No.7 March 10, 2004
Contents
1) Column: Mobile for Media <Part 6>
2) Case Study 1: Free Estimate Service and Clear Images Lead Communication with Customer
3) Case Study 2: White Goods For Housewives
4) Industry Report: Japan Ad Spending YR2003
5) Mobile Research: Deciding Factors in Buying New Mobile Handsets
6) Carrier Trend: 3G Service Diffusion Well Underway
7) Japan Cellular Subscriber Data
1) Column: Mobile for Media <Part 6>
Role of Mobile in Promotional Campaigns
One of the first things a company must consider when using mobile in a promotional campaign is what role it wants in the site to perform.
To many, it may appear that mobile and PC Internet share numerous features in comparison to other digital and interactive media. As a result, within many companies, both PC and mobile Internet work are frequently managed by the same section. It is crucial to remember, however, that mobile and PC-based Internet are very different media, with major contrasts in terms of usage scenarios and user expectations.
For example, when using the PC Internet, consumers tend to seek more detailed information about products than with traditional media. By contrast, when using mobile phones, consumers expect precise information to be offered but only at the level of detail that the situation requires. The distinction between the PC and mobile are similar to the differences between a department store and convenience store. Consumers shopping in department stores tend to browse around extensively, trying out products and taking a lot of time to fill their needs, whereas consumers shopping at convenience stores frequently go looking for something they specifically want at the moment. Consumers behave this way spontaneously, and are not necessarily conscious of these distinctions. The objective when employing a mobile strategy is to respond to the customer's needs without making them conscious of it. Content providers tend to consider consumers' needs first and technology afterwards.
However, it is not a simple thing for a company to grasp precisely users' specific needs and usage patterns. Accumulating this type of know-how can cost a great deal of time and money. It may not be cost effective for companies to build a mobile site just for the purpose of a campaign that will last only one week. In such cases, they may turn to a mobile specialist or application service provider (ASP). This enables them to use a campaign site only for the necessary time period and keep within budget. To drive users to the site, the campaign may employ a number of different means, such as distributing promotional emails to consumers' mobiles, placing an announcement in traditional media, or placing ads on a mobile portal site.
2)Case Study 1: Free Estimate Service and Clear Images Lead Communication with Customer (Gulliver International Co., Ltd.)
Period: 2002
It has been said by some that mobile phones are not suited to selling "big-ticket" items. However, better communication with customers and direct marketing is showing how mobiles can play an important role even in such high-value propositions.
For example, Gulliver International Co., Ltd. is a used car company that has employed both the PC and mobile Internet to shift from a B-to-B business model to what it terms "C-to-B-to-B-to-C." Previously, the company used a graphical automobile sales system located at its shops based on satellite communications in order to develop a market base independent from other auction sites. Recently, Gulliver upgraded its system to enable users to access its used-car information database or sale price estimates via both mobile and PC. In the case of the mobile, the company has emphasized the entertainment side: users who download an i-appli (java application in i-mode) can check car selling and buying information in a game-like format, or check the popularity of a particular automobile. The service was supported by the "Mobile Picture" ASP service developed by Fuji Photo Film Co., which helped Gulliver to distribute color pictures correctly resized and reformatted for any mobile handset.
The free estimate service was publicized using push-type advertisements circulated via Message Free, as well as direct mail advertisements and picture-based banner advertisements (*). The URL of both the mobile and PC Internet sites were displayed in mass media ads to draw attention to these official sites.
Gulliver's graphical automobile sales system, along with the mobile and official mobile sites are currently helping to sell some 3,000 cars per month, and the number is expected to rise to some 100,000 cars.
* For detail, see Our Lines of Business
3) Case Study 2: White Goods For Housewives
Period: November 4-11, 2002
In a questionnaire conducted via mobile, some 80% of respondents answered that they were considering buying a new refrigerator manufactured by Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd. This survey demonstrated how mobile could prove a powerful promotional tool for the sale of white goods.
Ordinarily, sales promotions of white goods such as refrigerators and washing machines are carried out via mass media such as TV, newspapers and magazines in order to draw new customers. In this case, Matsushita also made use of mobile media in the promotion of its new "non-CFC Refrigerator" product.
For some time, Matsushita has been emphasizing its CSR program in a variety of media and messages. One carefully chosen part of this campaign was the non-CFC refrigerator, released on October 1st 2002.
First, to raise public awareness of the product, the company announced an open sweepstakes campaign using TV, newspaper and other media for the two-month period extending from September 16 to November 15, 2002. At the same time, it posted a magazine advertorial focused on the environment that offered a clear and detailed explanation aimed at housewives, which make up the core client base for refrigerators. In addition, to extend the reach of the campaign and further raise awareness, it employed a mobile campaign via a 1-week promotion on the Tokusuru Menu (*). This was combined in the same period with a picture banner ad on its official websites, along with opt-in email promotions sent via Message Free (**) to females in their thirties. These advertisements were designed to lead users to the official i-mode site of the non-CFC Refrigerator once they had participated in a questionnaire-based sweepstakes (with the same prizes offered via other media). The non-CFC refrigerator site provided a variety of entertaining and valuable incentives. Users were able to pick up original wallpapers and ringing tones once they had read the product explanation. Users were also invited to make a contribution to the World Wildlife Fund Japan via the mobile Living Card service.
The entry period for post card and PC web-based open sweepstakes was two months, and the number of total entries of postcard and PC web was 98,000. Meanwhile, the number of mobile entries reached more than 80,000 in just a one-week period. It proved that careful usage of i-mode enabled a very high response rate in a short period of time. A brief profile of the participants is as follows: female 62%, male 48%. 80% of participants were in their 20s and 30s, 11% in their 40s, with 20% being housewives (of whom 50% were in their thirties).
Accesses to the non-CFC refrigerator site were also high, reaching more than 16,000. There were a high number of accesses and page views of the product explanation and CRS pages. This was partly due to a strong interest among users in the environment and in getting a clear explanation of the product.
When asked via the questionnaire about their interest in purchasing the product, some 80% of the respondents on mobile said they were considering buying a new Matsushita refrigerator. 60% also said they wanted to receive more product information. Previously, such campaigns relied on postcards for sweepstakes campaign entries. This case study not only changed that practice, but also demonstrated that the mobile can be a strong tool for the promotion of white goods sales to housewives.
Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd. is now considering expanding its use of mobile to include other products as well.
* and ** For detail, see Our Lines of Business
4) Industry Report: Japan Ad Spending YR2003
Each year, Dentsu Inc., Japan's largest advertising agency, announces Japan's annual advertising spend, in collaboration with various media and production companies. Its FY2003 figures were released on February 17, 2004.
According to announcement, advertisement fees in Japan totaled 5,684.1 billion yen in 2003, a fall of 0.3% over the previous year. Ad expenditure among the traditional big four media (TV, radio, newspaper, magazine) has been decreasing since 2001. By contrast, ad for new media including Internet showed an increase, continuing a growth trend seen since the start of such data collection in 1996. Such spending rose to 118.3 billion in 2003, a gain of 140% over 2002. Previously such growth had slowed, but has recently been assisted by the diffusion of broadband Internet services such as ADSL, which has stimulated the ad market.
Mobile advertisement share is included in Internet advertisement expenditure. It has expanded to $100 million yen, marking a 200% increase over YR2002. This growth rate is greater than that of the PC-based Internet. There are three key factors behind such major growth. First, there has been an increase in ads by mobile content providers. In 2003, new contents such as appli (java applets) and true tones gained great popularity, resulting in the promotion of those services. Second, the number of companies using mobile as a marketing tool has increased. Many campaigns are now embracing mobile in one way or another. It has become quite common for companies to put a serial number on beverage packaging or to award some kind of digital content as a premium gift or incentive. Mobile ads have also become a quite common way of announcing such campaigns. Finally, there has been an increase in mobile advertisements on sites other than the official sites of large operators. This has produced a huge increase in mobile ad network- and affiliate-type advertisements. Currently, text banner advertisements still comprise the majority of mobile banner ads, but there is growth anticipated for image-based mobile banners as well.
Compared to PC-based Internet advertisements, mobile advertisements currently comprise 1/10th of the total Internet ad market. However, because of the number of mobile Internet users is so much higher than the number of people using the PC-based Internet, the mobile share of the ad spend is expected to see continued growth.
5) Mobile Research: Deciding Factors in Buying New Mobile Handsets
In Japan today, a wide variety of marketing surveys are conducted directly from participant's mobile phones. These surveys can prove extremely valuable in collecting otherwise inaccessible information about new consumer markets. The survey featured below focuses on trends in screen size and resolution of mobile phone sales.
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Result of 87th Survey August 5, 2003
i-mode (*) users tend to choose a camera-equipped phone with a large screen and high resolution.
Respondents: 37,262 i-mode users
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In Japan, there are 80,128,800 mobile phone subscribers. Among them, 45,429,600 are i-mode users as of the January 2004 (for details, see Latest News). The following is a survey conducted to study handset purchase trends among i-mode users. The survey was conducted by Internet-based research service INFO PLANT Co., LTD (Head office: Tokyo, Japan). Survey data was collected via the "Tokusuru Menu (**) " on i-mode from 37,262 i-mode users from July 14 to July 21, 2003.
* For more information on i-mode, see
** The Tokusuru Menu is an original service developed by D2C, accessible by selecting item no. 4 from the i-menu of NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service portal.
<Survey Results Summary>
19.0% of male respondents are using i-mode's 503i and 504i series, followed by 504iS (15.7%) and 251i (15.2%) series (***). Among females, 22.6% are using 251i, followed by 503i (17.5%) and 504iS (17.1%) series. Only 6.7% of male and 4.2% of female have 505i series, which were just released two months ago (May 2003). And 37.6% of male and 43.9% of female possess camera-equipped phones (251i, 504iS, and 505i series). And as age goes up, the rate of possessing 251i and 504iS series decreases. (Table 1)
*** For products detail, see
http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/p_s/products/index.html
36.7% of respondents intend to change their handsets for a new one within three months: 11.9% of respondents are definitely going to change and 24.8% probably will change. By contrast, 49.1% answer they do not plan to change their handsets within three months, while 14.3% are not likely to change and 34.8% have no intention of changing. No remarkable differences have been distinguished between genders. In terms of age, respondents in higher age groups are more likely to change their handsets. (Table 2-1)
In terms of handsets, those who possess old series devices such as the 209i/210i, 211i/212i, and 503i series show a greater tendency toward changing their handsets. By contrast, those with a new series such as the 251i, 504iS, 505i, and FOMA (3G) are less likely to change their handsets within the next three months. (Table 2-2)
In choosing a handset, the number one deciding factor is screen size and clarity (number of pixels) (49.0%). 47.8% cited the presence of a camera function and 46.1% choose handsets based on price. By gender, screen size and clarity or operational performance are major deciding factors for males. Meanwhile, females choose their handsets according to design / color or the presence of a camera. For age, as age goes up, there is a decrease in the importance of design / color or presence of a camera while there is an increase in the emphasis on staying with the same mobile operator or operational performance as deciding factors in handset selection. Between ages 15-34, the ratio of buyers emphasizing screen size and clarity decrease as age goes up. By contrast, from age 35 up, the opposite is true, with these screen features being seen as more important. The opposite trend is seen when looking at price as a deciding factor: from ages 15-34, the importance of price increases with age, whereas this is seen as less important when the age group surpasses 35. (Table 3-1) Among those intending to change their handsets for a new one, "camera-equipped" is seen as most important and price is the least important. (Table 3-2)
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<Survey Description>
Questions:
(1) Choose your current handset. (Choose one)
(2) Are you going to change your handset within three months? (Choose one)
(3) What is / are your deciding factors when purchasing a new handset? (Choose three at most)
Survey method: open survey, using Tokusuru Menu on i-mode site.
Survey period: July 14 to July 21, 2003 (one week)
No. of valid responses: 37,262
Rate of valid response by gender: male 34.3%, female 65.7%
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Q1) Choose your current handset. (Choose one)
<Table 1> By gender and age
| 209i 210i |
211i 212i |
251i | 501i 502i |
503i | 504i | 504iS | 505i | FOMA | Other | |
| All | 5.8% | 8.9% | 19.9% | 3.4% | 18.1% | 16.8% | 16.6% | 5.1% | 4.2% | 1.2% |
| Male | 4.6% | 8.6% | 15.2% | 3.3% | 19.0% | 19.0% | 15.7% | 6.7% | 6.9% | 1.0% |
| Female | 6.4% | 9.1% | 22.6% | 3.4% | 17.5% | 15.7% | 17.1% | 4.2% | 2.7% | 1.3% |
| Under 14 | 1.1% | 18.9% | 28.9% | 0.0% | 12.2% | 11.1% | 11.1% | 5.6% | 4.4% | 6.7% |
| 15-19 | 2.6% | 8.2% | 20.5% | 2.0% | 18.2% | 19.1% | 21.2% | 3.8% | 3.2% | 1.2% |
| 20-24 | 3.5% | 7.7% | 24.0% | 2.8% | 16.5% | 16.4% | 19.4% | 5.2% | 3.6% | 0.9% |
| 25-29 | 5.0% | 8.0% | 22.9% | 3.1% | 16.9% | 15.2% | 18.1% | 5.8% | 4.1% | 0.9% |
| 30-34 | 7.2% | 9.0% | 18.7% | 3.6% | 19.6% | 16.6% | 14.9% | 5.1% | 4.1% | 1.2% |
| 35-39 | 7.4% | 10.4% | 16.1% | 4.1% | 18.1% | 17.8% | 14.9% | 4.8% | 5.0% | 1.4% |
| 40-44 | 7.9% | 10.2% | 14.3% | 4.3% | 19.4% | 18.8% | 13.7% | 4.8% | 5.1% | 1.5% |
| 45-49 | 7.5% | 12.1% | 13.5% | 4.3% | 23.1% | 19.9% | 10.6% | 3.5% | 4.3% | 1.2% |
| Above 50 | 7.4% | 13.2% | 13.2% | 4.4% | 18.6% | 18.1% | 11.5% | 3.8% | 4.4% | 5.4% |
Q2) Are you going to change your handset within three months? (Choose one)
<Table 2-1> by gender and age
| Going to Change | Probably Change | Little Intention of Changing | Will NotChange | Don't Know | |
| All | 11.9% | 24.8% | 14.3% | 34.8% | 14.2% |
| Male | 11.9% | 24.9% | 16.7% | 33.2% | 13.3% |
| Female | 11.8% | 24.7% | 13.1% | 35.6% | 14.8% |
| Under 14 | 13.3% | 17.8% | 7.8% | 40.0% | 21.1% |
| 15-19 | 13.3% | 22.8% | 14.6% | 38.8% | 10.5% |
| 20-24 | 13.1% | 24.9% | 14.8% | 35.6% | 11.6% |
| 25-29 | 11.9% | 24.0% | 13.6% | 36.8% | 13.7% |
| 30-34 | 11.8% | 24.4% | 13.9% | 34.8% | 15.1% |
| 35-39 | 10.8% | 24.4% | 15.1% | 32.9% | 16.8% |
| 40-44 | 10.1% | 27.8% | 14.8% | 30.9% | 16.4% |
| 45-49 | 11.8% | 27.3% | 15.6% | 28.0% | 17.3% |
| Above 50 | 11.9% | 32.6% | 14.7% | 24.5% | 16.3% |
<Table 2-2> by current handset
| Going to Change | Probably Change | Little Intention of Changing | Will NotChange | Don't Know | |
| 209i / 210i | 20.0% | 39.5% | 13.2% | 10.9% | 16.4% |
| 211i / 212i | 14.6% | 31.9% | 15.8% | 20.2% | 17.5% |
| 251i | 7.1% | 19.2% | 16.2% | 42.4% | 15.1% |
| 501i / 502i | 23.7% | 41.5% | 9.5% | 10.4% | 14.9% |
| 503i | 22.1% | 38.0% | 12.5% | 11.3% | 16.1% |
| 504i | 13.0% | 29.7% | 17.5% | 25.0% | 14.8% |
| 504iS | 2.9% | 9.6% | 15.4% | 61.0% | 11.1% |
| 505i | 3.1% | 3.3% | 2.3% | 87.3% | 4.0% |
| FOMA | 4.9% | 12.2% | 13.1% | 56.4% | 13.4% |
| Other | 13.3% | 24.6% | 15.5% | 28.4% | 18.2% |
Q3) What is / are your deciding factors when purchasing a new handset? (Choose three at most)
<Table 3-1> by gender and age
| Screen | Design / Color | Same Hand set |
Able to use iappli | Camera Equipped |
Opera tional Perfor mance |
Speed of Sending or Down load |
Motion mail or TV | Price | Other | |
| All | 49.0% | 41.6% | 34.8% | 14.3% | 47.8% | 26.3% | 13.7% | 5.9% | 46.1% | 4.7% |
| Male | 53.6% | 32.8% | 35.4% | 14.8% | 38.6% | 32.0% | 17.0% | 7.0% | 43.0% | 6.3% |
| Female | 46.6% | 46.1% | 34.5% | 14.0% | 52.6% | 23.3% | 12.0% | 5.3% | 47.8% | 3.9% |
| Under 14 | 48.9% | 50.0% | 13.3% | 28.9% | 61.1% | 20.0% | 23.3% | 7.8% | 34.4% | 4.4% |
| 15-19 | 54.4% | 57.8% | 25.5% | 18.6% | 53.1% | 23.2% | 13.1% | 5.2% | 36.4% | 4.9% |
| 20-24 | 50.0% | 55.5% | 28.9% | 12.7% | 50.8% | 25.1% | 11.4% | 5.8% | 44.1% | 4.4% |
| 25-29 | 46.9% | 47.0% | 34.8% | 12.4% | 50.8% | 24.2% | 12.5% | 5.5% | 47.7% | 4.2% |
| 30-34 | 45.7% | 37.8% | 36.9% | 13.4% | 47.0% | 25.9% | 13.9% | 6.0% | 49.1% | 4.8% |
| 35-39 | 48.3% | 29.7% | 38.7% | 15.7% | 43.2% | 28.8% | 15.9% | 5.7% | 48.2% | 5.7% |
| 40-44 | 52.0% | 24.9% | 39.5% | 17.8% | 40.5% | 31.0% | 17.1% | 7.0% | 45.0% | 5.4% |
| 45-49 | 59.1% | 20.7% | 40.9% | 18.1% | 40.5% | 32.4% | 14.5% | 8.1% | 43.0% | 3.8% |
| Above 50 | 64.1% | 15.2% | 41.8% | 17.1% | 45.0% | 31.8% | 15.2% | 7.2% | 37.2% | 5.8% |
<Table 3-2> by Intention
| Screen | Design / Color |
Same Handset |
Able to use iappli | Camera Equipped |
Opera tional Perfor mance |
Speed of Sending mail or Down load |
Motion mail or TV | Price | Other | |
| Going to Change | 52.4% | 39.9% | 34.6% | 14.9% | 61.0% | 23.2% | 13.8% | 6.1% | 33.3% | 5.7% |
| Probably Change | 48.5% | 38.0% | 34.2% | 15.5% | 56.2% | 24.4% | 14.2% | 6.1% | 44.4% | 4.2% |
| Low Intention of Change | 47.7% | 43.2% | 34.6% | 13.4% | 39.3% | 30.1% | 14.4% | 5.6% | 49.9% | 4.0% |
| NotChange | 48.9% | 45.8% | 36.2% | 13.2% | 40.2% | 27.5% | 12.7% | 5.3% | 47.6% | 5.0% |
| Don't Know | 48.5% | 37.1% | 32.5% | 15.2% | 49.1% | 25.4% | 14.3% | 7.0% | 52.4% | 5.1% |
** Questions and Interviews for this survey**********
INFO PLANT CO., LTD.
mail:info@info-plant.com
TEL : +81-3-3367-1967, FAX : +81-3-3367-1961
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6) Carrier Trends: 3G Service Diffusion Well Underway
3rd generation mobile service was introduced on a commercial basis in the Japanese market in October 2001, when NTT DoCoMo launched FOMA (3G). Initially, however, it was slow to spread, in part due to the FOMA network's narrow coverage area and relatively short battery life of its 3G handsets.
But 2004 is expected to be the year of 3G in Japan. KDDI, which is ranks number in the number of 3G subscriber in Japan has reached 12.2 million 3G users as of the end of January 2004. A major driver of 3G growth for KDDI has been the success of "Chaku-uta" or "ringing tunes" services, which enable users to download audio source recordings of the latest CDs (from 15 to 30 seconds maximum).
Vodafone KK, the third biggest mobile company in Japan, has seen slowed growth in subscriber numbers, although it has announced a strategy of appealing to customers with its international roaming services.
Subscription numbers for NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service have now surpassed 2 million, with diffusion appearing to be accelerating. The newest FOMA (3G) model 900i series contains several new technologies. First, the devices support i-appli applets up to 500k in size. As a result, rich versions of video games such as "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest" are now available for these mobiles. In addition, the devices support Macromedia Flash clips of up to 100k in size, enabling ever richer visual content. In addition, HTML-capable email services and animated-GIF e mail services called "Deco Mail" have been launched. Additionally, FOMA has introduced so-called "Chaku Motion / Ringing Animation" services that are similar to "Chaku-uta / Ringing Tunes" services. Along with the enhanced media richness of these mobile phones, they also contain 1 megapixel digital cameras. FOMA is expecting to acquire a total of 2.4 million subscribers by the end of 2004, in part because of the introduction of 900i series.
7) Japan Cellular Subscriber Data
Here is the latest Japan cellular subscriber data for your reference.
Please go to: Latest News
