Braze Announces 2026 Customer Engagement Review (CER) Japan Market Survey Results
Braze's 2026 Customer Engagement Review for Japan reveals that while Japanese firms are strong in using past data for personalization, they struggle with marketing orchestration and are cautious about AI adoption due to strict governance. The report suggests a shift to real-time data, strengthening orchestration infrastructure, and balancing AI innovation with compliance to improve customer engagement and achieve better business outcomes.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 14, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 14, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 14, 2026 at 16:27 (4h 55m after Collected)
Braze K.K., a leader in customer engagement platforms, today released the Japanese version of its sixth annual Customer Engagement Review 2026.
According to this report, Japanese companies excel at personalization using customers' past behavior history, but face challenges with the low maturity of 'orchestration'—the advanced automation and overall coordination of marketing measures—and strict governance of AI utilization.
Key Findings for the 2026 Japan Market:
Shift from 'Past Data' to 'Real-time Data' Utilization is a Challenge: Japanese companies tend to focus on 'reliable past data' to narrow down their targets. However, the delay in utilizing real-time data is an obstacle to providing a better customer experience.
The Wall to 'Orchestration' for Achieving Overall Optimization from Individual Optimization: While individual initiatives such as data collection, integration, and modeling are progressing, there are challenges at the 'orchestration' stage, which involves coordinating them across all marketing measures to optimize the customer experience. In fact, the percentage of Japanese companies belonging to the lower maturity group for orchestration has reached 75%, exceeding the global average (67%).
High Expectations for AI and Cautious Governance: While there are very high expectations that AI will contribute to business growth and efficiency improvements, actual implementation and utilization are proceeding cautiously due to the complexity of internal rules and concerns about the inappropriate use of personal information.
Three Strategic Moves for 2026
Based on the survey results, Braze proposes the following three strategies for Japanese companies to tackle in the future:
An Approach to Capture the 'Now,' Not the 'Past': Instead of relying solely on past attribute data and segments, grasp the customer's current behavior and context in real-time, communicate at the optimal timing, and update the customer experience.
Strengthening the Orchestration Foundation: Strengthen the operational foundation for advanced automation and coordination in actual measures, without relying solely on fragmented data and segments.
Balancing Governance and Innovation: Select an AI platform that can be used safely while meeting strict compliance requirements, and move beyond the verification stage of expectations to connect them to concrete business results such as sales improvement and operational efficiency.
Details are available in the '2026 Global Customer Engagement Review (Japanese Version)'.
Methodology
Wakefield Research conducted a survey of 2,200 senior marketing executives (VP and above) at B2C companies (with annual sales of $10 million or more) across 17 countries and 3 regions.
Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States
Asia-Pacific (APAC): Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, UAE, Japan
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA): United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Indonesia
This survey was conducted from November 18 to December 1, 2025, via email and online questionnaires.
According to this report, Japanese companies excel at personalization using customers' past behavior history, but face challenges with the low maturity of 'orchestration'—the advanced automation and overall coordination of marketing measures—and strict governance of AI utilization.
Key Findings for the 2026 Japan Market:
Shift from 'Past Data' to 'Real-time Data' Utilization is a Challenge: Japanese companies tend to focus on 'reliable past data' to narrow down their targets. However, the delay in utilizing real-time data is an obstacle to providing a better customer experience.
The Wall to 'Orchestration' for Achieving Overall Optimization from Individual Optimization: While individual initiatives such as data collection, integration, and modeling are progressing, there are challenges at the 'orchestration' stage, which involves coordinating them across all marketing measures to optimize the customer experience. In fact, the percentage of Japanese companies belonging to the lower maturity group for orchestration has reached 75%, exceeding the global average (67%).
High Expectations for AI and Cautious Governance: While there are very high expectations that AI will contribute to business growth and efficiency improvements, actual implementation and utilization are proceeding cautiously due to the complexity of internal rules and concerns about the inappropriate use of personal information.
Three Strategic Moves for 2026
Based on the survey results, Braze proposes the following three strategies for Japanese companies to tackle in the future:
An Approach to Capture the 'Now,' Not the 'Past': Instead of relying solely on past attribute data and segments, grasp the customer's current behavior and context in real-time, communicate at the optimal timing, and update the customer experience.
Strengthening the Orchestration Foundation: Strengthen the operational foundation for advanced automation and coordination in actual measures, without relying solely on fragmented data and segments.
Balancing Governance and Innovation: Select an AI platform that can be used safely while meeting strict compliance requirements, and move beyond the verification stage of expectations to connect them to concrete business results such as sales improvement and operational efficiency.
Details are available in the '2026 Global Customer Engagement Review (Japanese Version)'.
Methodology
Wakefield Research conducted a survey of 2,200 senior marketing executives (VP and above) at B2C companies (with annual sales of $10 million or more) across 17 countries and 3 regions.
Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States
Asia-Pacific (APAC): Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, UAE, Japan
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA): United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Indonesia
This survey was conducted from November 18 to December 1, 2025, via email and online questionnaires.