1) Case Study :Media Kobo / Linking TV Shows and Mobile to Drive Membership Sign-ups
2) Industry Report: "Mobile Wallet" and "Edy Card" Power a Ticketless "Oracle 10g World" and Manage Real-Time Event Entry for 20,000 People
3) Mobile Research:90% of Users Recognize 2D Barcodes (QR codes), while 53% have actually used one
4) Carrier Trend:Mobile Suica with Mobile Wallet function to launch January 2006
5) Japan Cellular Subscriber Data

1)Case Study 1: Media Kobo / Linking TV Shows and Mobile to Drive Membership Sign-ups

Internet-based fortune telling services that target young females are extremely popular. In general, such sites have the power to draw an increasing number of accesses and can be thought of as "killer content" Content Provider Media Kobo' i-mode site is one such site. Having experienced great success with a PC Internet site produced by a popular fortune teller known for his expertise, Media Kobo launched a mobile site in December 2004. Amid the launch preparations, Nihon Television interviewed Media Kobo's fortune teller on its TV program, "Super Television" Recognizing this as an opportunity to give the mobile site exposure, Mobile Kobo planned a promotion that would link the television program and the mobile site. Their aim was to use this opportunity of being picked up by the mass media to boost their site's membership numbers. Since the fortune teller's expertise was introduced during the television program, Media Kobo also set up a special portion of the mobile site dedicated to "Lucky Fun Spots(Amusement Park Special)" that would exploit this linkage to the TV program.

 

On February 21, the night that the television program was aired, Media Kobo sent out a "push" advertisement on the "Message Free" channel which promoted both the television program and the mobile site along with a gift campaign. "Message Free" is an opt-in advertisement service offered by NTT DoCoMo and is delivered free of packet data charges to the user. As of April 2005, the number of users who have signed up to receive information for free via this service has surpassed 5.5 million. This kind of promotion can be fine tuned and targeted by segment, such as gender, age and residential area. In this case, this nationwide promotion targeted women in their 20s to 30s who were particularly interested in fortune telling. Users were eligible to enter a drawing, with the prize winner getting the chance to meet the fortune teller in person and have their fortune told. In order to enter the drawing, users had to sign up at the site. The television program and Message Free channel served as effective mechanisms for driving users to the site.

 

Immediately after Message Free was sent out, accesses to the site showed a dramatic increase. Afterwards, when the site was introduced on the television program, once again, the number of accesses jumped. According to a Media Kobo spokesperson, "Being able to access the site on one's mobile phone while watching television produces huge results." The results testify to the extreme synergy that exists between television and mobile. "This was the first time that a promotion linking television and mobile was tested. We were able to get a reaction from people who previously were not users, making this a big success."

2)Industry Report:"Mobile Wallet" and "Edy Card" Power a Ticketless "Oracle 10g World" and Manage Real-Time Event Entry for 20,000 People

Japan Oracle and Nittetsu Solutions have created a real-time ID management system utilizing NTT DoCoMo's Mobile Wallet and the Edy Card and put it to use with the 20,000 attendees of the Japan Oracle-sponsored event "Oracle 10g World" held at the Tokyo International Forum on February 24, 2005. Oracle 10g World featured some 50 technology sessions accessible via visitor preregistration. Attendees carrying a DoCoMo Mobile Wallet phone or an Edy Card could use these to be identified after transferring their registration data at the event reception counter. In addition, those who did not already have either of these were provided with a complimentary Edy card that they could use to verify their registration at the entrance.

 

Registration information units for capturing visitors' personal data from Mobile Wallets or Edy cards were placed at the entrance of each speaking venue, enabling the smooth flow of visitors into the event simply by having them swipe their compatible phones or cards over a reader that enabled the instant identification of preregistered attendees.

 

In addition, special terminals placed around the event space furnished the convenient ability for each individual attendee to check the content of the technology session for which they were registered. Furthermore, the event space implemented a point system. This meant that anybody entering the event that possessed either a Mobile Wallet phone or Edy Card was awarded a free "Edy Gift" of a 120-yen instant digital e-cash reward, and also entered into a drawing to win a top prize of a 50,000 yen digital e-cash Edy present. In this way, this system was used to run a promotional campaign to draw people to the event.

 

The system also made it possible to see and manage over the Internet who was at the event and which sessions they were attending using the central server of the visitor management system. Furthermore, the recorded visitor data was registered in the Japan Oracle visitor management database and could be utilized after the event for sales activities in relation to appropriate participants. This has raised expectations that this system will be an extremely effective sales tool in the future.

 

In addition, by keeping down the costs that would be required to build and operate a visitor management system for specific events, it is an extremely economical solution that combines the leverage of the Internet and the data center to provide service capabilities regardless of the event size or venue. Japan Oracle is now investigating the sale of the system as a stand-alone product.

3) Mobile Research:90% of Users Recognize 2D Barcodes (QR codes), while 53% have actually used one

In Japan today, a wide variety 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 the frequency with which i-mode users visit mobile Internet websites.

***********************************************************
Result of 167th Survey Jan 31 ? Feb 7, 2005
Respondents: 9,865 i-mode users
***********************************************************

The following is a survey conducted to study the download patterns of mobile game users. It was conducted by the Internet-based research service INFO PLANT Co., LTD (Head office: Tokyo, Japan; Masaki OTANI, President). Survey data was collected via the surveys of subscribers to the NTT DoCoMo network, based on valid responses from 9,865 people during a one-week period from January 31- February 7, 2005. InfoPlant aims to expand the scope of research conducted using mobile phones.
=====================================================
<Survey Results Overview>
=====================================================

------------------------------------------------------------------------
90% of Users Recognize 2D Barcodes (QR codes), while 53% have actually used one.

In addition, 9.4% said they had never used a QR code compatible handset, while 28.2% reported that they knew of QR codes but had never used them because their own handset was not compatible. If these numbers are included, the level of recognition surpasses 90%, with no noticeable difference between males or females.

Looked at by gender and age, a high proportion of those who had used QR codes were young men and women, with men under 20 and women under 19 comprising over 60%. By contrast, a high proportion of those who answered that they were not familiar with QR codes were from men and women from higher age groups.
(Table 1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
80.4% of those who have used QR codes used ones published in magazines.

The majority of those who said they had used QR codes reported using ones published in magazines, with 45.4% saying they had used ones printed on flyers, followed by newspapers (32.4%), and direct marketing (20.5%). Looked at by gender, the majority of those using codes on PC websites were male (male: 20.9%, female: 11.2%), while more women had used codes found in direct marketing materials (male: 16.1%, female: 23%) and mail order catalogues (males: 10.2%, females: 24.9%). Also, in terms of age and gender differences, fewer males and females reporting using codes in magazines in the higher age groups, while fewer men used codes on PC websites.
(Table 2).

------------------------------------------------------------------
66.3% would like to use QR codes as an easy way to read and access mobile URLS.

The most requested use of QR codes was as a means to read and access URLS on their mobile phones (66.3%), followed by reading in numbers off of business cards and such and scanning them directly into their mobile phone address books (38.4
(Table 3).

In terms of the sites from which users downloaded games, the majority got them from free sites (64.4%). 47.9% said they used the games preinstalled in their phones, followed by those who downloaded them from pay sites (37.6%). There were no noticeable differences in behavior along gender lines. However, when looked at by age and gender, the majority of those downloading games from pay sites were in the younger generation, with more than half being males under the age of 20. Furthermore, the majority of males and females downloading games from free sites were aged 19 and under. (See Table 3)
=====================================================

<Survey Description>
Questions:
1)Are you familiar with QR codes (2D bar codes?) (Select 1)
2)Where have you used QR codes before? (Multiple selections possible)
3)Select what you would like to use QR codes for. (Multiple selections possible)

Survey method: Open Survey, i-mode Tokusuru menu
Survey period: January 31 - February 7, 2005 (1 week)
Valid responses: 9,865
Rate of valid response by gender: male 33.9%, female 66.1%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. It carries beneficial information such as campaign information. For more information, please contact D2 Communications at press@d2c.co.jp
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q1) Are you familiar with QR codes (2D bar codes?) (Select 1)

 

<Table1>(By Gender/Age)

 

Q2)Where have you used QR codes from before? (Multiple selections possible)
<Table 2>(By Gender/Age)
*Population parameter: 5,307 users who play mobile games

 

Q3): Select what you would like to use QR codes for (Multiple selections possible)
<Table 3>(By Gender/Age)
*Population parameter: 8,014 users who play mobile games

 

** 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
**********************************************************

4)Carrier Trend:Mobile Suica with Mobile Wallet function to launch January 2006

On February 20th, JR East, NTT DoCoMo and Sony announced that starting January 2006, the Suica contactless IC cards used for rail ticketing in Japan will be embedded in NTT DoCoMo mobile phones and called "Mobile Suica". Mobile Suica will be enabled to support a mobile wallet function. Public trial demonstrations of Mobile Suica were carried out before the mass media on March 3 and 4th at Ueno Station in Tokyo.

 

Increasingly, Suica is being used for more than just rail passes and train tickets but is also being expanded to include the ability to make payments with digital money at retail shops and vending machines located within rail station buildings. Outside of stations as well, Suica payments have also been introduced at convenience stores like Family Mart, drugstores such as Matsumoto Kiyoshi, and Shinseido, which retails CDs as well as other products.

 

The advantage of Suica is that it takes advantage of pre-existing network infrastructure for the card services already being used inside station buildings. In addition, online settlement services utilizing Suica are also planned to be introduced in the latter half of 2006,

 

In the current demonstration, Mobile Suica handsets were used in field tests to pass through and make payment at a ticket gate, as well as to make purchases at a coffee shop and a bookstore within the station building. The test handsets were all preinstalled with special Mobile Suica software. One of the issues in testing Mobile Suica is the precision of its ID function, which according to JR Asst Section Chief Mr. Hajime Yamada is being refined and sharpened through extensive development. The current trial was concluded smoothly and the settlement function worked successfully.

 

According to representatives at JR East, NTT DoCoMo and East, field tests will be carried out until the fall in preparation for the launch of the future service. Although NTT DoCoMo has just announced plans to introduce mobile devices with this e-wallet function, rival KDDI has already announced plans to jointly develop a Java application and Vodafone is also investing in a similar solution.

Here is the latest Japan cellular subscriber data for your reference.
Please go to: Latest News

For subscription and feedback, write to us >>