This document is intended to be used strictly for VOSHUS, LLC as a marketing plan dating from June 2012-May 2013. Within the plan are a variety of elements meant to enhance brand awareness, reach the target market, and increase the overall profit margin. As VOSHUS is a start up brand, the budget for marketing is rather low, but it is divided as best as both the author of this document and the owner of VOSHUS saw fit. With this plan as a guideline to marketing the brand in its first official launch, VOSHUS will finally have the opportunity to become the powerful brand it is meant to be. / text

This master's thesis examines how powerful and determining Japanese cultural influence is and how it impacts today's globalized world. It primarily focuses on the Czech audience and its relationship to Japan. The aim of this research is to assess the current efforts made by the Japanese government to export its culture, and compare them with the image that Czech society has on Japan. The primary source of this research is quantitative data collected from Czech and Slovak respondents. . Data was collected by a semi-structured questionnaire that consisted of both open and closed questions and that was spread in electronic form. The first section of the thesis empirical. The main theoretical, historical, and socio-cultural concepts of Japan. are defined and explained in the context of modern convergence culture and the Japanese media mix theory. Japanese cultural diplomacy and the application of soft power as the primary bearer of influence over the West are explained through the critical analysis of specific campaigns. Then, the methodological section analyzes the answers of 1,609 respondents across three predefined samples. Analysis shows that Japan's cultural promotion efforts in the Czech Republic are limited, and that take place primarily through official agencies or directly through the fans of...