Brand Value Created by Tag Teams: Learning Synergy and Marketing Strategy from Pro-Wrestling (Part 1)
Commemorative Issue of "Pro-Wrestling & Marketing: The 100th Match"
The "Pro-Wrestling & Marketing" series, in which management scholar Dr. Ichiro Noro examines marketing strategies through the history and culture of pro-wrestling and presents his unique perspectives, has reached the "100th Match". It is characteristic of this series to count by "matches" rather than "issues." This clearly demonstrates Dr. Noro's unique sensibility as a martial artist and his sincerity toward his writing.
This series uses examples from pro-wrestling to explain the essence and strategies of marketing. Since publishing "The Economics of Pro-Wrestling: The Strongest Business Model in an Era of Free Competition (Anything Goes)" in 2001, Dr. Noro has spent a quarter of a century rethinking management, economics, and sociology through the lens of pro-wrestling, while simultaneously pursuing the grand endeavor of applying pro-wrestling techniques to corporate management, the Japanese economy, and even society at large to create positive impacts. The "Pro-Wrestling & Marketing" series is one part of that effort.
This attempt is not being made by an MBA graduate who is poor at debating—the kind who might call Masayoshi Son a "political merchant" on Twitter, only to shrink away without a rebuttal when sternly scolded by Mr. Son in a face-to-face discussion with, "Enough of that! I don't need a single yen of profit!"—and who wouldn't even be able to hold their own within Japan.
Dr. Ichiro Noro is an international management scholar who earned his MBA at Edgewood College in the United States and has served as a professor for the MBA program at the University of Wales in the United Kingdom. In Japan, one often sees people who bring back half-baked management theories learned abroad and fail to utilize them effectively. However, the international business environment is changing drastically, and without the experience of earning an MBA in the U.S. and serving as a management professor at a British university, one risks merely introducing outdated overseas theories to Japan, which can be detrimental to the country.
What makes Dr. Noro unique is not only his "Pro-Wrestling & Marketing" theory, but also his philosophy of "Disseminate management studies originating from Japan.". In the following column, he states "We should simply organize systems that are structurally and culturally difficult to change, such as mass hiring of new graduates, seniority-based promotion, and lifetime employment," and positions Japanese HRM (Human Resource Management) as "a soft asset that Japan should export.". Arguments that might have been laughed off in the past are now being re-evaluated precisely because we are in an era where mass unemployment due to the spread of generative AI and the serious consideration of basic income systems are underway.
Furthermore, seemingly eccentric ideas such as "Japanese Consumer Theory" and "Budo Management Theory" are also gaining clearer foresight and significance precisely because we live in an era where generative AI is becoming widespread.
Those who cannot understand the significance of Dr. Noro's unique proposals may perhaps lack a basic education in pro-wrestling. Therefore, let us assume a world line where "Rikidozan's Japan Pro-Wrestling never existed," and consider the impact.
If Rikidozan's Japan Pro-Wrestling never existed
Japan, having lost its symbol of reconstruction
Post-war Japan was economically and mentally exhausted by its defeat. Under normal circumstances, Rikidozan would have given the people hope as a symbol of post-war reconstruction and become the driving force for economic growth. However, in this world line, neither Rikidozan nor Japan Pro-Wrestling exists.
As a result, the spread of television is delayed, and people are unable to find unified values or hope, becoming enveloped in a sense of stagnation. With no hero to symbolize reconstruction, dissatisfaction and distrust amplify, no foothold for economic recovery is found, and society as a whole stagnates.
Failure of high economic growth
Because pro-wrestling does not exist, the spread of television is limited, and the marketing foundation for the manufacturing industry to grow is not established. Isolated from the world, Japan cannot increase its export power even by focusing on "monozukuri" (manufacturing), and it misses the wave of economic growth. The development of the advertising industry is also hindered, and consumer culture remains immature. Companies lose their competitiveness, are overwhelmed by overseas firms, and hope disappears from the streets.
Rapid expansion of the leftist movement
Because pro-wrestling and television, which were national pastimes, did not spread, mental reconstruction after the war was not achieved, and people's dissatisfaction turned into a backlash against society. It was the radical leftist movement that absorbed this energy.
Influenced by the Cold War, communist ideology permeated Japan, and the New Left movement became active. National sentiment, which should have been released through things like pro-wrestling, turned toward radical political activity.
In this "world line without Japan Pro-Wrestling," the 1960s security treaty protests developed into violent revolutionary struggles, and the New Left gained the support of workers and students, expanding its influence nationwide. Entering the 1970s, extremists attempted to overthrow the government, the Self-Defense Forces and police lost their power, and the country fell into the depths of chaos.
Yukio Mishima's failed action
In this world line, Yukio Mishima also felt a sense of crisis regarding the "loss of tradition," but society was already entirely colored by leftist ideology, and his arguments were not understood, leaving him isolated. Dramatic actions such as his speech at the Self-Defense Force base and his ritual suicide did not occur. Thus, Mishima was contained by leftist forces and forgotten by society.
1972: The outcome of the Asama-Sanso incident
In the Asama-Sanso incident, the United Red Army enjoyed nationwide support. In this world line where far-left ideology became mainstream, the police and riot squads feared public opinion and hesitated to respond. As a result, the United Red Army was liberated from the mountain villa, achieving a victory that symbolized the revolution.
Triggered by this incident, Japan officially transitioned to a far-left regime. The United Red Army organized labor unions and student movements, establishing the "People's Government of Japan."
The far-left modern Japan
Currently, Japan in this world line manages the lives of its citizens under a controlled economy, such as by mandating the implantation of My Number chips, and restricts cultural freedom. Entertainment and art are merely tools for propaganda, and television broadcasts only programs aimed at the "education of the people." Creative expression has almost completely disappeared.
Economically, it is isolated from the world, and poverty and stagnation continue. Under extreme egalitarianism, citizens are forced to live a minimum standard of life, and expressing dissatisfaction is not permitted.
In the original timeline, Japan lost the manufacturing and technological prowess it once boasted, and its presence in the international market vanished. Its exports consisted only of shoddy goods for the communist bloc, and there were no competitive industries left.
If Rikidozan's Japan Pro-Wrestling had not existed, Japan would have failed in its spiritual and economic recovery, and due to the rise of far-left ideology, it would have been isolated from the world as a miserable far-left state—this scenario highlights once again the importance of pro-wrestling as a 'symbol of hope'.
If one understands that pro-wrestling could have such an impact on the Japanese economy, then by thinking in reverse, one can see the possibility that Japan could have led the world through the development of marketing, management, economics, and sociology utilizing pro-wrestling, and even through the strengthening of its international political power.
The Collapse of the Bubble Economy Following the Decline in Pro-Wrestling Popularity
Let us look back at the real-world timeline where All Japan Pro-Wrestling, inherited from Rikidozan by Giant Baba, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, originating from Antonio Inoki, exist.
The direct cause of the collapse of Japan's real estate bubble is considered to be the implementation of total volume control by the Banking Bureau of the Ministry of Finance on March 27, 1990. During the same period, pro-wrestling broadcasts in prime time (7:00 PM to 10:00 PM) disappeared in Japan between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. During this time, prime-time broadcasts ended as viewership ratings for pro-wrestling programs declined.
• New Japan Pro-Wrestling's 'World Pro-Wrestling' moved from prime-time broadcasting on TV Asahi to a late-night slot in the late 1990s.
• All Japan Pro-Wrestling's 'All Japan Pro-Wrestling Broadcast' also ended its long-running broadcast on Nippon TV in 2000 due to sluggish viewership ratings.
Thus, the decline in pro-wrestling popularity and the end of prime-time broadcasts from the late 1990s to the early 2000s strangely coincide with the long-term stagnation of the Japanese economy, which has since been called the 'Lost 30 Years.' Paradoxically, by implementing appropriate 'pro-wrestling economic stimulus measures' and incorporating internationally effective marketing and pro-wrestling theories, there is a possibility that the long-standing stagnation of the Japanese economy could be broken.
To be continued...
Rintaro Takechi