Marketing automation is new in Japan, and it’s taking a lot of Japanese companies off guard. For decades, sales in Japan have been done by armies of salarymen in navy-blue suits visiting clients and marketing, well until recently, most Japanese companies didn’t make much of a distinction between marketing and advertising. This week, we get a chance to sit down and talk with Sunao Munakata, the founder of Innova. Sunao and his company are at the very heart of the rapid transition from simple advertising to content marketing and marketing automation.  We explore the trends driving this change and where its leading. Sunao also give a lot of practical advice about what questions you need to ask in order to tell a good content marketing company from a bad one, and he also explains some of the basics of running a successful content marketing strategy in Japan. There is a lot of information distilled into only 30 minutes, and I think you’ll enjoy it. Show Notes for Startups Why large Japanese companies still  don’t get marketing automation What's holding back marketing automation in Japan How to tell a good content marketing company from a bad one How the role of the salesman is changing in Japan Why traditional Japanese companies never worried about marketing at all Why so many of Japan's founders come from Rakuten Sunao's own winding path to entrepreneurship How lifetime employment is killing innovation in Japan The best content marketing strategies in Japan Links from the Founder Innova Home Page Sunao's Blog Follow Sunao on Twitter @sunaomunakata Friend him on Facebook And check out Sunao's book on marketing in Japan (Japanese)  Leave a comment Transcript from Japan Welcome to disrupting Japan. Straight talk from Japan's most most successful entrepreneurs. I am Tim Romero, and thanks for listening. Traditional Sales and Marketing Strategies are beginning to break down in Japan. For about half a century sales was done by legions of men in blue suits and white shirts. Marketing was done well by Dentsu mostly, but this is changing. Sales and Marketing are becoming at the same time more distributed, but also more streamline and cost effective. Now, some companies are fighting this change, but they are on the losing side of that battle, and most of them know it. Today we sit down with Sunao Munakata, the Founder of Innova. He and his company are at the very hart of this change. We will talk about the big picture changes of course, but Sunao also has some very practical advice about what question Founders and Marketing Managers need to ask in order to tell a good Content Marketing Company from a bad one. He also explains the basics behind a successful Content Marketing Strategy here in Japan. You know, Innova is a fascinating company that almost didn't get started, but I will let Sunao tell you that story in his own words. Let's get right to the interview. INTERVIEW: Tim: I am sitting here with Sunao Munakata of Innova. Which specializes in Marketing Automation and Content Creation. That is a high-level explanation. Why don't you give us a little more details on what you guys do. Sunao: Okay. We are helping out companies doing the Online Marketing. By providing Marketing Automation and also helping companies to create Content which is relevant for their potential customers. Content Marketing is actually becoming a kind of buzzword these days because people are trying to find information by themselves. Tim: Actually, let's dig down on both of those concepts separately.