Unveiling Our New Graphic Identity and Website

Next Level

April 20, 2024 – Today, for the 14th anniversary of our foundation, we’re proud to unveil our new graphic identity and website. Our previous visual identity was designed in 2019, and this update was much needed. While we will all miss our dear old blue logo and its various flavors since our inception, the new neon lime key color is much more consistent with the innovative image and values that drive us. Our compass, symbolizing growth and North-East Asia, is slightly reshaped, but not going anywhere. The new framework also gives us much more flexibility as we highlight new services or share insights. At last, it’s also a much awaited opportunity to move to dark mode, a mostly more energy-efficient way to display information, and it’s also the occasion to release our first professional green transformation services: B Corp certification support. We hope you like it, feel free to drop us a note about it!

 

Stéphane Zadounaïsky, CEO, Next Level Japan

Other News

Yahoo! Shopping products can now be tagged in YouTube videos
LINE Yahoo announced on September 25 that Yahoo! Shopping has joined the YouTube Shopping affiliate program (MarkeZine, September 25). Eligible YouTube creators can tag Yahoo! Shopping products in videos and Shorts. Viewers tap the tag and land on the product page. Stores pay a base rate of 2–4% by category and can add a special rate of their own. YouTube says shopping-video watch time in Japan grew more than 50% year on year (internal data, April 2026).

For foreign brands in Japan, this puts Yahoo! Shopping on the same creator shelf as Amazon and Rakuten. Creators choose the store with the higher rate. Set a special rate on your hero SKUs before Q4.

▶ MarkeZine (September 25)

Yahoo_Shopping_Products_tagged_in_YouTube_video

Survey: 52.3% of Japanese respondents search with generative AI
52.3% of 9,278 respondents aged 15–69 use generative AI, including Google AI Mode, for search (AdverTimes, September 9; fielded August 7–10). The figure was 21.3% in May 2025. 58.7% say an AI recommendation led to a purchase. One survey, one vendor, but the direction is consistent with earlier waves.

For foreign brands in Japan, the AI answer is becoming a purchase touchpoint. Check how ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Mode describe your products in Japanese before Q4.

▶ AdverTimes (September 9, 2026)

Japanese Consumers Search on Generative Engines

OpenAI added product carousels to ChatGPT ads, showing several items in a single ad slot.
The format arrived three months after OpenAI let retailers bulk-create product-feed campaigns.

OpenAI’s system decides whether a query returns a single-product ad or a carousel — the advertiser does not choose. For brands in Japan, that moves the work upstream to the product feed. Japanese product names, prices, and stock status decide what appears. Audit the feed before year-end trading.

▶ DIGIDAY Japan, August 17, 2026.

ChatGPT Carousel mock-up