• Japanese manufacturer sets out vision roadmap for FY2024 with a focus on innovation, sustainability and customer-centric strategies

• Brand emphasizes on ‘Japan Excellence’ to address the unique needs and preferences of consumers and businesses in the region

• Significant promotions within the company’s senior management team to drive its business forward

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa (PMMAF) today revealed that it is all geared up for another year of exceptional growth and expansion, building on an impressive business performance in 2023.  The company unveiled its action plan for the new fiscal year highlighting targeted investments to expand market presence through strategic partnerships, product diversification, sustainability and genuine customer-centricity. Aligned with its unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence, Panasonic is also moving into its next transformative chapter with key promotions in its senior leadership team, further expanding its capabilities to meet the rapidly growing demand for cutting-edge technologies across the MEA region.

Japan Excellence

With its rich heritage of developing long-lasting, reliable products that stand the test of time, the brand's legacy ensures that Panasonic remains a trusted name, synonymous with durability and excellence in every product it creates, embodying 'Japan Excellence'.

To meet the specific needs of customers in the region, Panasonic concentrates on four key pillars of Japan Excellence: Food & Health, Hygiene & Cleanliness, Natural Beauty, and Craftsmanship.

- Celebrating Japan's food culture and prioritizing innovative solutions that promote healthy living and enhance culinary experiences, the brand ensures that its kitchen supports a nutritious lifestyle and elevates the joy of cooking.

- Committing to enhanced hygiene & cleanliness with tough-style vacuum cleaners, washer dryers and front-load washing machines that help customers uphold high standards of cleanliness effortlessly.

- Maintaining natural beauty is reflected through self-care promoted through personal care and garment care products with advanced technologies.

- Rooted in a tradition of meticulous craftsmanship, Panasonic ensures that every product embodies the quality for which Japan is renowned, evident in its precision blade shavers and high picture quality televisions. This dedication to craftsmanship guarantees that customers receive durable, high-quality products that offer exceptional performance and longevity.

Through these four pillars, Panasonic aims to deliver tailored solutions that address the unique preferences and requirements of its regional customers, upholding the esteemed values of 'Japan Excellence.'

Record Results For 2023

Panasonic presented its competitiveness strategy at its annual regional convention held in Dubai, which also saw the global electronics giant reveal its business performance for FY2023.  Last year marked a significant milestone for Panasonic, with growth recorded across product segments. Leading the top-performing products last year are men’s grooming devices Multishape and the premium Lamdash Shaver, which yielded 168% growth over last year’s sales.  The 'Nutri Tafreez' refrigerator series, which preserves food hygienically with its quick-freezing feature, meanwhile, registered an impressive 140% annual growth.  

Not far behind are 4K 120 Hz MiniLED Smart Televisions, which recorded 166% growth.  Steam Irons revenues are up by 136%, while consistently popular air conditioners with inverter and Nanoe-X technology grew by 134% compared to FY22 figures.  The brand’s kitchen range also showed remarkable performance with 128% growth amongst air fryers, ice crusher blenders and high-wattage mixer grinders.  Also making it to the list are tough-style vacuum cleaners, washer dryers and front-load washing machines, which achieved a growth of 125%.  Not to be outdone are female beauty products, which delivered a strong 121% growth versus last year’s.  PMMAF’s outstanding financial performance in 2023 reflects the resilience and adaptability of its business, boosted by the company’s innovative product portfolio, which addresses the demands of a rapidly changing market.  

FY2024 At A Glance

While PMMAF saw a successful year FY2023 in business, insights into the company’s FY2024 trajectory shows that the best is yet to come. Laying out the framework for another double-digit target this year, the company affirms its commitment to the MEA region, citing the Middle East and Africa as a high-growth market.  Its 2024 strategy hinges on four primary pillars: market expansion through strategic partnerships, product diversification, sustainability initiatives and enriched customer experience.

To further drive the company’s growth expectations for the region and to respond to both market and customer demands faster, a couple of significant changes have been made in PMMAF’s senior leadership team.  It will see, Mr. Hiroyuki Shibutani, take a new position of CEO, and Mr. John Hardy, move to the role of COO, which is a newly created position. This development mirrors Panasonic’s core principle of embracing positive change and reinvention to drive the business forward and thrive in an evolving landscape.

Mr. Shibutani, commenting on the sidelines of the event, said:  “We are delighted with the momentum that we have seen over the past years and we are genuinely pleased that we have come this far by staying true to our values and fulfilling our main objectives. Panasonic’s ability to navigate through the needs of the changing times, while adhering to our core business philosophy – that is to help our customers live better and healthier lives – is at the heart of everything we have achieved in this region.”

Mr. Hardy, asserted: “Our prospects for 2024 and beyond for the Middle East and Africa remain positive.  It brings us further optimism to stay committed to serving the regional market as we continue to align our strategies and offer cutting-edge technologies keeping the needs of our customers in mind.  We at PMMAF have a renewed drive to lead the future, and as we carry out our growth plans, we will build on our over a century of market-leading innovations to position our business and our brand for our next era of growth.  Equally important, we are placing an even sharper focus on our sustainability goals.  Our commitment is clearer than ever – create added value for our customers, partners, stakeholders and society.”

Up Close: The Year Ahead

Panasonic partners are central to its future growth plans.  By forging high-value partnerships, Panasonic will be better empowered to provide greater accessibility to its products and solutions, deliver high-quality customer experiences, as well as uplift brand affinity and customer loyalty. The company also plans to continue to leverage its rich history of technological expertise to develop distinctive innovations across categories.  Committed to its strong R&D initiatives, Panasonic has always placed emphasis on studying local consumer lifestyles in order to create products that meet specific needs.  

On top of these, the company aims to double its efforts of helping build better lives through customer-centric innovations.  Underpinned by ‘Japan Excellence’, Panasonic will continue to strive addressing the unique needs and preferences of consumers and businesses in the region.  By harnessing the power of its digitization strategy, Panasonic also plans to boost further its digital transformation to enhance operations, customer engagement, and product offerings, leveraging data-driven insights and advanced technologies.

With sustainability as a fundamental pillar of Panasonic’s growth strategy, the company will accelerate further its already strong stance supporting positive initiatives that champion environmental protection and the optimum wellbeing of current and future generations.  The company was founded over 100 years ago with a vision focused on overall social good and prosperity. To this day, sustainability remains a core tenet of Panasonic’s philosophy.  Its brand action slogan, “Create Today. Enrich Tomorrow”., underscores its commitment to provide innovative products and solutions that help people live their best lives while enriching their well-being. Likewise, this too reflects the company’s relentless efforts to make progress towards a greener planet for tomorrow.

Panasonic GREEN IMPACT

Also at the forefront of the company’s sustainability drive is the Panasonic Green Impact (PGI) initiative. PGI is the Panasonic Group’s long-term environmental vision for realizing a better life and a more sustainable global environment. Under PGI, Panasonic Group is committed to achieving virtually net zero CO2 emissions from its own operations by 2030 and creating an impact of more than 300 million tons of CO2 emissions reduction – approximately 1 percent of total current global emissions of 33 billion tons – by 2050.  Through PGI, Panasonic aims to contribute to society-wide reductions in CO2 emissions by switching customers to energy-saving products and supplying energy-saving solutions and green energy technologies to B2B/B2G customers.  

Panasonic Influencer Affiliate Program 2024

Back for its third outing, the Panasonic Influencer Affiliate Program (PIAP) has become an important part of Panasonic's growth strategy.  A competition open to social media influencers based across the Middle East, PIAP aims to partner with digital content creators who can use their passion in creating content to engage, educate and empower their community about Panasonic innovations. Since its launch in 2022, PIAP has been championing Panasonic’s continuous effort to advance customer communication.  The program has also successfully helped Panasonic increase brand awareness across social networks.  PIAP 2024 is set to launch soon and will be open to all regional social media influencers.  

New Products and Solutions Unveiled

Also in the spotlight at the event were 74 new products to support Panasonic’s mission in 2024.  Highlighting the ethos of ‘Create Today. Enrich Tomorrow.’; the new innovations have been developed to bring Japan Excellence to people’s homes and businesses.

The event, attended by business associates from over 27 countries and media, also featured a showcase of Panasonic’s expansive range of products in the AC, AV, Kitchen & Home Appliances and Health & Beauty.