No.8 April 12, 2004
Contents
1) Column: Mobile for Media <Part 7>
2) Case Study 1: Cmode Vending Machines and Mobile
3) Case Study 2: Mobile Commerce and Click & Mortar
4) Industry Report: 2nd Tokyo Interactive Ad Awards
5) Mobile Research: News Browsing on i-mode
6) Carrier Trend: Freedom of Choice: Number Portability of Mobile Phone
7) Japan Cellular Subscriber Data
1) Column: Mobile for Media <Part 7>
Digital Tickets Via Mobile
Mobile marketing has become widely used for promoting and driving audiences to films, performances and other events besides daily products, food, beverage, and so forth. Promotion can be done via campaign websites and email mailings, while mobile sites enable people to download digital tickets directly to their phones.
These digital tickets can be delivered in a number of different forms. One method is to provide users with a QR code (http://www.qrcode.com/) or 2D bar code saved to their phone. The 2D bar code contains the ticket information, which can be scanned from the screen of the users phone via a reader set up at the entry to the event.
Another innovation that will have important impact on this area is the embedding of contactless chips in mobile phones. For example, NTT DoCoMo has announced that in the second half of 2004, it plans to release its 506i series phone, which along with subsequent 3G (FOMA) handsets will feature a built-in contactless FeliCa chip (developed by Sony Corporation and currently used by JR for rail passes. http://www.nttdocomo.com/). This is expected to have a major impact on mobile commerce, but will also have a variety of uses for mobile marketing. In the case of digital tickets, the ticket information can be passed to the contactless chip in the phone, so that users can get into events just by passing their phones before a reader.
The digitalization of ticketing will make it possible to drastically reduce the costs associated with production as well as sales and mailing of tickets. Users will no longer have to worry about holding onto a paper ticket or bringing it with them to events. When digital tickets are distributed via mobile, this will bring about a major transformation in ticket distribution mechanisms and increase convenience for event-goers.
2) Case Study 1: Vending Machines and Mobile Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, Ltd.
Period: April -December 2002
Combining mobile and other media can open up a variety of new possibilities. This was the concept pursued by the Coca-Cola (Japan) Company when it launched its new service with NTT DoCoMo and Itochu Corp. in September 2001. The service was called "Cmode."
Coca-Cola's vending machine network in Japan, consisting of approximately one million machines across the country in proximity of pedestrian traffic, provides particularly advantageous infrastructure for communicating with consumers. Vending machines are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, while the consumer interaction remains limited to pushing a button and receiving a drink. Meanwhile, over 40 million consumers (end of Feb., 2004) frequently interact with i-mode for extended periods of time. By bringing together vending machines and i-mode, the Cmode service provides a mutually complementary platform and a win-win-win relationship between Coca-Cola Japan, NTT DoCoMo and consumers.
Cmode is a new prepaid membership-based consumer service that links i-mode mobile phones with Cmode information terminal vending machines from Coca-Cola with built-in computer, display, speaker and printer. In addition to buying drinks with an i-mode mobile phone, subscribers can make cashless purchases of wallpapers for their phones, ringing tones, and i-mode mobile content such as java-based "i-appli." They can also print out hard copies of coupons and other items.
Nationwide service started in April 2002. Awareness of the service was promoted via direct mobile mailing advertisements known as Message Free (*), via the official i-mode site called the Tokusuru Menu (**), and banner ads. As a result, Cmode has attracted over 140,000 members and recorded double-digit increases in average beverage sales compared to conventional vending machines as of December 2002. Recognition of Cmode among users aged 15 to 50 has reached 50%.
According to Coca-Cola Japan, mobile has played an important role in driving penetration of Cmode. Although the company has used mass media such as newspapers, mobile advertisements have had a huge effect. Mobile ads have also been an advantage in terms of cost-effectiveness.
Positive effects have been seen not only in beverage sales, but also in the volume for i-mode content downloaded to the phones of users. Cmode currently logs some 30,000 to 40,000 downloads per month. The price of a single content service ranges from 30 to 100 yen. Consumers can buy beverages or ringing tones via their mobile just as they would purchase a drink or books at a convenience store or kiosk.
Very soon, Cmode will be used to offer incentives such as free beverages for accumulating points for purchases, and mobile handsets will enable the sending of local media-based information, while the clearance capability of vending machines can be used for collecting money for charities and so on. In this way, the broad potential of Cmode is attracting considerable attention.
* and ** For detail, see Our Lines of Business
3) Case Study 2: Mobile Commerce and Click & Mortar: i-Convenience, Inc.
Period: April -December 2002
By arranging collaboration between a mobile site and multimedia terminals, one of Japan's leading convenience chains LAWSON, INC. has successfully developed a system that enables customers to order books, CDs, ticket, makeup, and more via their mobiles, with pick of the actual goods taking place at the physical store. Payment is either credit card or at the store. LAWSON, INC. also provides a service for printing out the screen contents of mobile sites. These services have the ability to pull in more customers as well as ability to sell various goods without requiring advance inventories.
The e-commerce service of i-Convenience, Inc. (commissioned by LAWSON, INC., they develop and operate iLAWSON, i-mode site of LAWSON, INC.) was generating some 500 million yen per month as of May 2003. Home delivery services can be used for mobile or PC commerce. However, these are not suitable for workers out and about during the work day. By contrast, customers can pick up goods they have ordered at 24 -hours convenience stores anytime they want. In addition, customers who visit their local "My LAWSON" shop (i.e., the local LAWSON outlet they register with via a mobile site) tend to purchase other items when they stop at there. Additionally, there is a strong overlap between the heavy users of mobile phones and frequent users of convenience stores, both ranging age from 20 through 39. These are some of the key reasons for the success of i-Convenience, Inc.
Although the site is centered on the e-commerce services of iLAWSON, there is still an important emphasis placed on entertaining the users, with frequent communication and participation by site members in the development of the product.
To acquire new members of iLAWSON, the company made use of the Tokusuru Menu (*) in order to draw mobile users directly from top page of the i-mode content portal. As part of the promotion, new members were given the latest i-mode handsets. Through effective mobile advertisements and rich site contents, member of iLAWSON have reached 300,000 in two years.
Moving forward, the service is expected to offer even more commercial services and attractive content.
* For detail, see Our Lines of Business
4) Industry Report: 2nd Tokyo Interactive Ad Awards
JIAA, the Japan Internet Advertisement Association, has released the results of its 2nd Tokyo Interactive Ad Awards, the first Internet award in Japan. This year, awards were given in five sections for some eight categories, such as Webs Ad and Mobile Ads.
First Prize went to WebCINEMA "TRUNK" (Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.). This is entry for Integrated Campaign Section, which combines campaigns both on the Internet and mass media. The campaign was done in the style of a web short film, and works to create a good relationship with the customer. This was the first video-style expression using rich banner advertisements in Japan to received recognition, just as broadband is moving into high gear.
In the Mobile Ad Section, "Self-portrait MATCH uke ("machiuke" is abbreviation for phone wallpaper)" for Otsuka Beverage Co., Ltd. Received the Silver Award, and the Bronze Award went to "Game Screen U18" for Nike Japan Inc.
The entry by Otsuka Beverage earned special acclaim for its campaign planning, and its unique use of camera-equipped mobile phones. The Otsuka promotion centered around a vitamin beverage product called MATCH. By entering serial numbers printed on the drink label into fields on the mobile campaign site, consumers were able to play a game of slots on their phones. Winners could send their own portraits taken with their mobile phone cameras to the campaign site by email. In return, they received their self-portraits reprocessed as a special phone wallpaper within 24 hours. Each portrait was rendered in four versions; a smiley face, laughing face, angry face, and crying face. The core target group for MATCH was middle and high school students who are heavy users of mobile phones and exchange pictures taken with mobile phones on a daily basis. As pointed out by Otsuka's Product Section Chief, such users were certain to enjoy the four types of portraits. The campaign demonstrated how self-portraits were used not only as wallpaper but as a communication tool, like exchanging ecards. It thereby served as an effective viral marketing tool to spread information about the product, MATCH. Some 100,000 users participated in the campaign and sales profits increased 20% compared to usual years. Information about the campaign was carried via the information sites such as the Tokusuru Menu (*) on major mobile operator portals. The campaign captured all the key elements that attract teen mobile users; speediness, communication, and entertainment. Its unique marketing plan centered on the use of camera-equipped phones received high praise.
In its campaign, Nike Japan also targeted young people and received recognition for its use of retro-style monochrome invader game featuring banners.
5) Mobile Research: News on i-mode Site
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 85th Survey July 22, 2003
i-mode (*) users visit mobile newspaper channels on i-mode site because it is fresh and easy to access. Respondents: 26,620 i-mode users
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In Japan, 40,606,700 out of 80,541,500 people possess i-mode capable mobile phones, as of the end of February 2004 (for detail, see Latest News). The following is a survey was conducted to study the mobile newspaper browsing habits of i-mode users. It 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 26,620 i-mode users between June 30 to July 7, 2003.
* For more information on i-mode, see http://www.nttdocomo.com/
** 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>
The Rate of mobile news subscriptions was 84.8% (22,561 out of 26,620) and there was no differentiation between genders. From age 20-24, as age goes up, the rate of news subscription rises. (Data 1-1)
In terms of different categories, local newspaper had a high response rate of 37.3%, followed by the Yomiuri (31.0%) and Asahi (21.5), both of which are members of the big three Japanese newspapers. By gender, sports newspapers have higher popularity among men. In terms of age, as age goes up, the rate of subscribers to Nikkei (the other of the big three newspapers in Japan) and sports newspapers increase. For Asahi, from age 15 to 34, there is decrease in subscription, however there is increase over age 35. (Data 1-2) For region, there is less response on regional paper subscription among those who live in metropolitan areas.
Those who browse news sites on i-mode account for 54.5% of the respondents (14,514 out of 26,260). By gender, males browse news sites more often than females. In terms of age, from 15, as age goes up, the rate of browsing news site rises. (Data 2-1)
Among those who browse news sites, 87.8% browse free news sites while only 3.4% paid for their news. 8.8% said they browse both free and paid news sites. There is no outstanding difference between genders. For age, there is decrease in browsing free news sites as age goes up while the rate of browsing both free and paid news sites increases. (Data 2-2)
The strongest reason given for browsing news sites on i-mode is to find out the latest news (58.0%), followed by "browsing news while in transit" (51.2%) and "to get the latest sports and showbiz information" (47.8%). Surprisingly, only 7.8% say they browse news sites on i-mode instead of reading a newspaper, while most checked their phone in order to get the latest information. In terms of gender, more males said they browse news on i-mode sites because of its portability when in transit (as compared to actual newspapers).
By age, as age goes up, there is an increase in the rate of knowing the latest stock market information while there is a decrease in knowledge of showbiz information and reading mobile news as a substitute for an actual newspaper. (Data 3)
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<Survey Description>
Questions:
(1) Choose all the newspapers you read. (Multiple)
(2) Do you browse news sites on i-mode? (Choose one)
(3) What are your reasons for browsing an i-mode news site? (Choose three maximum)
Survey method: open survey, using Tokusuru Menu on i-mode site.
Survey period: June 30 to July 7, 2003 (one week)
No. of valid responses: 26,620
Rate of valid response by gender: male 33.9%, female 66.1%
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Q1) Choose all your newspaper you read. (Multiple)
<Table 1> By gender and age
| Read Newspaper | Do Not Read Newspaper | |
| All | 84.8% | 15.2% |
| Male | 87.3% | 12.7% |
| Female | 83.4% | 16.6% |
| Under 14 | 89.0% | 11.0% |
| 15-19 | 86.1% | 13.9% |
| 20-24 | 78.5% | 21.5% |
| 25-29 | 82.6% | 17.4% |
| 30-34 | 84.8% | 15.2% |
| 35-39 | 89.6% | 10.4% |
| 40-44 | 93.5% | 6.5% |
| 45-49 | 94.8% | 5.2% |
| Above 50 | 96.4% | 3.6% |
<Table 1-2> By gender and age
*Population parameter: those 22,561 who read newspapers
| Asahi | Yomimuri | Mainichi | Sankei | Nikkei | Regional | Sports | Industrial Economy | Else | |
| All | 21.5% | 31.0% | 7.3% | 4.2% | 7.3% | 37.3% | 14.6% | 0.9% | 7.3% |
| Male | 21.9% | 30.7% | 7.4% | 4.6% | 10.8% | 34.8% | 22.7% | 1.6% | 6.3% |
| Female | 21.3% | 31.1% | 7.2% | 3.9% | 5.5% | 38.7% | 10.2% | 0.6% | 7.9% |
| Under 14 | 24.7% | 30.1% | 9.6% | 5.5% | 8.2% | 34.2% | 9.6% | 0.0% | 15.1% |
| 15-19 | 26.2% | 32.2% | 8.0% | 3.4% | 5.5% | 29.0% | 9.3% | 0.3% | 9.8% |
| 20-24 | 22.8% | 30.4% | 7.9% | 3.6% | 6.0% | 36.3% | 11.5% | 0.5% | 7.4% |
| 25-29 | 19.9% | 30.1% | 7.0% | 3.8% | 6.4% | 39.4% | 13.6% | 0.6% | 6.6% |
| 30-34 | 19.2% | 30.1% | 6.7% | 4.2% | 7.7% | 38.9% | 16.3% | 1.3% | 6.4% |
| 35-39 | 21.1% | 32.3% | 7.0% | 4.9% | 8.7% | 37.0% | 18.4% | 1.4% | 7.9% |
| 40-44 | 23.1% | 34.4% | 7.4% | 4.8% | 10.3% | 36.2% | 16.8% | 1.2% | 7.9% |
| 45-49 | 28.6% | 29.6% | 9.3% | 6.2% | 11.0% | 38.1% | 17.0% | 2.7% | 9.3% |
| Above 50 | 25.9% | 32.2% | 8.9% | 5.2% | 12.4% | 38.5% | 17.5% | 1.7% | 6.6% |
2) Do you browse news sites on i-mode? (Choose one)
<Table 2-1> By gender and age
| Yes | No | |
| All | 54.5% | 45.5% |
| Male | 63.1% | 36.9% |
| Female | 50.1% | 49.9% |
| Under 14 | 41.5% | 58.5% |
| 15-19 | 52.2% | 47.8% |
| 20-24 | 52.1% | 47.9% |
| 25-29 | 52.2% | 47.8% |
| 30-34 | 54.3% | 45.7% |
| 35-39 | 58.3% | 41.7% |
| 40-44 | 60.6% | 39.4% |
| 45-49 | 64.2% | 35.8% |
| Above 50 | 66.8% | 33.2% |
<Table 2-2> By gender and age
*Population parameter: those 14,514 who browse i-mode news site
| Paid Site Only | Free Site Only | Both | |
| All | 3.4% | 87.8% | 8.8% |
| Male | 4.7% | 85.2% | 10.1% |
| Female | 2.6% | 89.5% | 7.9% |
| Under 14 | 2.9% | 82.4% | 14.7% |
| 15-19 | 1.2% | 92.2% | 6.6% |
| 20-24 | 2.4% | 90.9% | 6.7% |
| 25-29 | 4.0% | 88.0% | 8.0% |
| 30-34 | 3.4% | 88.6% | 8.0% |
| 35-39 | 3.6% | 85.6% | 10.7% |
| 40-44 | 4.1% | 83.2% | 12.7% |
| 45-49 | 6.1% | 80.6% | 13.2% |
| Above 50 | 5.4% | 76.3% | 18.3% |
3) What are your reasons for browsing an i-mode news site? (Choose three maximum)
<Table 3> By gender and age
*Population parameter: those 14,514 who browse i-mode news site
| Can browse while in transit | Get Latest News | Get Latest Sports or Showbiz | Get Latest Stock Market Info | Do Not Read Newspaper | Looking for Original Service | Else | |
| All | 51.2% | 58.0% | 47.8% | 2.6% | 7.8% | 9.8% | 11.8% |
| Male | 57.9% | 59.6% | 46.9% | 4.3% | 5.4% | 9.1% | 11.4% |
| Female | 46.9% | 57.0% | 48.4% | 1.5% | 9.3% | 10.3% | 12.0% |
| Under 14 | 44.1% | 61.8% | 47.1% | 0.0% | 11.8% | 20.6% | 17.6% |
| 15-19 | 47.2% | 58.8% | 53.7% | 1.3% | 7.0% | 11.3% | 14.7% |
| 20-24 | 50.1% | 54.1% | 49.8% | 1.4% | 11.3% | 9.3% | 13.2% |
| 25-29 | 50.5% | 56.6% | 50.4% | 1.9% | 9.0% | 8.5% | 10.8% |
| 30-34 | 50.6% | 58.1% | 48.3% | 2.6% | 7.6% | 9.9% | 12.0% |
| 35-39 | 55.5% | 59.8% | 43.5% | 2.9% | 5.9% | 10.0% | 11.0% |
| 40-44 | 54.7% | 64.3% | 41.0% | 4.8% | 2.5% | 11.3% | 9.9% |
| 45-49 | 48.9% | 61.5% | 41.1% | 6.9% | 3.5% | 12.5% | 11.3% |
| Above 50 | 49.8% | 68.9% | 39.0% | 10.8% | 2.9% | 15.4% | 11.6% |
** Questions and Interviews for this survey**********
INFO PLANT CO., LTD.
Email:info@info-plant.com
TEL :+81-3-3367-1967, FAX :+81-3-3367-1961
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6) Carrier Trends: Freedom of Choice: Number Portability of Mobile Phone
Currently in Japan, mobile telephone numbers of mobile are allotted to individual carriers so that when a customer changes mobile phone operator, they must change their number. It has long been pointed out that this poses a major barrier to changing operators due to the inconvenience of informing everybody of a new number. The problem is especially great for those who fear losing touch with older acquaintances one might not be in contact with very frequently. This signals the strength of the mobile as a communication channel between individuals. Given the circumstances, mobile numbers are regarded as the element that keeps customer's loyal to specific operator, since most people will avoid changing their number.
On the other hand, number portability services have now spread throughout Europe, as well as to the USA more recently. According to a survey conducted by the MPMHPT ( Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications) the introduction of portability could cost between 100billion to 150billion yen. A consumer questionnaire completed by 1000 people in September 2003 showed that 31.9% said they would like to exercise number portability even if it meant an added cost. 25.1% answered they would not use portability if it costs more, while 43.1% said they were undecided. However, when asked if they supported the spread of number portability, for 86.0% said yes. Asked if they minded changing operators even if it meant losing their current number, 51.1% said they were fine with number changes provided there was some clear method of contacting people to let them know about the change. 55.6% agreed on an email address change since email also supports forwarding services.
Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications are in the process of finalizing discussions about number portability services and final the decision will be made in late April.
7) Japan Cellular Subscriber Data
Here is the latest Japan cellular subscriber data for your reference.
Please go to: Latest News
