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rakuten

Inside job: '30,000 people, but still a start-up', says CMO Naho Kono on Rakuten’s human-first marketing
cmo interviews editors picks inhousing inside job naho kono rakuten thelongview

From AI cutting time spent on creative work by 81% to building loyalty across 70+ businesses, Naho Kono shares how Rakuten keeps marketing fresh with an agile, personal, and always human-first outlook.

Asia-Pacific Power List 2025: Naho Kono, Rakuten
apac asia asia pacific cmo marketing naho kono power list rakuten By Staff Reporters

Kono drives both business growth and positive social impact at Rakuten, where her strategic vision, focus on innovation, and commitment to DE&I make her a standout leader.

Asia-Pacific Power List 2024: Naho Kono, Rakuten
apac asia asia pacific cmo marketing naho kono power list rakuten By Staff Reporters

Kono continues to make business breakthroughs for Rakuten and has achieved impressive brand awareness metrics. She has also been instrumental in integrating AI into the company’s ecosystem in the past year.

The CMO's MO: From AI integration to environmental advocacy, Rakuten's CMO on tech-driven change
rakuten the cmos mo thecmosmo By Nikita Mishra

Rakuten's CMO is efficiency in action, with her speed strategy in consuming YouTube as unique as her leadership and innovations.

Asia-Pacific Power List 2023: Naho Kono, Rakuten
apac asia asia pacific cmo marketing naho kono power list rakuten By Staff Reporters

Naho Kono has led Rakuten’s ecosystem to success, boasting over 39 million monthly active users in Japan alone. She has also spearheaded projects to utilise first-party data and improve UI/UX.

Inside the making of Rakuten’s Super Bowl ad
rakuten super bowl By Sabrina Sanchez

The shopping and rewards platform’s creative team shares how it worked entirely in-house to conceive, create and produce the Clueless-inspired spot.

Asia-Pacific Power List 2022: Naho Kono, Rakuten
cmo naho kono power list rakuten By Staff Reporters

A long-serving veteran with the company, Kono heads marketing teams for businesses which generate trillions of yen annually in gross merchandise sales; is a champion for diversity and inclusion; and is one of the leading women in ecommerce in Japan.

How marketers are using tech and data as travel resumes
google rakuten stb travel By Shawn Lim

Travel brands such as STB are future-proofing their post-Covid businesses by way of Web3, virtual tools, and other technologies to woo tourists.

Asia-Pacific Power List 2021: Naho Kono, Rakuten
apac asia asia pacific cmo marketing naho kono power list rakuten By Staff Reporters

Rakuten has been charting new territory since April 2020, when it became the first retailer to launch a fully fledged telecoms business, and Naho Kono has played a key role in steering the ship to success.

Why Rakuten’s Tencent tie-up is a game changer for content commerce
ecommerce rakuten tencent By Avery Booker

Rakuten is in the midst of a global expansion that has seen it make inroads in the U.S. and Europe.

APAC consumers more likely to support brands that aid frontliners
consumer behaviour rakuten top of the charts By Staff Reporters

Research from Rakuten shows that purchase behaviour could be informed by brands’ response to the pandemic.

Asia-Pacific Power List 2020: Naho Kono, Rakuten
apac asia asia pacific cmo marketing naho kono power list rakuten By Staff Reporters

Kono has achieved several milestones at Rakuten, including the youngest woman to be appointed an executive officer, due in part to the way she has driven mobile innovation.

Stuart McLennan to lead Rakuten Advertising in APAC
apac rakuten By Rahul Sachitanand

Former DAN media and performance leader in APAC tasked with extending business deeper into Asia

Rakuten launches advertising offensive
amazon ecommerce rakuten

TECH BITES: Rakuten is pooling its resources into one advertising portal for the first time, amid growing competition from the likes of Amazon.

Rakuten and Singapore AI company Sqreem to tackle behavioural targeting
rakuten By Staff Reporters

TECH BITES: New joint venture, Rakuten Sqreem, aims to use AI-based pattern analysis to target ads in the cookie-less era.

Japan's top local brands: Legacy and innovation sustain Toyota, Sony and Panasonic
rakuten sony Uniqlo By David Blecken

The automotive giant’s ‘mobility’ proposition seems to have been well received.

Rakuten launches North America push, with Steph Curry and puppies
rakuten us By Oliver McAteer

The brand begins an aggressive marketing campaign by ad agency Duncan Channon.

Q&A: Lessons Shopify is learning in Japan
amazon ecommerce japan rakuten shopify By David Blecken

The commerce platform's country manager explains why Japan is its first non-English market, how it's localising its offering and marketing, and what it's learning from Japanese users.

Panasonic sees home sharing as a way to market appliances
rakuten By David Blecken

Japan's fast growing short-term rental sector could help the company sell more beauty products.

Amazon and Lazada click with consumers
amazon ecommerce lazada rakuten shopee taobao zalora By Robert Sawatzky

Not all ecommerce brands are capitalising on the steady rise in online shopping. Top players Amazon, Lazada and Taobao saw strong gains but others like Ebay, Rakuten, Zalora and Flipkart still have work to do.

The state of Japan's new economy
japan rakuten By David Blecken

Marc Benioff, John Zimmer and Shinjiro Koizumi were among the speakers at the New Economy Summit 2018 in Tokyo discussing Japan's future. Here are some key takeaways:

Why Rakuten launched a big-data marketing consultancy
Dentsu digital marketing rakuten tv By David Blecken

The company aims to hold TV accountable at last, pushing Dentsu out of its comfort zone.

5 brands/sectors to watch in Japan in 2018
rakuten By David Blecken

Our pick of companies set to drive an increase in marketing activity in their respective fields.

Rakuten signs content and marketing deal with NBA
basketball ecommerce nba rakuten By David Blecken

The Japanese ecommerce firm will have exclusive distribution rights for live games in Japan.

Can US tech giants learn something from Rakuten?
rakuten By David Blecken

A branding expert asks if Rakuten’s partnership with HomeAway could be a precursor of innovation from the likes of Facebook.

Rakuten and Dentsu form new marketing solutions firm
Dentsu marketing rakuten By Olivia Parker

The combined venture, titled Rakuten Data Marketing Co. Ltd., will commence operations on 1 October.

The brand battle for Japan’s holiday rentals market is just beginning
japan rakuten By David Blecken

Rakuten is looking to HomeAway’s brand to help it compete following the approval of a law to regulate vacation rental services.

Man's place among the machines: NEST2017 highlights
ai japan rakuten By David Blecken

Campaign attended the fifth New Economy Summit (NEST) in Tokyo on 7 April. Here are the key takeaways.

What global marketing looks like at Rakuten
ecommerce rakuten By David Blecken

Rakuten's sponsorship of FC Barcelona is an indication of its level of global ambition. Here's a look at how the marketer who helped negotiate the deal is working to fulfil that.

Animal product controversy casts shadow on Rakuten's Barça sponsorship
rakuten sales By David Blecken

Prohibiting ivory sales outright would smooth the way for a Japanese retail brand with big ambitions for global growth.

Japaneseness resurgent
culture mastercard nissin rakuten Uniqlo By John Woodward

Japanese consumers want to celebrate their own culture. International brands should look even more at localizing as the country’s prosperity rebounds.

Will the third time be the charm for Rakuten in China?
china japan rakuten By Jenny Chan 陳詠欣

SHANGHAI - Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten is taking a third shot at the Chinese market through a new investment in online rebate specialist Fanli, following unsuccessful forays with online travel agent Ctrip and search leader Baidu.

Ivory and dolphin meat: Rakuten’s sales policy raises questions
brand health check rakuten By Staff Reporters

BRAND HEALTH CHECK: Trade in illegal animal goods shows the brand has work to do to become a truly global player.

Facebook buys WhatsApp: It's neither the medium nor the message, it’s the messaging
asia china marketing rakuten wechat whatsapp By Jason Wincuinas

Facebook’s $19 billion buy speaks loud and clear about the value of messaging in the worlds of social media, branding and very big business.

Rakuten to enable sharing via Pinterest
pinterest rakuten By David Blecken

TOKYO – Rakuten has followed up on its purchase of a share in Pinterest by incorporating the service into three of its sites.

Text 100 Asia-Pacific wins PR and digital pitch for Rakuten
asia pacific rakuten By Benjamin Li

ASIA-PACIFIC - Online retailer Rakuten has chosen Text 100 Asia-Pacific as its PR and digital communications consultancy for this region.

Taobao, Yahoo Japan team up for e-commerce deal
alibaba baidu china digital japan rakuten yahoo By Anita Davis

BEIJING - Alibaba Group has taken a further step to extend its Taobao brand internationally by inking an e-retail partnership deal with Yahoo Japan that allows Taobao to provide 50 million Chinese product listings on Yahoo Shopping.

E-commerce giant Rakuten partners with Brightcove for online video
digital japan rakuten By David Blecken

TOKYO - Rakuten, Japan's largest e-commerce operator, has appointed online video specialist Brightcove to act as the supporting platform for promotional videos on its Rakuten Ichiba virtual shopping mall.