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History of PAOS:the 1970s

  • Prehistoric PAOS:the 1960s
  • the 1970s
  • the 1980s
  • the 1990s
  • the 2000s

PAOS moves forward (representative examples of work and research developments):the 1970s

'68

April 1, 1968: the founding of PAOS

The PAOS name emerged from a brain-storming session of founding staff members and long-standing friends. This neologistic corporate philosophy brand was unique for its time. PAOS, which stands for: Progressive Artists Open System, was coined to express the company's philosophy of "maintaining a flexible system that is forward-thinking and creative so as to deliver the most appropriate solutions to clients".

'71

1971 onwards
The publication of DECOMAS, the self-styled CI bible

DECOMAS - Design Coordination as a Management Strategy was published (Sanseido Publishing Co., Ltd.). This hefty tome comprised two volumes: one "theoretical" discussing the fruits of sustained research into business administration and design strategy, the other "practical" and based on the results of a 3-month fact-finding visit to the United States that was preceded by several years of academic research. Thirty years on, the book has not lost its freshness and it continues to be seen as a seminal work.
DECOMAS was not only the first book on corporate identity to be published in Japan; it went on to be dubbed the CI bible. Ten editions of this long-seller have been published in the thirty years since the book went to press, and it has caused major waves in Korea, Taiwan, China.

Mazda: Japan's first full-scale CI project

The publication of DECOMAS had far-reaching effects and PAOS received a succession of requests to undertake major projects during the months that followed. The first of these came from Toyo Kogyo, whose brief was to transform the Mazda corporate brand. The various developments involved turned this into the first in-depth CI development project to be undertaken in Japan. Based on pursuing the merits of visual standardization, the development of the Mazda project went on to become an 8-year commitment.

'72

1972 onwards
Sekisui Heim: the origin of Japanese-style CI

"How do we assure the success of the newly-established housing arm of the Sekisui Chemical Company, which produces ground-breaking prefabricated houses?" This was the brief we were given when we took on this project. The new business was a pioneering initiative to commercialize the brainchild of Mr. Katsuhiko ONO, a student of Tokyo University. It involved the mass production of housing: on-line production of close to 90-percent of all housing construction processes, which could then be assembled on site in short time. The perceived wisdom, however, was that the market was not ready for this world-first original and progressive method of construction and design.
PAOS compiled a 4-volume proposal to address all aspects of this challenging project and went from there. The proposal comprised: "A Business Philosophy (a concept book)", "An A-Z of Business Facts (an informative book)", "VIS - Visual Identity System", and "Planning a Marketing Strategy for a Business Establishment". In due course, these proposals generated significant synergies, guiding the business design to success. This project, which ultimately turned Sekisui Heim into a core business supporting the parent company, constitutes a model for business development-type CI, and became the prototype of our unique consulting business as well as a memorable milestone for PAOS.

'74

Japan's first theory on corporate culture strategy proposals

NAKANISHI contributed an article entitled "My view of corporate culture strategies" to a CHUOKORON feature on management issues. It was simply one article in a business magazine, but it was the first time that the concept of corporations and culture had been addressed head-on in Japan and, in actively developing corporate citizenship theory and the imminent transformation of corporations into public citizens, these research results and the accompanying recommendations were, without doubt, trend predictive. The trail-blazing nature of the proposal was born out by the times, which moved steadily in the prophesized direction.

'76

Koiwai Dairy: strategic brand image marketing has a phenomenal impact on sales

With the Koiwai Dairy project PAOS ventured into uncharted territory. It was an experiment in image marketing strategy that revolved round food packaging design. The brief called for new packaging for seven items, including butter and cheese, but the concept and design put forward by PAOS was based on a development policy premised on enhancing the brand identity of the product brand "Koiwai" rather than that of individual products. The response was overwhelming and the orders came flooding in. Sales of year-end gift sets, the first products to assume the new brand identity, were explosive, and department stores in the metropolitan area witnessed a 273-fold increase in turnover year-on-year. PAOS was subsequently commissioned to create designs for a series of new products and businesses, and the Koiwai Dairy project went on to become a major chapter in the history of brand identity marketing.

'77

A dramatic revival of the distinguished, traditional "Matsuya" department store: success won by revitalizing both industry and area

"Can you help the Ginza store?" This was the request we received on our first meeting with Matsuya. Located in Japan's preeminent shopping district with a history spanning more than one hundred years and the largest selling space in the area, this prestigious department store had gone into tailspin: even as national economic growth had stabilized, growth was at minus 97 percent compared to the previous year. Matsuya called in Mr. Kan YAMANAKA, the man credited with establishing the foundations for Isetan's current prosperity, and asked him to work a miracle. (YAMANAKA died in 1999. He was a much-celebrated manager who continues to bear the honorific: "Mr. Department Store".) With this CI project, which began when PAOS was challenged to save Matsuya from bankruptcy, our conclusion was that the revitalization of Ginza, which had lost its appeal and was being abandoned by shoppers, would have to proceed hand-in-hand with the restoration of Matsuya's business, and we executed a restructuring program that revolved round the "MATSUYA GINZA" logo. Rapid double-digit growth followed and within two years Matsuya was able to resume payment of dividends. Matsuya stayed on the growth track, sparking a widespread renaissance among the department stores of Japan. It would be no exaggeration to assert that over the course of the next ten years, the CI project for Matsuya, which began with the meeting between Mr. YAMANAKA, one of the few management executives to comprehend the effects of information value and image marketing, and PAOS, created a new field in the business of design consulting. It also served to turn PAOS "the management consultant with design up its sleeve" into a household name.

'79

1979-1983
The publication of the Design Systems for Corporations series

The flood of information from around the world and a thriving research practice led to the publication of a total of 13 volumes in the "Design Systems for Corporations" A, B, and C3 series (Japanese and English editions; SANNO Institute of Management Publications Dept.). The series gained global recognition for its erudition on the subject of CI and identity design rooted in the creation of corporate philosophy, and propelled PAOS to the forefront of the field.


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