Senior Marketing Manager (Japan)

Keywords Studios is seeking a strategic and highly collaborative Senior Marketing Manager to oversee and optimize marketing strategies for the Japanese market. This role serves as the Japan representative for global marketing, ensuring effective deployment of the company's brand, messaging, and Go-to-Market activities in line with the expectations of Japanese gaming industry partners. The position reports to the Global Marketing Director and collaborates closely with the Japan Country Manager, Create leadership, sales teams, and regional/global marketing personnel. This role is crucial for enhancing Keywords' presence in Japan, improving marketing communication quality, and supporting business growth across all service lines.

Must Have

• Develop and execute Japan-specific marketing strategies aligned with global objectives.
• Localize global messaging, brand positioning, and value propositions for Japanese audiences.
• Act as the primary marketing contact in Japan, representing Create, Globalize, and Engage functions.
• Lead content strategy and asset production, creating creative briefs for localized assets.
• Manage the Japanese version of the website, ensuring content is updated and SEO-optimized.
• Manage and grow local corporate social media channels (X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook).
• Lead planning and execution of key local events, especially Tokyo Game Show (TGS).
• Plan and execute paid advertising campaigns, managing budget and reporting ROI.
• Track KPIs for campaign performance, content utilization, and marketing-sourced pipeline contribution.
• Provide strategic input to sales on positioning, storytelling, and differentiation.
• Maintain a library of localized marketing assets for the sales team.
• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field.
• 7+ years of marketing experience (gaming, entertainment, digital marketing, or technology preferred).
• Proven track record of developing and executing integrated marketing campaigns in Japan.
• Deep understanding of the Japanese gaming and entertainment industry.
• Experience bridging local needs with global creative teams.
• Experience managing corporate social media accounts and CMS.
• Experience implementing and reporting on paid advertising campaigns.
• Native-level Japanese and business-level English.

Good to Have

• Experience in a creative agency or marketing services related to LiveOps, publishing support, or digital content.
• Knowledge of game development, production, or B2B service marketing.
• Certifications in digital marketing, analytics, or campaign management.

Company Overview

Keywords Studios is a global creative and technical services provider specializing in the video game industry. With over 13,000 professionals across more than 70 studios in over 25 countries, we offer three core service lines that support the entire game development lifecycle:

• Create — Game development, art production, audio production
• Globalize — Voice and text localization, localization testing, functional testing
• Engage — Marketing, LiveOps, community, user acquisition

In Japan, Keywords Studios provides all Create, Globalize, and Engage service lines, supporting major publishers, developers, agencies, and IP holders with both domestic and international teams. We have established localization, QA, player support, and marketing functions, including the Tokyo-based development studio Wizcorp, serving many influential companies in Japan's game and entertainment industry. As Japan is one of the world's most important and culturally influential markets in interactive entertainment, we are strengthening our marketing leadership in Japan to effectively adapt, localize, and execute our global strategy for our Japanese partners.

Job Description

Position Summary

We are seeking a strategic and highly collaborative Senior Marketing Manager to oversee and optimize marketing strategy for the Japanese market. As the Japan representative for the global marketing function, this role ensures the effective deployment of our brand, messaging, and Go-to-Market activities in line with the expectations of Japanese gaming industry partners.

This position reports to the Global Marketing Director and works closely with the Japan Country Manager, Create leadership, sales teams, and regional/global marketing personnel. As a strategic bridge between Japan and the Group Marketing function, you will collaborate with the central team to define asset requirements and leverage the global design team to produce high-quality, localized or customized creative assets for the Japanese market.

This role plays a crucial part in strengthening presence in Japan, improving the quality and consistency of marketing communications, and supporting business growth across all service lines. By translating global marketing strategies into culturally resonant, market-specific executions, the Senior Marketing Manager will directly contribute to our continued business expansion in one of our most important regions.

Key Responsibilities

Japan Market Marketing Strategy & Localization

• Develop and execute Japan-specific marketing strategies aligned with global objectives.
• Localize global messaging, brand positioning, and value propositions for Japanese audiences.
• Highlight market insights, opportunities, trends, and competitor activities to global stakeholders.

Cross-Service Line Collaboration & Marketing Representation

• Act as the primary marketing contact in Japan, representing Create, Globalize, and Engage functions and services.
• Collaborate with sales, Create leadership, and regional service lines to ensure a unified market positioning.
• Support the development of customized integrated proposals and solution packages for Japanese clients.

Marketing Content, Campaigns & Brand Presence

• Asset Management & Production: Lead content strategy and asset production processes. Create creative briefs and collaborate with Group Marketing and internal design teams to deliver high-quality localized assets, presentation materials, case studies, one-pagers, and custom creatives for the Japanese market.
• Website Management: Manage the Japanese version of the website, ensuring content is up-to-date, culturally appropriate, SEO-optimized, and aligned with global brand standards.
• Social Media: Manage and grow local corporate social media channels (X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.), responsible for community engagement and Japanese copywriting.
• Events (Tokyo Game Show): Lead the planning and execution of key local events, especially Tokyo Game Show (TGS), consulting with Group Marketing on budget, branding, and strategic objectives.
• Paid Advertising: Plan and execute paid advertising campaigns to achieve specific business goals, including budget management and ROI reporting.

Reporting, Analysis & Continuous Improvement

• Track KPIs such as campaign performance, content utilization, and marketing-sourced pipeline contribution.
• Asset Performance: Understand the performance of specific creative assets and messages through data analysis, providing insights for future design briefs and campaign strategies.
• Regular reporting to the Global Marketing Director and Japan leadership team.
• Continuously identify opportunities to enhance brand presence and market impact in Japan.

Sales Support & Collaboration

• Work with the sales team to ensure proposals, messaging, and presentations reflect a clear and consistent market position tailored to Japanese client expectations.
• Provide strategic input during key business opportunities where a marketing perspective is valuable (e.g., positioning, storytelling, differentiators).
• Maintain a library of localized marketing assets, case studies, and presentation materials easily accessible and usable by the sales team.
• Coordinate with sales leadership to ensure marketing activities reinforce commercial priorities and upcoming initiatives.

Qualifications

Requirements

Essential Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field.
• 7+ years of marketing experience (preferably in gaming, entertainment, digital marketing, or technology industries).
• Proven track record of developing and executing integrated marketing campaigns in Japan.
• Deep understanding of the Japanese gaming and entertainment industry.
• Experience bridging local needs with global creative teams (briefing designers, managing localization workflows).
• Experience managing corporate social media accounts and website content management systems (CMS).
• Experience implementing and reporting on paid advertising campaigns.
• Native-level Japanese and business-level English.

Desired Requirements

• Experience in a creative agency or marketing services related to LiveOps, publishing support, or digital content.
• Knowledge of game development, production, or B2B service marketing.
• Certifications in digital marketing, analytics, or campaign management.

Additional Information

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