Japanese premium goods manufacturer sets out vision roadmap for FY2024
Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa (PMMAF) recently revealed that it is all geared up for another year of exceptional growth and expansion, building on an impressive business performance in 2023.
At a specially convened Press Conference at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai attended by the company’s top brass, the company unfurled its action plan for the new fiscal year highlighting targeted investments to expand market presence through strategic partnerships, product diversification, sustainability and genuine customer-centricity.
Aligned with its unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence, Panasonic is also moving into its next transformative chapter with key promotions in its senior leadership team, further expanding its capabilities to meet the rapidly growing demand for cutting-edge technologies across the MEA region.
Japan Excellence
With its rich heritage of developing long-lasting, reliable products that stand the test of time, the brand’s legacy ensures that Panasonic remains a trusted name, synonymous with durability and excellence in every product it creates, embodying ‘Japan Excellence’.
To meet the specific needs of customers in the region, Panasonic concentrates on four key pillars of Japan Excellence: Food & Health, Hygiene & Cleanliness, Natural Beauty, and Craftsmanship.
Celebrating Japan’s food culture and prioritizing innovative solutions that promote healthy living and enhance culinary experiences, the brand ensures that its kitchen supports a nutritious lifestyle and elevates the joy of cooking.
Committing to enhanced hygiene & cleanliness with tough-style vacuum cleaners, washer dryers and front-load washing machines that help customers uphold high standards of cleanliness effortlessly.
Maintaining natural beauty is reflected through self-care promoted through personal care and garment care products with advanced technologies.
Rooted in a tradition of meticulous craftsmanship, Panasonic ensures that every product embodies the quality for which Japan is renowned, evident in its precision blade shavers and high picture quality televisions. This dedication to craftsmanship guarantees that customers receive durable, high-quality products that offer exceptional performance and longevity.
Through these four pillars, Panasonic aims to deliver tailored solutions that address the unique preferences and requirements of its regional customers, upholding the esteemed values of ‘Japan Excellence.’
Record Results for 2023
Panasonic presented its competitiveness strategy at its annual regional convention held in Dubai, which also saw the global electronics giant reveal its business performance for FY2023.
Last year marked a significant milestone for Panasonic, with growth recorded across product segments. Leading the top-performing products last year are men’s grooming devices, the ‘Nutri Tafreez’ refrigerator series, Smart Television, Air Conditioners, Kitchen Range, Home Appliances, Women’s Beauty Products and Household Products categories registered triple-digit growth.
FY2024 at a glance
While PMMAF saw a successful year FY-2023 in business, insights into the company’s FY-2024 trajectory shows that the best is yet to come. Laying out the framework for another double-digit target this year, the company affirms its commitment to the MEA region, citing the Middle East and Africa as a high-growth market.
Its 2024 strategy hinges on four primary pillars: market expansion through strategic partnerships, product diversification, sustainability initiatives and enriched customer experience.
Management promotions
To further drive the company’s growth expectations for the region and to respond to both market and customer demands faster, a couple of significant changes have been made in PMMAF’s senior leadership team.
It will see Hiroyuki Shibutani, take a new position of CEO, and John Hardy, move to the role of COO, which is a newly created position. This development mirrors Panasonic’s core principle of embracing positive change and reinvention to drive the business forward and thrive in an evolving landscape.
“Panasonic’s ability to navigate through the needs of the changing times, while adhering to our core business philosophy – that is to help our customers live better and healthier lives – is at the heart of everything we have achieved in this region,” affirmed Shibutani.
“We at PMMAF have a renewed drive to lead the future, and as we carry out our growth plans, we will build on our century plus of market-leading innovations to position our business and our brand for our next era of growth. Equally important, we are placing an even sharper focus on our sustainability goals. Our commitment is clearer than ever – create added value for our customers, partners, stakeholders and society,” asserted Hardy.
Top PMMAF officials addressing media and special invitees and fielding questions included Hiroyuki Shibutani, John Hardy, Takashi Sasaki, Director Consumer Marketing and Anthony Peter, Director, Customer Services Division (CSD).
Up Close: The Year Ahead
Panasonic partners are central to its future growth plans. By forging high-value partnerships, Panasonic will be better empowered to provide greater accessibility to its products and solutions, deliver high-quality customer experiences, as well as uplift brand affinity and customer loyalty.
The company also plans to continue to leverage its rich history of technological expertise to develop distinctive innovations across categories. Committed to its strong R&D initiatives, Panasonic has always placed emphasis on studying local consumer lifestyles in order to create products that meet specific needs.
Doubling down
On top of this, the company aims to double its efforts of helping build better lives through customer-centric innovations. Underpinned by ‘Japan Excellence’, Panasonic will continue to strive addressing the unique needs and preferences of consumers and businesses in the region.
By harnessing the power of its digitization strategy, Panasonic also plans to boost further its digital transformation to enhance operations, customer engagement, and product offerings, leveraging data-driven insights and advanced technologies.
With sustainability as a fundamental pillar of Panasonic’s growth strategy, the company will accelerate further its already strong stance supporting positive initiatives that champion environmental protection and the optimum wellbeing of current and future generations.
Panasonic GREEN IMPACT
Also at the forefront of the company’s sustainability drive is the Panasonic Green Impact (PGI) initiative. PGI is the Panasonic Group’s long-term environmental vision for realizing a better life and a more sustainable global environment.
Under PGI, Panasonic Group is committed to achieving virtually net zero carbon dioxide emissions from its own operations by 2030 and creating an impact of more than 300 million tons of CO2 emissions reduction – approximately 1 percent of total current global emissions of 33 billion tons by 2050.
Panasonic Influencer Affiliate Programme 2024
Back for its third outing, the Panasonic Influencer Affiliate Programme (PIAP) has become an important part of Panasonic’s growth strategy. A competition, open to social media influencers based across the Middle East, PIAP aims to partner with digital content creators who can use their passion in creating content to engage, educate and empower their community about Panasonic innovations.
New Products and Solutions Unveiled
Also in the spotlight at the event were 74 new products to support Panasonic’s mission in 2024. Highlighting the ethos of ‘Create Today. Enrich Tomorrow’, the new innovations have been developed to bring ‘Japan Excellence’ to people’s homes and businesses.
The event, attended by business associates from over 27 countries and media, also featured a showcase of Panasonic’s expansive range of products in the AC, AV, Kitchen & Home Appliances and Health & Beauty.
