Japanese consumers want exclusivity and constant updates of product lines! That’s a big difference to Western markets, where product quality is mostly equal to long-time usage. In Japan, customers are spoiled and demand constant improvements, the highest quality, and the best service. Every mobile carrier releases new lines of mobile phones (15-20 models) in a wide range of colors and special editions every three months. In the entertainment business it’s the same. Every three months, comedians, TV shows, and dramas are also radically changed. Japanese Pop musicians who don’t release any video clip, single or CD for several weeks soon find themselves replaced by other artists.
OK, back to mobile. Softbank introduced a new service exclusively to Softbank users. Their slogan says: “The most interesting comedy can be seen on TV? Not at all! It’s more likely to be the mobile phone!” (いちばんオモシロイお笑いが見られるのは、テレビ？いや、ケータイかもよ。）
The service is called ‘S-1 Battle‘ and provides not only exclusive Japanese comedy (Monomane, Konto, Rakugo etc.) content from famous comedians, but let’s the users compare and rate these comedian’s performance. The site is made up like a K1-like battle ground. Every day, two comedians compete against each other. The champions of each month will battle at a live event at the end of the year. The total prize money for fighters in 2009 is 2.3 million dollars, the monthly champion will get $100.000 and all Softbank users have chances to win prices every month. So if you are lucky, a Softbank user and like Japanese comedy, scan the code below and enjoy the fight!
Hikaru Utada, a New-York born Japanese singer and songwriter, who is one of Japan’s all-time most successfull artists, came up with a new promotion concept for her second English album ‘This is the One’. Utalizing the Japanese Karaoke platform from Myspace, fans can upload their own video recording of Utada’s new lead single ‘Come back to me’. Utada’s Karaoke Contest is featured on the main page of Myspace Karaoke Japan till the end of the contest and Utada herself will select the winner. The grand prize will be a special karaoke party with additional 3 friends and Utada herself in Tokyo.
SNS, USER-GENERATED CONTEND and LIVE CONTACT with fans: that’s what we call ‘MARKETING 2.0.’ Respect!
P.S. Unfortunately the marketing concept got a hype from the ’swine flu panic’ in Japan. In the Kanto area (Osaka) all schools were closed for weeks. “Tens of thousand bored students at home?!”, thought some smart karaoke bar owners and offered special courses for collage students. This generated a big hype and most karaoke bars had long lines of students waiting to sing. Big gatherings of students was exactly the opposite of what authorities intended. Closing school definately didn’t protect students from the virus, but might have helped to the big success of Utada’s karaoke campaign. What a coincident!
Finally, one week after docomo and Softbank, au, Japan’s second biggest mobile carrier, unleashed their summer line up 2009. All together Japan’s summer trend phones consist of 55 new handsets in over 60 different colors. Beside updates for existing lines, some outstanding models shall be introduced and put into trends in the following.
Trend 1: ECO & Outdoor Health
The biggest trend for Japan’s next generation of mobile phones is definately eco-friendliness. Besides the recent regulation of standardized rechargers for each charrier and other ECO projects like the ‘Green Road Project‘ from au, handset makers do all effort to produce low power consuming devices that are designed for outdoor use and sport activities.
With the introduction of the waterproofed solar phones, the SOLAR HYBRID 936SH for Softbank and the SOLAR PHONE SH002 for au KDDI, Sharp takes the first step to wireless charging. Both phones claim to deliver one minute of talk time for every 10 minutes of solar charge time. Up to 80% of the battery is said to be chargable only by solar sensors. I guess not only all iPhone users, but travellers and business men wished that feature would have been implemented in their battery consuming devices as well.
Trend 2: Study and Read
Toshiba, who just announced they would quite the cell phone business in Japan due to high competition, released ‘biblio’, a special phone optimized to read ebooks and mangas from au’s bookstore in astionishing quality. Not only the 3.5 inch LCD display with the world highest mobile phone resolution of 960 x 480 (Japanese media refers to as Full WVGA++) is a highlight, it’s also the first Japanese phone with a slide out full QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode and a big internal memory of 7gb. Additional up to 8gb can be adjusted via SD card. WLAN functionality and 19 pre-installed dictionaries make biblio a perfect study device.
Trend 3: X-media
Another highlight is the Mobile Hi-Vision CAM WOOO by Hitachi. Japan’s first mobile phone with HD-camera (5 megapixel; 720p @ 30fps) claims to to be the perfect bridge between TV, mobile phone and PC. Movie content can be watched and transfered directly (HDMI-on board) from the phone to any supported device. There’s no reason to buy a camorder in temporary Japan any more!
Trend4: Connecting Family
Another innovative product is the mobile email enabled 7inch digital photo frame produced by Huawei for Softbank. The so called Photo Vision HW001 is available with a flat-rate monthly fee of about $5 (incl. device) and has its own telephone number. Pictures from mobile phones can be send via mail directly to the frame, which displays the latest photo or slidshows of family members. Grandparents will never have to wait for pictures of their beloved ones from now on!
And again Japan sets mobile lifestyle trends: ECO, HEALTH, STUDY, CROSSMEDIA and CONNECTIVITY.
As a pioneer Japan implements the first generation of solar powered mobile phones. Waterproofed devices together with mobile fitness services like au’s ‘Run & Walk‘ enforce people to be body and health conscious. In an aging society it’s very important to keep on track, work out, study and stay connected with family and friends. Mobile phones around the world improved a lot due to the spread of 3G and smartphones, but in Japan mobile lifestyle is the highest in the world and touches all that important fields of aging societies. The new generation of phones in Japan proved again that not only the quality of the devices is the crucial factor, but rich content and services provided by the mobile carriers. Even in recession these latest phones, which started selling from today, will spread very quickly and enhance the mobile lifstyle once again.
In cooperation with Japans biggest advertising company Dentsu, Nintendo just released a new revolutionary TV service for their game console Wii.
Background
The wide spread of internet and mobile phone culture led to a big lifestyle change in Japan. Traditionally the family life was centered in the ‘お茶の間’ (Ocha-no-Ma), the Japanese-style living room (see picture above). In the second half of the 20th century the TV was placed in the ‘Ocha-no-Ma’ and the family gathered in front of the screen or had TV dinners on weekends. With the beginning of the 20th century Japan entered an area of singularisation and individualization. Despite the lack of space in Japanese houses, it got common that most family members have their own room – a place to be alone. From that time on watching TV was no longer a central part of family life; family members watched their own TV shows on their own TVs or mobile phones. The family TV sessions in the ‘Ocha-no-Ma’ belonged to the past.
Bring the family back together in the living room
is Nintendo’s approach for the future. As Nintendo researchers found out 87% of Wii users use it on the biggest screen in the house, which is still the one in the living room. With the introduction of new game types like Wii fit and Wii sports, as much as the Nintendo DS, Nintento could expand the gaming population worldwide. Both devices are used by both sex and by a wide range of age groups. In average more family members use the the same Wii as other consoles are shared. Now Nintendo tries to widen up the variety of things you can do with a single gaming device by establishing one machine that satisfies all kinds of users in all posible ways.
During the development of the ‘TV-no-Tomo‘ channel, a TV program listing service for the wii console, Nintendo worked together with ‘Interactive Program Guide Inc.‘, a subsidiary of Dentsu. The success of this cooperation led to the development of Nintendo’s new TV service ‘Wiiの間‘ (‘Wii-no-Ma’).
As consoles are already connected to the internet, video streaming possibilities and online payment systems have been established through Nintendo’s videogame businesses, ‘Wii-no-Ma’ is, in a broader sense, a ‘video broadcasting service’ which utilizes advertising businesses.
Personalized content
In the beginning there will be only original video content, but already five ‘key’ TV stations in Tokyo have agreed to provide ‘Wii-no-Ma’ with some of their programs. One of the great features of this new service is that videos can be watched regardless of timing and times. While existing services for PCs or cell phones are mainly focused on personal use, ‘Wii-no-Ma’ will specialize on programs and services for groups of people that watch together and communicate with each other.
Up to eight family members can register at one ‘Wii-no-Ma’, build each others’ avatars and interact with each other like in online roll play games. Recommendations of programs can be send to other family members and friends; messages can be send and received in pop-up menus. Additionally the so called ‘Concierge Mii’, a Mii-Avatar of a Japanese celebrity (the avatar of famous Actor Saburo Tokito is preinstalled) appears on screen and introduces shows fitting to the user’s or group’s profile. Every time users finish watching, they are asked to evaluate the program in order to optimize content for specific gender and age groups. The results will be sent as a feedback to the developers of the program and to the sponsors of advertisements.
New advertising system
‘Wii no ma’ is free-of-charge but has an implemented advertisement system. In order not to bother watchers with colorful, blinking pop-up ads like on PC or mobile sites Nintendo created a new form of advertisement. No advertisement is shown on the screen unless the user actively chooses so. After watching video programs on ‘Wii-no-Ma’, users are guided to ‘会社の間’ (‘Kaisha no Ma’ – ‘The Companies’ Room’) an advertising platform from sponsor companies. There are twelve screens in ‘Kaisha no ma’, Each of them can be utilized by companies to communicate with the customers in ways like casting videos, asking questionnaires, giving out vouchers or delivering free samples to the household.
Advertisement doesn’t have any limitation in length, like 15 or 30 seconds on other platforms. As the user actively chooses to watch the ad content of his interest, the companies can communicate deeply and personally with users about their products or services.’Kaisha-no-Ma’ has been designed as a stage of direct communication between customers and companies and to verify hypothesis. Utilizing this system, Nintendo is anticipating an unprecedented form of advertisement: from ‘what users avoid to watch’ to ‘what users are eager to watch’. Avertising will get a form of entertainment. Benefit will be on both sides: the users who get personalized programs and advertising, and the sponsors who can promote and adjust their products to the real needs of their customers.
Mobalized ‘wii no ma’
Owners of Nintendo DSi can transfer their favorite programs directly to their DSi and watch the content on the go.
The exclusive software called ‘どこでもwiiの間’(‘Dokodemo-Wii-no-Ma’ – lit. ‘Everywhere Wii-no-Ma’) can be downloaded via the internet at Nintendo DSi Shop free of charge. Videos can be stored on the built-in memory of the DSi or on a SD Memory Card. Video vouchers from sponsores can be downloaded to the DSi to show them at stores and receive a variety of special services or discounts.
A console which puts smiles on everyone’s faces
With this approach Nintendo aims to go forward steadily in a long term and change the relationship between family, TV and internet. The new ‘Wii-no-ma’ is definately a service will spread in Japan as it’s interface is very Japanese, doesn’t bring extra costs for wii users and increases the features of the gaming console. ‘Wii-no-Ma’ is currently only available in Japan, but overseas deployment is under planning in the near future. All the services are free of charge at the beginning, special content will be charged in the future.
The official introduction from of ‘Wii-no-Ma’ by Dr. Iwata can be seen here (Japanese).
Official ‘Wii-no-Ma’ TV commercial follows:
