illustrates how knowledge is created and shared. Learn how to put it to use for best practices, and how the Japanese concept of “ba” fits in to broaden your perspective.
Johari Window Model
The Johari Window Model is a self-awareness framework that helps you better understand . . . you. Learn how its four quadrants can help you identify gaps between how you see yourself, and how others see you.
Sunk Costs
Wondering if you should continue an investment or look for something new? Sunk costs can have a powerful psychological impact on decision-making. Learn how to recognize them to ensure rational decisions.
CAGE Distance Framework
Want to expand overseas? The CAGE distance framework can help ensure you're constructing a solid global strategy in four areas: cultural, administrative, economic, and geographic. Learn how to leverage useful differences between countries, identify potential obstacles, and achieve global business success.
Groupthink
Groupthink refers to group pressure and the perception of consensus which together lead to ill-formed decisions—or even unnecessary risks. Learn to identify the warning signs of groupthink and apply countermeasures in this online course.
Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
Solving problems with the best results means using two types of thinking: deductive and inductive reasoning. In this online course, learn to form a broad premise, make observations, and form conclusions from different perspectives.
Critical Thinking: Hypothesis-Driven Thinking
Anyone can come up with a good idea. The real challenge is putting that idea into action. In this online course, explore how to form compelling, testable hypotheses and bring ideas to life in your own organization.
Critical Thinking: Structured Reasoning
Even a few simple techniques for logical decision making and persuasion can vastly improve your skills as a leader. Explore how critical thinking can help you evaluate complex business problems, reduce bias, and devise effective solutions.
Critical Thinking: Problem-Solving
Problem-solving is a central business skill, and yet it's the one many people struggle with most. This course will show you how to apply critical thinking techniques to common business examples, avoid misunderstandings, and get at the root of any problem.
How to Dream
Join globally renowned author and Columbia Business School professor Dr. Sheena Iyengar as she explains how to approach your dreams with a new perspective. Learn to reflect on what you long to accomplish and what stands in your way.
Logical Thinking
Logical thinking is at the heart of confident, persuasive decisions. This course will equip you with a five-point approach to more becoming a more logical thinker. Learn to classify ideas and distinguish fact from opinion.
Investing & Diversity: The Changing Faces of Venture Capitalists
Is the venture capital industry embracing diversity in investors? Watch global venture capitalists from around the world discuss the state of things and what needs to be done for a more inclusive future.
Servant Leadership
There's more to leadership than driving a team to profit. In fact, there's a word for looking beyond self-interest to prioritize individual growth: servant leadership. Try this course for a quick breakdown of what that is, how it works, and how it can lead to organizational success.
Organizational Behavior and Leadership
Ever wonder what makes a great leader? Whether your role requires leadership or not, understanding organizational behavior is useful for your career. This course from GLOBIS Unlimited can set you on your way.
Leadership vs. Management
Leadership and management are different skills, but today’s leaders must have both. Try out this course from GLOBIS Unlimited to understand the difference, as well as when and why each skill is necessary for motivation, communication, and value.
Strategy: Creating Value Inside Your Company
Have you ever wondered why certain companies are more successful than others? The answer is strategy: internal processes that control costs, allocate resources, and create value. This course from GLOBIS Unlimited can give you the tools you need for that strategic edge.
Strategy: Understanding the External Environment
To plan strategy on any level, you need to understand your company's external environment. In fact, your level of understanding can impact hiring, budgeting, marketing, or nearly any other part of the business world. Want to learn how to do all that? This course from GLOBIS Unlimited is the perfect first step!
Using Japanese Values to Thrive in Global Business
Japanese companies have unique cultural, communication, and operational challenges. But they also have values that have led to remarkable longevity. Check out this seminar to hear how these values help earn trust from overseas head offices and develop employees.
Turnaround Leadership: The Differences Between Japan and the West
What's the best way for leaders to communicate a shift in corporate strategy? How do you even know when it's time for such a change? This course explains how Japan might have one answer, Western companies another.
Conflict Management
Conflicts in the workplace are inevitable. But they can lead to positive outcomes if they’re managed well. Check out this online course for a two-step process that can help you manage conflict successfully.
Evernote Founder: How Tech Startups Can Break through in Japan
Can startup models from Hollywood and Silicon Valley succeed anywhere? Phil Libin, cofounder and CEO of startup incubator All Turtles, explains how AI can solve everyday problems to bring products to market.
Women Empowerment: Lessons from Cartier
How can women overcome gender inequality and reach their leadership goals? Cartier Japan CEO June Miyachi shares her secret in this special course from GLOBIS Unlimited.
Marketing: Reaching Your Target
Every company works hard to get its products into the hands of customers. Are you doing everything you can to compete? In this course, you’ll find a winning formula to turn a product idea into real sales. Follow along through the fundamentals of the marketing mix and see how companies successfully bring products to market.
Marketing Mix
Seeing good products into the hands of customers is no easy task. The marketing mix can help. It's a collection of strategies and tactics companies utilize to get customers to purchase their products or services, and is an essential part of the overall marketing process.
The Principles of Negotiation
With the proper skills and attitude, anyone can become a successful negotiator. But first, you'll need to learn the basics to prepare for, assess, and respond to offers for the best results. GLOBIS Unlimited can help.
Negotiation: Creating Value
Want to create more shared value between yourself and your negotiation opponent? Discover how cognitive bias affects the judgment of others. Try this course from GLOBIS Unlimited to master the value of negotiation.
Finding Your Life Purpose with Ikigai
Ikigai can guide you in your quest for self-discovery. Listen to Japanese brain scientist Ken Mogi explain why and how.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Want to leverage Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a leader? Try this short course to see how the theory can be applied in practical work scenarios.
Confirmation Bias
We all subconsciously collect information that reinforces our preconceptions. It's natural . . . but it does lead to a kind of flawed decision-making called confirmation bias. To become more objective and impartial, check out this course from GLOBIS Unlimited!
An Investor's Lesson to Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs have the power to transform societies for the better. But how do you attract investors to start or grow a business? Or to sell one? Check out this seminar for the answers to these and more, straight from a master venture capitalist!
Managerial Accounting
Managerial accounting is a powerful way to measure progress, identify problems, and meet your goals. Check out this course to learn how data-backed decisions can help you run your business.
Finance Basics: 1
For a healthy mix of quantitative planning, evaluation, and management, you need solid decision-making. And finance is the secret sauce! Get the essentials of finance in this two-part course from GLOBIS Unlimited.
Basic Accounting: Financial Analysis
Want to compare your performance vs. a competitor? Or evaluate a potential vendor? Then you'll need to conduct a financial analysis. This course will teach you how to use three financial statements and evaluate financial performance in terms of profitability, efficiency, soundness, growth, and overall strength.
Career Anchors
What drives you to be good at your job?
Career anchors are based on your values, desires, motivations, and abilities. They are the immovable parts of your professional self-image that guide you throughout your career journey.
Try this short GLOBIS Unlimited course to identify which of the eight career anchors is yours!
Digital Marketing Psychology to Transform Your Business
How does digital marketing really differ from traditional marketing? How is social media changing things really? And what's going on in Asia?
Pyramid Structure
Having the pyramid structure in your communication toolkit can not only help you approach a problem, but convince others that your solution is valid. Break away from linear thinking and test your logical thinking with this course from GLOBIS Unlimited!
Leadership with Passion through Kokorozashi
The key ingredient to success? Passion.
Finding your kokorozashi will unify your passions and skills to create positive change in society. This GLOBIS Unlimited course will help you develop the values and lifelong goals you need to become a strong, passion-driven leader.
AI First Companies – Implementation and Impact
AI is changing the way companies operate. How do you structure teams to increase efficiency?
Technovate in the Era of Industry 4.0
Is Industry 4.0 is the next step of human evolution human civilization? Dr. Jorge Calvo seems to think so. Join him to learn how the past can help you set goals for an exciting future of digital innovation.
Technovate Thinking
Business leaders of tomorrow need to harness the power of technology and innovation. That means understanding algorithms and how they drive business results. Discover opportunities to make technology work for your competitive edge.
Product Life Cycle
Every product takes a natural course through the market—there's a how, when, and why customers adopt products at different stages. Check out this course from GLOBIS Unlimited to find out how a product you use every day is part of this cycle.
Logic Tree
Logical thinking is the most valuable asset any business professional can have. That's why logic trees are such a valuable tool—they can help you identify a problem, break it down, and build it back up to a solution.
MECE Principle
Using the MECE principle can help ensure you categorize without gaps or overlaps. Check out this course from GLOBIS Unlimited for a practical demonstration of how it works!
Augmented reality and virtual reality have already come a long way in the past few years. And as more and more companies are adopting the technology, what does this mean for marketers? How can marketing professionals make the most of this tech to reach their target audience? What form could virtual reality marketing take?
To answer these questions, let’s clarify some lingo first. What are the differences between augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR)?
Know Your Realities
AR, MR, and VR all simulate part or all of our environment. The differences between them lie in the level of integration with real-world environments and the level of interaction.
- VR creates a fully computer-generated environment independent of the real world.
- AR projects digital information and objects onto a physical environment.
- MR takes AR one step further, linking computer-generated objects to real-world objects and enabling interaction.
How real AR/VR feels depends on how well a simulation matches the expectations of our senses. This is where there have been the most dramatic advancements in recent years, thanks to increased computing power and high-resolution screens.
Current systems allow the user to physically move within an artificial environment (called six degrees of freedom) instead of holding a static point of view. This is what provides the sensation of “being there.” Spatial audio, haptic feedback, and other sensory stimulations enhance that sensation—the more our senses are manipulated, the more real the experience feels.
It’s also worth noting that AR/VR is not limited to goggles. Digital mirrors project objects over our own reflection, and holographic tools or interactive projections augment the real world. 5G, an upcoming ultra-fast mobile data transfer technology, will make such experiences accessible everywhere.
But what does all that mean for marketing?
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Marketing Opportunities
While the global VR/AR market was estimated at $27 billion USD in 2018, it’s forecast to grow to $209 billion USD in the next 4 years. Thousands of applications across platforms are already available within the consumer space alone. New devices will be released by Microsoft, Google, Apple, Oculus, HTC, and others in early 2021.
But those marketing the technology aren’t the only marketers who will benefit.
Marketers dream of engaging people with their brands and products, and then making those people come back for more. AR/VR makes this dream . . . well, a reality. The technology can create experiences without limits. For marketeers, this holds several advantages.
Bring your brand’s reality to life
In AR/VR you can create literally without limits: scale the universe, zoom down to atomic level, time travel. It’s the ultimate canvas to bring your brand to life and make your brand vision a (virtual) reality. IKEA’s Place app lets you project IKEA furniture into your living room to see if it will fit and explore how it will look. In other words, you experience the brand and product right within your home.
Talk to the senses
The more senses AR/VR engages, the more immersive the experience becomes. Augmented reality marketing, for example, could let people see, hear, feel, taste, and smell your brand’s reality. You can make them a part of it. Merrell’s Trailscape enhanced a VR outdoor walk with tactile elements like rope walkways and wooden planks to make the experience feel more real—all with the end game of showing what a hiking shoe could handle.
Reach out at scale
Once an AR/VR application is created, it’s applicable on a global scale. Every modern smartphone can run AR/VR applications, making every smartphone owner a potential user. Pokémon GO lets players “hunt” virtual creatures projected into the real world through a smartphone camera. The app has been downloaded more than a billion times globally, generating more than $3 billion USD as of October 2019.
Cheaper than the real thing
AR/VR applications often outlive physical experiences—they also create them at less cost. LEGO Wear’s virtual store has a physical location in London where people shop via Snapchat. Given the possibilities of AR/VR, it’s no surprise a visit there might leave a much stronger, more positive impression (and provide better ROI) than the physical experience of trying on clothes.
Try before you buy—from anywhere
AR/VR lets the user experience products and services remotely before purchasing the real thing. The customer can explore options from anywhere, which creates confidence in purchase decisions, increases conversion, and reduces returns. Volvo’s VR test drive app lets you experience driving the Volvo XC90 from the comfort of your home, at a time of your convenience.
Vast application potential
Whether B2C, B2B, or internal communications, AR/VR can help in any situation where a first-hand experience would be beneficial, but isn’t currently possible (say, in a pandemic). It can be applied to anything, from education to product demonstrations to sales pitches. Fortnite—a multiplayer online video game—hosted a virtual concert in April with the rapper Travis Scott that attracted over twelve million virtual concert goers.
New Realities Here to Stay
AR/VR hardware is becoming cheaper and better, and major platforms like YouTube, Snapchat, and Tiktok now support it. Mainstream adaptation is just around the corner.
Here are some aspects marketers might want to consider as they approach implementing AR/VR into their marketing plans:
New medium, new rules
Like the transition from TV to the internet, AR and VR are both new and very powerful, so it’s no surprise they come with new rules of engagement to explore. Besides practical considerations (how do you get people to turn their head without telling them?), we’ll need a new class of ideas to utilize the advantages to the fullest.
Explore and learn
There are myriad ways AR/VR can support your marketing efforts. Now is a good time to start exploring. The question is not if, but when you find the best way to utilize AR/VR’s benefits for your brand. The earlier you start, the earlier you will find an answer.
Integrate AR/VR
AR/VR should be part of your digital marketing strategy to maximize the value of each contact point and create continuous interactions. It requires different departments (digital, social, event, IT, data, etc.) to collaborate, so this is another area you should get started sooner, rather than later.
Find a technology partner
There is a large, established AR/VR community out there that knows how to turn your ideas into (virtual) reality. A good starting point is the International VR/AR Association, which offers news, information, and training on AR/VR, as well as an industry directory.
How to Prepare for Marketing in Simulated Reality
So back to the questions at hand: Has VR/AR evolved beyond a gimmick? And should marketeers be using it more?
The short answer is that the technology is getting there, so you should be, too.
AR/VR is becoming an important asset for the marketer’s toolbox, offering highly immersive and engaging experiences. To fully leverage the potential, you’ll need collaboration across departments, integration into other marketing activities, and exploration of the possibilities. AR/VR’s future is bright—and already much more real than the name suggests!
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