5 Strategic Lessons for Brands Expanding in Japan, Korea & China

Charles Lavoie

Chief Revenue Officer

Published on February 12, 2026

Across Japan, Korea, and China, clients tend to ask similar questions. What ROAS should we expect? How should pricing be positioned? When is the right time to enter a market or channel?

Every brand is different and there is no single playbook. Still, after driving APAC growth strategies for over 15 years and working with brands across the region, certain patterns repeat and consistently influence outcomes.

1. What ROAS should you expect from influencer campaigns?

What ROAS should you expect from influencer campaigns in Japan, Korea, or China?

This is a question I hear often, since many business models and forecasts rely on ROAS.

The answer is not simple. The right briefing, influencer selection, audience alignment, and creative execution matter. Other factors also play a role, including pricing mechanics, campaign timing, and sometimes a degree of luck.

In practice, it often comes down to LTV economics. For example, for a CPG brand with a repurchase rate above 20%, we typically set ROAS targets based on direct attribution. Over time, when repeat purchases are included, we often see ROAS in the range of 3 to 5.

ROAS targets only make sense when aligned with repeat purchase behaviour and long-term value.

2. Align product benefits with price positioning

Pricing expectations and performance are closely linked.

Are your product and brand benefits aligned with your price positioning?

One of the biggest challenges I see is misalignment between desired positioning and what brands actually offer customers. This becomes even more critical when entering a new market.

Key questions to ask:

How are brands in your category perceived?
What price brackets exist across the market pyramid?
What can your brand realistically offer to meet or exceed expectations?

Entering a new market requires not only a strong product but clarity on where you sit in the price value equation. Misalignment creates confusion, weakens performance, and can dilute brand equity.

Price positioning works when product benefits and market expectations align clearly.

3. If you don’t like the story, change the narrative

Metrics should reflect real business outcomes.

We recently worked with a brand focused heavily on ROAS. At first glance this makes sense since ROAS is clear and measurable.

Looking deeper, their products had very different contribution margin profiles.

High ROAS on low margin products looked strong on paper but did not drive profitability. Meanwhile, campaigns for higher margin products with slightly lower ROAS were delivering greater value.

By reframing the discussion, we aligned marketing decisions with actual business results. The outcome was better decision making, smarter resource allocation, and stronger profitability.

The right success metric depends on business economics, not just performance dashboards.

4. Livestreaming is not one format. It is multiple strategies.

Since we first started testing this media format a few years ago, livestreaming has emerged as a powerful way for brands to connect with consumers.

While the medium stays the same, livestream sessions can serve very different goals and KPIs. Based on sessions we have produced, here are 5 common formats:

Education

A professional guitar player showing the community how to improve their skills and get more from their instrument.

Conversion

Partnership with a top livestreamer to reach a large audience and generate sales with low CAC.

Interaction

Branded initiatives with games and activities to make the purchasing experience more engaging.

Loyalty

Sharing recipes or usage ideas to increase product value and strengthen community.

Endorsement

Collaboration with a celebrity to bring legitimacy and awareness to a new product.

Success starts with aligning expectations and objectives before the session begins. Livestreaming succeeds when the format matches the objective, not when every session follows the same approach.

5. When is the best time to enter a new market or channel?

Timing market entry can feel similar to timing the stock market. Predicting the future is difficult, but retail trends often reveal patterns.

To avoid entering too early or too late, we study inflection points across countries and platforms.

Examples from Asia’s e-commerce evolution:

Brands that joined Tmall around 2014 positioned themselves well for growth.
Early adopters of Douyin around 2020 captured rapid expansion and lower competition.

Identifying when a market or platform is ready can make the difference between leading the wave and missing it. Market timing is less about prediction and more about recognising when momentum is already forming.

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