Daisuke Kobayashi is an influencer marketing specialist at OPT agency in Japan. Not only is he knowledgable about the global trends in the influencer marketing industry; he also shares what’s happing in the Japanese market to the rest of the world. As a result, he receives inquiries from global companies that want to implement an influencer campaign over in Japan and collaborates with many partner companies to differentiate OPT from competitors in the market. 
Day in the Life Daisuke

4.30am

: Even if it is a weekend or holiday season, I make it a rule to get up early in the morning. I live in Tokyo now but I keep in touch with foreign partners globally. Therefore, I receive messages from them after I wake up because there is a considerable time difference between Japan and foreign countries like Europe and North America. I get to check them soon. As you can probably tell, I’m an early bird. When I was a child, my mother told me about the saying: “The early bird catches the worm.” I aim to complete half of all tasks, or more by 7am, though I rarely do.    

7.45am

: I leave the house and then go part of the way with my son, who goes to an elementary school. I want to see my two children as much as possible, therefore, I have to create such time because we are pressed for time daily.   

8.30am

: I get to work at the OPT office. Our clients are classified into various industries, for example, the financial industry, real estate industry, entertainment, cosmetics, and even local government. If I have a meeting online with an American company that is located on the West Coast like Los Angeles, I often book it in this time slot. By the way, if I have a meeting online with American companies on the East Coast like New York, I have to arrange the meeting two or three hours earlier than this time because of the time difference.   

11.30am

: I often go to the local cafe for lunch. After lunch, I like to look through various materials like sales decks by tech providers, industry and survey reports, and articles about influencer marketing. I often read numerous articles on multiple media, for example, Business 2 Community, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Social Media Today, The Drum, and of course, Talking Influence, as I want to catch up with cutting-edge trends in the influencer marketing industry globally.     

2pm

: I join the department meeting in our office. OPT organised the influencer marketing department, which has over 20 experts at the start of this year. Fortunately, we often receive inquiries about a campaign with influencers from our clients. The number of employees in the influencer marketing space increased at a rapid pace but we are tied up by daily duties.     

3pm

: I have a meeting with one of our partner companies at our office. Influencer marketing is all the rage in the Japanese market. Therefore, we’re going to develop an internal system to differentiate ourselves from our competitors in collaboration with a technology partner. When it comes to the partner company, I have a meeting with the influencer agents that have a unique influencer network to look at the influencers available and the Japanese trends.   

4pm

: I have a meeting with a colleague who is in charge of discovering influencers. The chances for us to help global companies to implement influencer campaigns in Japan have been gradually increasing. After listening to the goal of their campaign, I share the detailed information with my colleagues because we want to discover the right influencers for them.   

5pm

: I normally leave the office around this time. Many Japanese companies deal with workplace reforms nowadays. Our company adopts flexible working hours. Therefore, we can decide when to come and leave at the office except for the core time (11am-4pm).   
Day in the Life Daisuke

6pm

: I come back home but I work at home as well. I have a meeting online with a certain tech provider. They are a UK-based company but have worked in not only the UK market but also other European and North American markets. I think there are many excellent tech providers across the globe, and I want to take advantage of them as best I can!Fortunately, we can keep in touch with many remarkable companies across the globe thanks to the internet. We can work without being distracted and I appreciate both the internet and technology.  

7pm

: I cook dinner for my children because my wife works as well. After dinner, I get to work again in my room.  

9pm

: I like to watch all kinds of content through streaming platforms, especially YouTube and Netflix. I was totally hooked on Netflix’s TV series The Crown and I can’t wait for the new season. 

10pm

: I make it a rule to go to bed at 10pm. Sometimes I stay up late at night but I struggle to get up at a scheduled time if that’s the case.  
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