Mori Building
A 16-year content and communications partnership with Japan’s leading landscape developer
Mori Building Co., Ltd. is Japan’s leading urban landscape developer, renowned for shaping Tokyo’s skyline with its iconic projects. The real estate developer is known for their innovative vertical garden cities, and their urban development focuses on sustainable, mixed-use communities that foster social interaction and enhance luxury living. Mori Building is dedicated to creating a vibrant urban landscape and contributing to the magnetic power of Tokyo through its unique compact city concept, “Hills”, which combines diverse and complementary urban functions. Their innovative projects respond to the increasing importance of environmental and health aspects in modern society by collaborating with partners to create a new urban vision of “Green & Wellness” in the heart of the city. Guided by a philosophy of community-building and sustainability, Mori Building’s unique community-based approach involves fostering long-term partnerships–often over multiple decades–with landowners, local businesses, temples and other community services to build collaborative spaces that respect the original residents’ deep roots without disrupting their ancestral base.
Custom Media has been a trusted partner for Mori Building since our foundation in 2008, delivering innovative projects and creative solutions that help Mori Building achieve its evolving business goals. From providing ongoing strategic advice and market consultation to producing high-quality bilingual marketing materials, member benefit programs, engaging videos, market reports and much more, Custom Media supports Mori Building’s mission to make Tokyo a truly world-class city addressing today’s demands for environmental and humanity-friendly modern societies.
Delivering innovative projects and campaigns on time
Since our very first project crafting an in-depth bilingual lifestyle article introducing the MORI LIVING brand and its portfolio of serviced residences to Tokyo’s expatriate and affluent Japanese audiences, Mori Building has relied on Custom Media over the years for numerous projects that required out-of-the-box ideas and compelling stories to bring their vision to life. Our probing, journalistic discovery process, meticulous attention to detail and creative ideation brought fresh perspectives to what was previously standard marketing collateral.
Mori Building trusts Custom Media to meet their ever-evolving challenges. Our longstanding partnership has been built on our in-depth understanding and appreciation of its founder, the late Minoru Mori, and his philosophy of urban design. We help bring to life the company’s vision of creating truly vertical garden cities that pursue “Safety and Security”, “Environment and Greenery” and “Culture and Art”.
Mori Building has always enjoyed working with Custom Media, and we trust their ability to take full responsibility for major projects that we have contracted them to carry out.
Bold Projects. Game-Changing Campaigns.
Below is a brief showcase of the various innovative projects Custom Media has delivered for Mori Building over the years.
SMILES – an Annual Residents Benefit Program.
In 2010 Mori Building wanted to give back to its residents and asked Custom Media to develop an annual residents benefit program. We conducted thorough research and conceptualized a program, aptly naming it “Smiles” to reflect the community spirit behind its core objective to deliver happiness to MORI LIVING residents. Coordinating with close to a 100 partners and participating service providers, we produced a bilingual benefits book that provided residents with exclusive shopping deals and discounted services, strengthening community ties while supporting Mori Building’s commercial tenants. Delivered under tight deadlines, this program has exceeded expectations and been a resounding success, and we continued to produce it in print annually for several years until the program merged to become a broader digital member benefit application.
Launching residential sales to capture new markets.
In 2012, with the opening of ARK Hills Sengokuyama Residences, MORI LIVING decided—for the first time—to begin selling its condominiums and wanted to create an integrated campaign to reach high-net-worth individuals in the Asian market. We were brought in to consult and develop key bilingual sales and marketing materials that would effectively convey the elegance and exclusivity of the MORI LIVING brand, while also localizing their efforts to appeal to both Japanese and international audiences. From carefully selecting high-quality print materials and luxurious finishes, to crafting messaging and copy, we created sophisticated printed and digital marketing collateral and bilingual sales promotion tools that introduced Tokyo as a vibrant city and showcased the Mori Building philosophy and MORI LIVING brand. Their sales teams’ overseas presentations were very successful; they sold their full inventory well within the targeted time frame, and our approach and materials became the standard for future properties as they were launched to the market.
Amplifying the MORI LIVING serviced residences brand.
The MORI LIVING brand of serviced residences caters to a core audience of affluent Japanese and expats—senior business leaders and their families in the city. Custom Media helps to promote and keep the brand fresh in the minds of its core target audience through appealing advertising and advertorials in the Tokyo American Club’s membership magazine INTOUCH, for which we are the exclusive advertising agency.
When the brand was looking for creative ways to appeal to younger audiences of executives who were tenants in their office spaces, we were brought in to create an appealing commercial video campaign that would feature on elevator screens in buildings across Tokyo. From concept to completion we delivered a successful campaign that received attention and results. We researched the audience profile, taking the time to truly understand their daily lifestyle and challenges, to create an appealing concept entitled, “Time for an Upgrade”. This campaign spoke to busy young executives who wanted to live in a residence that wasn’t just a place to stay but truly took care of their daily necessities, including laundry, housekeeping, breakfast buffets and a friendly concierge.
We later designed and launched an attractive campaign landing page that highlighted the MORI LIVING portfolio of serviced apartments appealing to Tokyo’s international residents who were seeking furnished apartments, and people who wanted to rent a separate space to use as a convenient and comfortable work-from-home location. The bilingual campaign landing page featured an engaging video showcasing the properties’ appeal with an easy-to-navigate user journey and a clear call-to-action.
We are very pleased with the visually immersive and easy-to-navigate website that Custom Media created for us. We have a longtime relationship with Custom Media, so we trust they would understand our needs quickly and correctly. They delivered the final product on time even though we gave a lot of feedback to respond to within a tight production schedule. It’s always helpful to have such a team to rely on for any digital marketing assistance.
Corporate PR and video storytelling
In recognition of growing global interest in property ownership in Japan, we were again called upon to produce a quarterly bilingual market report. The report further positioned Mori Building’s status as a leader in Tokyo’s urban landscape development, and the content showcased Mori Building’s expertise and influence in the real estate market, complete with an A1-size map detailing all major luxury residential properties for sale and lease in Tokyo. This report has proven invaluable for international brokers and agents, reinforcing Mori Building’s status as a market leader.
Custom Media’s collaboration has extended to large-scale events, including the 2016 Tokyo Shintora Matsuri, an event designed to launch the Toranomon Hills development. This festival brought together performers from Tohoku’s six prefectures to celebrate the new Toranomon development, attract potential expat tenants, strengthen community ties and inspire peace and recovery after the 2011 tsunami. Custom Media helped establish this groundbreaking project, which resonated with both Japanese citizens and the expat community, making it a symbol of resilience and community renewal.
In addition, we have produced a series of high-impact videos that highlight Mori Building’s commitment to enhancing Tokyo’s global standing. At MIPIM Japan 2015, Custom Media served as Mori Building’s official media partner, capturing key moments and conducting interviews with industry leaders. Our videos effectively communicated insights from Mori Building’s CEO, Shingo Tsuji, about the city’s potential as a global business hub, especially in light of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Our most recent videos for them cover press events for the opening of their latest projects shaping the Tokyo skyline. We record these events, edit the videos and add subtitles to make them accessible to a wider audience beyond Japan.
An Inside Look at Azabudai Hills
Mori Building’s Latest Projects Develop the Future of Global Business in Japan
Mori Building Unveils New Toranomon-Azabudai Project
Digital Domain
The 16-year partnership between Mori Building and Custom Media is based on a deep, mutual admiration and shared vision. It transcends the typical client-agency relationship and is rooted in unwavering trust and collaborative spirit.
Achieving success together
Custom Media’s comprehensive marketing strategies for Mori Building continue to yield business results while helping strengthen and position the company as a truly unique urban landscape developer that is changing Tokyo into a vertical garden city.
Through our 16-year partnership, Custom Media has been more than just an agency. We have become a true partner, in community with Mori Building, united in the shared mission to foster sustainable, world-class urban developments and a luxury lifestyle that prioritizes community well-being.
