Japan’s top media communications firm acquires Honolulu marketing firm

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – Tokyo-based Vector, Inc. will acquire and merge resources with Honolulu- based PacRim Marketing Group, Inc. and its sister companies PRTech, LLC. and PacRim Marketing Tokyo, KK.

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Tokyo-based Vector, Inc. will acquire and merge resources with Honolulu- based PacRim Marketing Group, Inc. and its sister companies PRTech, LLC. and PacRim Marketing Tokyo, KK. The acquisition will make Vector one of the largest independent media communications firms in Asia-Pacific region, with nine offices in Asia and one in the U.S., revenue of over US$90 million, and combined totals of more than 500 employees and 50 years of marketing and public relations experience in Asia. The agreement includes a long term commitment from PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech to continue management of its Honolulu/U.S. office and client accounts.


Vector, which specializes in combining strategic integrated public relations and media with technology and video production, has grown nearly 30 percent year-on-year in revenue terms for the past five years and was the first public relations agency in Japan to list in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange; PacRim Marketing Group, which focuses on multilingual integrated marketing to help brands and organizations increase share and spend of the Asia market, is one of the top grossing public relations firms in Hawaii.

The acquisition is significant, as it increases opportunities for PacRim and PRTech clients to expand their reach and impact in Japan and Asia, including China which has become an important market for Hawaii, the Pacific Region, and North America. Vector and PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech have been utilizing resources in China to gain a larger share of its affluent consumer market; Vector has wholly owned offices throughout Asia, including in Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and soon in India.

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The companies also have pioneered innovative multilingual products, services, and media platforms to market brands throughout Asia. Through the acquisition, clients will have access to cutting edge public relations solutions and consultation offered by Vector and its many subsidiaries, including PRTimes, NewsTV, and VideoWire (an Asian newswire service), and companies focused on digital public relations, social media marketing, and video production with celebrity talent casting. Clients will continue to benefit from media platforms and products developed by PacRim Marketing Group as well. These include Japanese, Korean, and Chinese travel websites, multilingual hotel reservations systems, and Asian language visitor guides and other media ventures reaching the Asian International Traveler market.

“I’m impressed by PacRim Marketing Group’s 26-year history of innovation and its multicultural and multilingual teams and how they’ve embraced digital solutions as an integrated PR firm; our marketing communications services and solutions will complement each other,” said Vector Inc. President and Global Chairman Keiji Nishie. “Acquiring one of the top marketing firms in Hawaii is a natural step to increasing the quality and scale of our public relations business, as it increases our network and marketing expertise at the gateway to Asia and U.S. markets.”
Vector’s client base consists of mostly Japanese brands, while the bulk of PacRim’s clients are North American and Pacific Region based brands and organizations wanting to increase exposure and resonate with consumers throughout Asia, specifically Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The combined list of clients crosses financial, retail, business, and tourism industries. PacRim will use its expertise in travel, tourism, and hospitality marketing and an alliance with CONSUL, a consortium of the world’s top travel marketing agencies, to help market to outbound visitors from Japan and the region, and also inbound, independent, international travelers to Japan. This business strategy supports Japan’s goal to increase inbound visitor count to 40 million by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Vector has a deep understanding of Asian consumers and their media consumption as well as how to develop content and powerful digital platforms to resonate with them,” said Dave Erdman, founder, president and chief executive officer of PacRim Marketing Group, Inc., PRTech, LLC. and PacRim Tokyo, KK. “Our clients will benefit from the creativity and innovation resulting from synergies and shared media platforms, expertise, networks, and contacts throughout Asia.”

The acquisition is anticipated to close by the end of 2016.

About Vector, Inc.:

Japan’s largest independent PR agency, Vector http://vectorinc.co.jp/en/ specializes in content development and strategic integrated public relations and marketing consulting and implementation using high tech, digital marketing communications, social media, and video production. Vector was founded in 1993 and has focused on public relations business since 1998, establishing a video business in 1999. Its newswire distribution service, PR Times, was listed on the Mothers (Market of the high growth and emerging stocks) section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in March 2015. In 2014, Vector established News Technology, Inc., a joint venture with MicroAd, Inc. and was listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Vector has offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, and Taipei. Vector owns PRTimes, NewsTV, and VideoWire (a newswire service enabling the creation and distribution of original online video content) as well as numerous other media companies in television production, advertising, and web animation, and websites. Vector was recently ranked the highest of all Japanese public relations agencies in the Holmes Report’s World PR Report.

About PacRim Marketing Group, Inc. and PRTech:

PacRim Marketing Group www.pacrimmarketing.com is a global marketing communications firm specializing in increasing business’ share and spend of the Asian International Traveler market. Founded 26 years ago, PacRim owns and publishes the Asian language visitor guides, MyHawaii Pacific Journey in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, owns and provides travel-related content for Asian language websites in Japanese myhawaii.jp, Koreanwww.myhawaii.kr, and Chinese www.myhawaii.cnand participates in other media ventures reaching the Asian International Traveler market. Founded in 2004 as the online marketing affiliate of PacRim Marketing Group, PRTech www.prtech.comdevelops custom multilingual software and websites, and provides online, digital, and video marketing, including Asian SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). PRTech developed MyRez, the multilingual, online reservations booking system offered in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech were named 2015 BBB (Better Business Bureau Torch Award) winners in the category of Advancing Marketplace Excellence—honored for spreading trust in the marketplace and demonstrating ethics, transparency, “best practices,” and core values consistent with BBB standards.



Founded in 2004 as the online marketing affiliate of PacRim Marketing Group, PRTech www.prtech.com develops custom multilingual software and websites, and provides online, digital, and video marketing, including Asian SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). PRTech developed MyRez, the multilingual, online reservations booking system offered in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech were named 2015 BBB (Better Business Bureau Torch Award) winners in the category of Advancing Marketplace Excellence—honored for spreading trust in the marketplace and demonstrating ethics, transparency, “best practices,” and core values consistent with BBB standards.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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