Date: 22 December 2025
Time: 17:00 – 18:30 IST
Location: Zoom (Online)
Registration: https://share-na2.hsforms.com/15XqZFJ7kQOmtkAEF-AU4Xgdb9hh
Moderator
- Kenta Harada – Chord Corporation
Panelists
- Suguri Mikami – STORYTELLING LLP
- Atreyi Dass – BXV Pvt. Ltd.
- Sonny Kim – Chord Corporation
What We Will Discuss
The session will dive into five core questions:
Corporate Reputation in the Social Era
One tweet, one video, one hashtag – and a brand’s reputation is on fire.
We’ll unpack how Indian companies are rethinking PR, risk and governance in this environment, and what this tells us compared with Japan’s culture.
Rural India & Digital Opportunity
How can a single smartphone turn a village shop or small farm into a business with national reach?
This segment highlights real stories of rural Indians using WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube to rewrite what “opportunity” looks like outside big cities.
Rural–Urban Information Gap
Rural India is skipping TV and newspapers and going straight to smartphones.
We’ll look at where this closes information gaps on jobs, schemes and markets – and where new inequalities and vulnerabilities are quietly emerging.
Political Campaigns & Digital Influence
When campaigns move to WhatsApp and YouTube, politics itself starts to change: less policy paper, more emotion, identity and performance.
You’ll get a frank look at how this connects to deeper questions about democracy and power in India and beyond.
The Misinformation Challenge
Compare how false information hits three worlds: corporate brands, political campaigns and farmers’ livelihoods.
You’ll take away a realistic view of where the biggest risks lie – and what kinds of digital literacy and verification actually matter in real life.
Who Should Attend
- Corporate communication & PR teams
- Public policy professionals
- Marketers & digital strategists
- Development sector professionals
- Anyone interested in India’s digital transformation
We look forward to an engaging discussion on how social media is rewriting India’s economic, social, and political landscape.
Speakers
Kenta Harada – CHORD Corporation
Kenta Harada is a consultant and researcher at CHORD Corporation, specialising in India–Japan relations, geopolitics. He has advised Japanese ministries and major conglomerates on market strategy, political risk and international affairs.
Previously, as a Senior Researcher at Nomura Research Institute India, he had been engaged in government and infrastructure projects. At CHORD, he now supports both Japanese corporates and Indian public agencies and regularly writes and lectures on security, foreign policy focusing on East Asia, South Asia and Caucasian regions.
Atreyi Dass – BXV Pvt. Ltd.
Strategic and entrepreneurial advisor to board members building technology-driven businesses. Specialized in architecting scalable ventures from conception to market leadership, with proven experience developing national-scale platforms and innovation ecosystems in India.
• Venture Design & Architecture: Structuring tech-enabled business models with clear paths to commercialization and scale
• Innovation Ecosystem Development: Building strategic partnerships across global innovation networks spanning 7 countries
• Platform Business Strategy: Designing and executing network-effect–driven platforms from inception to national infrastructure
Seijun/Sonny Kim – CHORD Corporation
Sonny Kim is the founder and CEO of CHORD Corporation and a strategy consultant with extensive experience in India and Asia. He began his career at Nomura Research Institute in 2003, advising clients across multiple industries on business strategy and growth initiatives. As President of NRI India (2015–), he scaled the organisation from 29 to 152 employees and increased revenues 3.7× while maintaining profitability. After serving as an executive officer at ARUHI Corporation, he founded CHORD in 2021. His current research focuses on institutional investors, alternative investments, corporate governance, and conglomerate management.
Suguri Mikami – Storytelling Consulting LLP
Suguri is a cross-cultural strategist with 15 years in intercultural management and 10 years in digital communication. She began her career at a major Japanese trust bank before moving into global IT-focused IR marketing, where she honed her project leadership across international teams.
Relocating to India in 2015, she later founded Storytelling (2019), a digital communication agency supporting Japanese companies expanding into the Middle East. Leading a multicultural team of Indian, Japanese, and Middle Eastern professionals.