The company’s history,

Recently I internally translated an article on 『広告批評』(/Ko U Ko Ku Hi Hyo U/, meaning “advertisement critique”) about the company I work for. As some of you already know, this monthly magazine is one of the most popular and respectable magazine for advertisement industry in Japan. It was founded in 1979, and not only its content, but also its visual quality is always remarkable.

The article I translated, is in a series of reportage, and I’d like to quote some part here because it is very interesting story.

Madonna Called Me!
…
Michael was in the fashion industry before he started the company. In the beginning of his career life, he was doing marketing/sales for fashion and cosmetics and also a little bit of Internet related stuffs. “It was not the best interesting job, but I believed that by going through daily tasks, I would meet somebody important, and then I would be able to do more interesting things. So that I did all the given jobs faithfully.” said Michael. In one of those jobs, he made a web site for fashion designer Yigal Azrouel in 2000.
One day, he got a phone call in his office. “Hello, this is from Madonna’s office. I’d like you to make a web site for us like what you did to Yigal Azrouel.” Michael couldn’t believe that. It must be kidding, naughty buddy! He was dealing with the phone call quickly, and called his friend who was working as an attorney for the entertainment industry. “Hey I just got a phone call from a lady called Karif. Is there such a person in the Madonna’s office?” “yes, the office manager.” Madonna’s web site was successful, and the name of Firstborn took air in the industry.
…
International Team
“People matter” is Michael’s motto. He hires brilliant people from all over the world. “Many companies are afraid of hiring foreigners because of visa issues. But I think it is a tiny expense of attorney fee, in comparison to what those smart people can make.” Joon Park, the creative director from Korea, is one of them. “When I was little, I lived in the United States and I moved back to Korean back in Junior-High. But I am not good enough in Korean Language, and education system in Korea is very different from the United States. So I dropped out of school.” said Joon. But he has natural born talent of visual graphics and brushed up by himself. “So I thought I must be in the United States for my graphics skill.” And he became an intern by somebody’s introduction. “Like two years, I was working here. But by my personal reasons, I had to go back to Korea again.” And he worked in Korea for three years. One day, he got a call from Dan LaCivita. “Come back here! Michael bought back Firstborn’s share from other two co-founders. We are now making a fresh start and he want you to be a creative director here.” Joon was incredible and he came back to New York. Michael said “I am so happy that Joon came back here.”