Situation

Analysing and comparing video culture across countries from a single global perspective, the team found Japan's distinctive video styles, social trends and UGC culture hard to grasp. There was also a shortage of people who could extract culturally grounded insights and turn them into reports that could be shared in English.

What agitoy handled

As a “cultural translator” for Japanese video culture, agitoy analysed user-generated content and social media phenomena from multiple angles and made them visible to the global team, with their cultural context intact. Reports combined intuitive, qualitative reading with structured trend analysis based on quantitative data.

What we did

• Curation and selection for the Japanese edition of YouTube's Trending tab
• Analysis of spread patterns and meme structures on TikTok and other platforms
• Qualitative and quantitative trend reports, monthly and quarterly
• Definition and articulation of tendencies characteristic of Japanese video culture
• Reports and presentations in English
• Team and cadence
• Weekly meetings to share progress and perspectives with analysts at US headquarters
• Annual participation in the team meeting at US headquarters
• Rapid mini-reports on “what is happening right now,” as needed

Outcomes

The accuracy and speed of interpreting Japanese trends improved, and so did the quality of international comparison reports

A method for adjusting analytical perspectives to local culture took shape, producing knowledge applicable to other markets

Reports became stronger at capturing “culture” — usually intuitive and hard to pin down — in both language and structure