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/