Rakuten is one of the largest e-commerce companies in Japan. But, while it owns a number of online properties and employs more than 2,000 people in the U.S., it is far from a household name.
Its strategy: The company, which owns Ebates, the Kobo e-book reader and the OverDrive e-book system widely used at libraries, is on a mission to make itself better known to American consumers. A big part of that is a sponsorship deal to put Rakuten's name and logo on the jerseys of the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
