Advertisers spend millions creating it, marketing researchers spend months trying to perfect it and companies spend years living up to it.

Nothing gives corporations an edge like name recognition. For many foreign companies launching ventures in the Japanese market, the first order of business is to make a name for themselves. Having already established itself as a household name in the United States, shipping giant United Parcel Service is banking on the Nagano Winter Olympics and aggressive marketing to create an indelible image and presence in Japan.

"We've been very sensitive to position our involvement as a worldwide sponsor. We're not just a U.S. company," said Susan Rosenberg, public relations spokeswoman for Atlanta-based UPS. Rosenberg, along with a team of assistants, executives and public relations officials, are in Nagano to make sure the investment UPS has made in Japan and the Olympics creates the type of corporate recognition necessary to come out ahead in a new arena.