William Hall
William has 35+ years of senior management experience in Japan covering both the Client and Agency side.
From 1973 - 1988, he worked in the field of consulting and market research in Tokyo. His work in market research and consulting during this period covered, among others, product categories such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumables, consumer goods, industrial and high-tech products, financial services, media and publishing, agribusiness, airlines and air cargo, and tourism. Projects covered a wide range of topics including market entry strategy, new product development, management modeling, acquisition target and/or agent identification and evaluation, advertising and promotional testing, competitor analysis, and market structure and distribution analysis.
In 1989, he became President of Sterling-Winthrop for Japan, responsible for the company's Rx, OTC, and consumer product operations in the Japanese market, as well as the development of strategic alliances designed to boost the company's position in that market.
With the divestiture of Sterling-Winthrop, in 1995 he moved to Eastman Kodak as President of Kodak Imagex, with responsibility for photo-processing, digital imaging, Kodak-owned stores, and product distribution services and operations for Kodak in Japan.
He returned to the market research and consulting field in 2001, and established the Japan operations of Isis Research, which was acquired by Synovate. He now heads the Healthcare and Business Consulting Divisions of Synovate in Japan. In these roles, his work covers the Japanese market as well as emerging markets when working for projects outside of Japan for Japanese and other multinational clients.
He has served on numerous government, advisory and business panels and is a highly regarded expert on the Japan market. William is a frequent lecturer on Japan and Japanese business practices, and is generally regarded as one of the leading Western experts on the impact of the aging society on the Japanese economy.