Episode #49: Frank Foley ex Managing Director, HarperCollins Japan

Frank Foley, founder of the Next Big Thing and former Managing Director of HarperCollins Japan, provides a detailed account of working inside Japan’s publishing and media industry through his experience with multinational corporations including HarperCollins and News Corporation. Mr. Foley first got his start as a publishing officer at the Australia Japan Research Centre which led him to land a job at the publishing company HarperCollins Japan. This then led Mr. Foley to work for News Corporation, an American multinational mass media company owned by Rupert Murdoch. At News Corporation, Mr. Foley liaised between the media company and its Japanese partners using his language skills and knowledge of Japanese culture. Mr. Foley was involved in many start-up projects investing in satellite television through News Corporation, sitting in on meetings involving Mr. Murdoch, Soft Bank founder Son Masayoshi and executives of Fuji TV.

Working as a country manager for News Broadcasting Japan (later Fox International Channels), Mr. Foley led a team of 40 people after being in charge of massive downsizing. In addition to the task of downsizing which Mr. Foley recalls as a “traumatic experience,” he found it challenging to ensure his employees were highly engaged and working strategically towards a common goal. Being a liaison between head office and Japan was another major challenge to bridge the cultural differences between various parties. When leading the downsizing operation, Mr. Foley learned the importance of communicating the “why” behind the restructuring to maintain transparency and trust with his remaining team members, as well as investing in a strong HR department with empathetic, approachable people.

After working in News Corporation for close to 20 years, Mr. Foley discovered he was not a “TV person” but inclined more towards business development and brand management. He then moved on to HIT Entertainment to work on brand business development for Thomas the Tank Engine. On his fascination with branding, Mr. Foley explains: “I realized [what] I really liked about those brands was…the brand itself, not TV specifically, but about the brand and how it fitted with the lifestyle of Japanese people, and you can see the possibilities that go way beyond the actual business that you're in. So I…was very interested in moving from a specific operational business [to one], where you're really working with the brand and trying to figure out what the best strategy for the entire brand is…And Thomas the Tank Engine was that….it’s like sky is the limit.”

In addition to Thomas, Mr. Foley also worked for Guinness World Records owned by HIT Entertainment. There, Mr. Foley had the challenge of coming up with a new business model for the product as the brand was just entering the Japanese market. Mr. Foley then became interested in building his own business and began providing brand consulting for various consumer products, which led him to become Executive Managing Director at Universal Music’s subsidiary company, Bravado where he helped successfully recruited another executive to turn the business around.

Mr. Foley then moved back to HarperCollins as the Managing Director leading the distribution of English language books in Japan, such as Harlequin novels and manga in partnership with Softbank. Under his leadership, Mr. Foley sought to have the business operate on a brand driven strategy that focused on growth and the needs of the market rather than following a set template. For example, Mr. Foley used HarperCollins’ and his personal global connections to land a publishing deal with soccer player Maya Yoshida to publish his autobiography in English and Japanese. On landing this book deal with a celebrity soccer player, Mr. Foley explains: “if we just went head to head with Shueisha, Kodansha (Japan’s top publishing companies), we're not going to get anywhere. We have to think innovatively. We have to think, okay, what can we borrow from our leverage or head office for more international network to allow us to punch above our weight here in Japan.”

To create a culture of open communication and high engagement among his employees, Mr. Foley has created opportunities for people to share information and present their ideas. For example, at HarperCollins he has set up a “hall of fame” bulletin board in which different departments would post updated information on what type of projects they are working on. At the end of the month, Mr. Foley would have people from all levels present their projects to the rest of the team to create a sense of ownership and accountability. Mr. Foley also provided equal opportunities for people to work on projects, regardless of their job titles in which an employee in the IT department would be the project lead to publish an Elon Musk book on Tesla. Mr. Foley has also become more mindful of knowing when to step back as he adds: “in more recent years [I’ve realized it’s best to] just get the right people in the job for whatever needs to be done, give them the general direction, the strategy, and check back every once in a while. But for the most part get out of the way and let them do their jobs.”

On advice to new leaders coming into Japan, Mr. Foley advises to hire a strong HR person as he experienced firsthand having the right HR person provides security to the company. He also adds to not be afraid of letting people go if that individual is negatively impacting the rest of the team. Secondly, he advises to spend the time to understand Japanese consumers and the local Japanese strategy. Thirdly, he advises on providing equal opportunities for people including women.

Mr. Foley’s company, Next Big Thing provides consulting in children’s consumer brands and educational properties, including Japan market entry, brand strategy and brand management, character and brand licensing, and Japanese-language publishing. More information can be found on Mr. Foley’s LinkedIn page. https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankfoleyjapan/