As we emphasise self-care in September because shortening days can make it a tough time for some of us, it could be useful to revisit a fast-paced interview I gave on the BBC last week with Toby Foster about Imposter Syndrome. You can hear the interview on catch-up, from 1:55. Read More
Confidence! Shocking bouncers and event organisers with my somewhat casual attire, I walked into Spencer House in central London for a cocktail and canapes evening in honour of the international investment group Shore Capital. Read More
Buckle up, because we've got quite the adventure lined up over the next four weeks. From Leeds to the bustling city of London, and some surprising new events in Sheffield, there’s a lot of excitement this month. Read More
As a business owner, it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of your company and forget about the impact you have on the world around you. That being said, it's important to remember that you have the power to choose what kind of impact you want to make. Read More
In whichever field or industry you’re in, inspiration flows through us and shows up in a whole collection of different ways, and not always when you ask it to. Sometimes it arrives like a striking bolt and other times leaves you feeling stuck in a rut. So, what could you do to keep your inspiration and creativity in a steady flow? Here are a few things I recommend relying on… Read More
Do you have enough knowledge to make an informed decision about the direction of your marketing?
Our team of experts have a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of marketing, from branding to social media management, and they build solutions that will help you stand out from the competition... Read More
Embracing identity in marketing is important for audiences to experience brands for their individuality and uniqueness. Giving your audience a positive experience creates huge opportunities; greater levels of trust, consumer loyalty and advocacy. Read More
Happy New Year!
We predict this to be the year that positive impact businesses and startups thrive! 2023 is the year of the ウサギ, Usagi or Rabbit. Chief characteristics include high energy, conviviality and resourcefulness. Rabbits often live peacefully in groups, representing the “well-being of a family” and “great progress in business” because of the way they leap forward. Progress and positive change could be major themes for the coming here. Read More
It's not soap. It's an aromatic cleansing bar! Walking up to the Taj Hotel at St James last Sunday for my whirlwind trip in London, 10 meters from the entrance a doorman rushes over. "Please let me take that for you, sir". I follow him into the hotel and he gives me a ticket, "Please show this to reception and they'll have your bags sent up to your room". At the reception, a very petite lady with a large warm smile greets me and asks for my name. "You're staying with us again!" she almost joyously exclaims. Read More
Future Forecasting is vital, even more so in challenging times. From the branding and marketing front, we've seen both B2B and B2C behaviours dramatically change with new channel preferences, greater emphasis on values, and consumer confidence being lost by many of the older, bigger brands and gained by the newer challenger brands. This is where the real work begins. Read More
"Ding! That's it! That's the name!" Exclaimed a very excited and happy client. This weekend I took a long-term client for a 6-hour walk in nature. I wanted to take them somewhere unfamiliar because, as all creatives know too well, new environments produce new ideas. I used various tools from my toolbox along the way to understand what would look, sound and feel right for them. Read More
At the British Embassy in Tokyo earlier this afternoon, speaking with the Head of the Digital Trade Network, I explained that a little under six years ago we launched a digital training academy in Kyoto. This was the birth of our business development in Japan. At the time I was told that this was impossible, especially for a start-up to break into the Japanese market. It reminded me of this phrase, "Be brave enough to be rubbish at something new." I really like this phrase because it appreciates what's needed, confidence. Read More
Time for a break? Perhaps a little R&R in a warmer climate? Go on, you deserve it! If you’re currently in a sprint like me, ensure that at the end there’s some well-planned time for you to recuperate and reflect. This month is jam-packed with exciting new projects, events, media appearances and international travel. We’re launching our first live event at Ikigai House. We’ll be hosting The Intelligence Forums in our newly decorated events space and yard, welcoming Founders and CEOs from around the country to hear from some superlative speakers, and enjoy some well-formed debates, followed by sake, nibbles, and networking. Read More
Ask better questions and you’ll get better answers. This is one of my favourite mantras. We all know the power of asking the right questions, particularly when we ask disempowering ones of ourselves. Your brain listens. What you ask yourself will direct your focus and whatever you focus on not only alters your perception, it also becomes material. Don’t just be careful what you wish for. Be careful what you ask for. Read More
The art of the possible begins with the openness to embrace the unknown. It takes bravery and perhaps the adoption of an explorer’s mindset to welcome the benefits of the possible. If we do what we’ve already done based on our current or past knowledge of the challenges we want to overcome, logically we’ll only arrive back where we originally began. Read More
Keep moving forward. This edition of the Mantra Monthly is packed with useful insights that will give you food for thought for your business and strategically planning for the future you want. Read More
Are you sowing seeds for the crops you want to cultivate? It's that time of the year, for those of us that like to grow things, (and if you own a business I'm sure you do!) to begin sowing your seeds. Read More
Bon matin, buongiorno, ohayō, good morning! When I was 13 years old I was enlisted into the Air Training Corps at RAF Newton where I learned to... Read More
As we tumble back into the festive season (perhaps after a few too many themed cocktails) and the end of 2021 is in sight... Read More
Rent a suit, rent a dog, rent a family (you can do the last one in Japan). The sharing/renting economy will continue to boom in 2022... Read More
How are you choosing to spend your time? Do you love what you do? Does it challenge you? Read More
One lesson that we all may have learned over the past year, is that we can do things differently. The way we work, relate to one another and communicate with the world around us... Read More
What if? If you can dream it, whatever 'it' is, becomes possible. Following the same patterns of activity only produces the same outcomes right?!... Read More
Are you celebrating or even noticing how innovative you can be? You needn't be colonising MARS to have an innovative mind... Read More
How do you know when you've got the right life balance for you? A good barometer for me is whether I have anything left in the proverbial petrol tank. If I'm running on empty, I haven't been listening... Read More
If you’re interested in seeing loyalty for brands over generations, post-Olympics you should visit Japan... Read More
I feel that it's safe to summarise that our business community is driven by a need to leave the world a little better than how we found it... Read More
There’s a misconception that being creative also means you either need to be wildly idiosyncratic and/or suffer for your art. Images of Kafka, Kahlo, and Picasso come to mind. We know that this isn’t accurate and that creativity in art and commerce can arise from a plethora of circumstances... Read More
It feels like there's a gentle optimism for the year ahead. The installation of a new president, a wonderfully wholesome meme of Bernie Sanders, and a fast-paced start to a new year. We feel that the theme of ambition is a strong way to begin. Read More
Bourbon or brandy? How about a martini, on the rocks, or perhaps a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or citrus sake? Wherever you are in the world, enjoying this edition, settle into that comfy chair, zabuton or a chaise longue if you're into the classics, there's heaps of positivity coming your way from us, our clients, friends and partners. Read More
To be effective in business, entrepreneurial minds require an unceasing sense of hope that they can breathe life into their ideas. Ideas that once made material, can solve problems, create opportunities and bring people together. At Mantra, we’re gifted with the opportunity to meet entrepreneurs, charity CEOs, community activists, inspired members of local government and business leaders with new seeds to plant, needing nurture, and investing them with their hopes for the future they imagine building. Read More
Let's start with happy beginnings. This month, we've welcomed the opportunity to deliver talks to small businesses, heritage brands in Kyoto, women in business groups and forward-thinking public sector collectives who are keen to break barriers and build in new markets. We've been featured in Forbes, commissioned to deliver yet more talks to designers and artists in Kyoto and Paris, begun working with a local authority supporting Yorkshire families, and we've relaunched our sister brand; Atelier Japan. Read More
What can businesses today learn from an old market town in North Derbyshire in 1861?
This month our focus theme is sustainability, that popular buzzword that business owners proudly brandish on their values documentation and campaigners strive for as many governments still seem confused about what the term actually means. Read More
Next Step - Innovate!
“You can’t solve a problem on the same level that it was created. You have to rise above it to the next level.” – Albert Einstein
As we recover, recharge and heal from a turbulent time, many nations have already begun the race to be the fastest recovering economy. We feel it's time to pull up our socks, roll up our sleeves and focus on what's important. Read More
Navigating Turbulent Times
More often than not, the more we give, the more that is reciprocated. This month we decided it was time to give a lot of value without an ask and to support businesses with good foundational SEO practices, and the response has been far greater than expected. From Geneva to Sydney, London to Berlin, our free SEO tool has already proven to be a success with businesses, charities, and social enterprises across the globe. Read More
There's enough gloom being shared in the world so if you don't mind, I'm going to change direction and look at a few things through a lens of optimism. Read More
Only time will tell, although it already feels like it and as lockdown is beginning to lift, it's helping us get a bit more of that very much needed Vitamin D. As New Zealand, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Japan appear to be showing us the way forward through best practice in this challenge... Read More
concentrating on the long term and understanding that the creative spirit of commerce and art will always find a way. We’re all riding what appears to be the middle of the storm and if you’re paying attention to Switzerland and Lithuania today, the end definitely seems in sight... Read More
Where we are now, this will pass. The constant we all face is change. Sometimes it's a change we enjoy, a new apartment, puppy or a particularly good portioned surprise slice of cake, (You can tell what's on my mind) or the change that feels more like a challenge, an obstacle that we have to overcome, a happening that forces us to grow... Read More
Travelling from Russell Square to Somerset House in the unseasonal/seasonal snow after a quick ほうじ茶 ‘Hōjicha’ with Dr Miyazaki, a PHD graduate who recently built an impressive research and analytical system for brand and product communications analysis and positioning, I’m struck with... Read More
Our office turned into a building and our team into departments. We followed our hearts, led from the front and believed in doing the right thing no matter the cost, our ethics always leading our actions and directing our approach. It's all about the long game. Read More
Yearly planners at the ready, a new year and a new decade are upon us. 2020 is already proving to be an exciting year for both soft power and commerce, from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to the World Expo in Dubai and a few elections, 'you might have heard mentioned...' Read More
Last month, you may have caught us on Japanese Television or in the national dailies, at an embassy or two, inspiring students at a U.K university, sponsoring a business expo, joining a business panel or supporting investment opportunities for scaling businesses. Read More
Waking up near Russell Square, my business partner Masa, calls me from the adjacent room. You're in Japan's national newspaper! It's not what I expected this Tuesday morning, a welcome surprise for sure and some heavy-hitting brand awareness for the Mantra family. Yesterday we set up the retail spaces around London alongside the Exhibition at the British Museum... Read More
If you've been with us along the journey over the past half a decade, you would have seen us deliver training to organisations around the globe, from Warsaw to Kyoto, London to Brisbane. Part and parcel of a great training experience is the environment in which you learn. The lighting, desks, quality of the projector, quality of the paper, space and of course... Read More
Listening to the challenges and opportunities felt by foreign investors and government officials is useful when trying to build a macro image of how cities work, 'or don't' and how businesses can take on a bigger role to create better-shared spaces, greater sector integration, community cohesion, and conviviality... Read More
Sat at the relaxed central bar in the St Pancras Renaissance, I’m feeling a little astonished at how fast June has passed and the whirlwind of adventures we were able to fit in one month. At this speed, I feel a little like an entrepreneurial version of the Flash, minus the red spandex.
June saw us welcome a new Marketing Administrator to Mantra... Read More
Happy Reiwa! Today marks the beginning of a new era in Japan as a new emperor is enthroned and people celebrate the new beginning, and a fresh outlook on their relationships with other countries across the globe. The current administration has announced investment plans and strategies to attract businesses from abroad to relocate. Tempted? Read More
Time flies, and it appears this Shinkansen (Bullet Train) I'm currently writing from, travelling from Nagoya to Tokyo could too. The Shinkansen can travel up to 375mph yet the journey is so smooth you don't really feel like you're travelling at all and this year has felt the same. Time appears to be accelerating by yet it feels like no time has passed. Read More
January has been an incredible month for the Mantra team with some very exciting new clients across the globe, from a Japanese Guitar Brand, (Yes! We had the pleasure of designing guitars!) to a very saucy culinary adventure and a luxury seating/cushion company... Read More