Ryusuke Murao

About

Ryusuke (Ryu) Murao is a brand strategy consultant serving as Co-manager and frontman at Starbrand Co., Ltd., a Tokyo firm established in 2005 that focuses on brand strategy for small companies. Earlier he worked in marketing and sales at Honda, covering power products for the Middle East and North Africa, and then started a food import business that he later sold. He is also a guest researcher at Nikkei BP Institute. His books on small-company branding have been published by PHP Institute, Kanki Publishing and Nikkei BP, and he gives more than 100 lectures and seminars a year. Ryu brings a practitioner-author perspective on brand strategy for small companies, differentiation, pricing above the discount level, and branding for municipalities. The role provides direct exposure to how small businesses and local governments define what sets them apart and communicate it through talks, books and corporate video. Ryu is particularly relevant to conversations around small-company branding, positioning and differentiation, selling on value instead of price, and regional and municipal branding.