Presentation given at Forum IAB 2009 in Warsaw, Poland. Contains 5 case studies of our favorite Japanese mobile campaigns from 2008/2009.

1. Future Insight:
Mobile Marketing
in Japan
Forum IAB, Warsaw
November 4, 2009
Christopher Billich

3. What I will talk
about in the
next 30 minutes

4. Why Mobile
is huge in Japan
Mobile as an
Advertising Medium
A few
Campaign Examples
Some
Challenges

5. I work for a company called

7. based

8. somewhere around here
nasa.gov

9. The
Shameless
Advertising
Part
which works for companies like

10. The
Shameless
Advertising
Part

11. The
Shameless
Advertising
Part
Who all want to know
One Thing:

12. The
Shameless
Advertising
Part
“How can we apply
what already works in Japan
in our mobile market?”

13. “Wheel” [(h)w ēl]
circular object rotating on an axle
need not reinvent

14. Why look for answers in Japan?

15. “It’s when a
technology
becomes
normal, then
ubiquitous, and
finally
so pervasive it’s
invisible,
that the really
profound changes
happen [...].”

16. 109 million
mobile subscribers

17. 9 in 10 use the
Mobile Web

18. Almost 5 of them on 3G
4 in all of them on 3G

19. Why that is
istockphoto.com

20. Operators: benevolent dictators

21. High-Spec Handsets

22. No device fragmentation

23. Unwalled Gardens

24. Revenue share
favoring content
providers
istockphoto.com

25. Content Provider Revenue Share
30-50%
Carrier X
70%
Android
70%
iPhone
70%
Nokia
90%

26. 0 ,- -
¥ Messaging is
(almost) free
istockphoto.com

27. ...yet extremely
rich:
10,000 characters
Mobile PC
Multiple Links
Emoticons
Attachments

28. 40% of mobile data users
on data flat rate plans
istockphoto.com

29. The
Low Entry Barrier
Gym Membership
Pricing Model

30. Some of the things people do
with their phones in Japan

31. Payment
Shopping Camera
Coupon Books
Navi Manga
SNS
Search
Games
VoD
Music
TV
Radio

32. of course, if you really want to

33. You can still make phone calls.

34. ...but most people have better things to do.
Mobile Web Usage Frequency, 16-24 year-old users
“At least daily”: 90%
“More than an hour daily”: 61%
24%
22%
15% 16%
13%
4%
3%
>3 hrs 2-3 hrs 1-2 hrs 30 min-1 hr Daily, <30 min Less than daily I don’t
Source: Infinita, April 2008

35. Japanese Advertising Market
Expenditures by media type and year-on-year growth
+12%
PoS
YP
1%
Other
5%
Online (PC)
10%
2%
+60%
3%
Free Papers
6% Mobile
Direct Mail
7% Newspapers -13%
14%
Ad Inserts
4%
Transport
6% Magazines
7%
Radio -11%
3%
TV
32% -7%
Advertising Spendings 2008,YoY Change
-4%
Sources: Dentsu, February 2009

36. Mobile Advertising
Media and production expenditures 2003-2011 1,284
in $ million
1,108
913 928
621
390
288
180
100
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Source: Dentsu, 2003-2009

37. 2003
1:20
Advertising Content

38. 2008
1:5
Advertising Content

39. 5 Outstanding Campaigns

40. Campaign Examples
AXE “Wake-up Service, Inc.”
Media: Mobile, Online, TV
Agency: Bascule Inc.
Client: Unilever/AXE Deodorant
Date: February to March 2008
Sign up for campaign on AXE mobile site or PC
site
Set up personalized wake-up call times to
mobile via PC website
Immediately get confirmation call to mobile,
synched with video of girl on PC screen
Collect 1 of 14 wake-up girl Flash wallpapers for
your mobile as reward per each call - unlock
“secret character” at the end
Get free branded mobile application (alarm
clock + “Tamagotchi Girl”)
200,000 UU and 1 million PV (first 2 weeks)
Source: Bascule Inc.

44. Campaign Examples
Hange.jp “Half of Life is a Game”
Media: Mobile, Online, OOH, TV
Agency: GT Inc.
Client: NHN
Date: Summer 2008 (3 months)
Phase 1: “Hangao” face morphing game (mobile
email-based)
Phase 2: TV and creative OOH campaign
promoting the mobile site
“Instant lottery” via NFC chip embedded in
OOH figures
150,000 Hangao participants, 10% of which
converted to Hange.jp users
At peak, 9-fold increase in daily new
subscriptions for Hange.jp
After campaign, number of monthly new
subscribers doubled
Source: GT Inc.

48. Campaign Examples
Sony Music “JUJU Pair Movie”
Media: Mobile
Agency: Mobile Art Lab
Client: Sony Music
Date: December 2008 to February 2009
5 “pair movie” episodes featuring the song
downloadable for free from Sony Music mobile
site
Built-in viral element: social viewing experience
Featured on front page of several newspapers
400,000 movie views in first month
Song downloaded 200,000 times in first week
2 million (paid!) song downloads and 150,000
CD singles sold
Source: Mobile Art Lab

49. Source: Mobile Art Lab

50. Campaign Examples
Honda “K-tra”
Media: Mobile, Online
Client: Honda
Date: Since November 2008, ongoing
Virtual Mobile Hitchhiking Game, tied to real-
world movements, with social component
“Experience mobility through other people’s
movements, and have fun in the process”
More than 20,000 users and more than 2 million
page views in first 2 months
Almost 1.8 million km “traveled” to date
Source: Mobile Art Lab

51. Campaign Examples
Honda “K-tra”
Source: Mobile Art Lab

54. Campaign Examples
AXE “Chocoman Hunter”
Media: Mobile, Online, TV, OOH
Agency: Bascule Inc.
Client: Unilever/AXE Deodorant
Date: September to November 2008
“Chocoman Hunter” campaign for “Dark
Temptation” fragrance
Collect Chocoman QR Codes to gather points
(OOH and from friends’ mobiles’ screens)
Prize: 1% of AXE sales during campaign period
(amount could be checked online)
Recruited friends automatically become
competitors
Source: Bascule, Inc.

55. Source: Bascule, Inc.

56. Mobile Advertising =
Online Advertising, but
on a smaller screen?

57. Well...

58. Mobile Search
Enabled: 100%
Usage: 44%
Source: impress R&D, September 2008
Base: All Respondents, N= 3,178 (2008)

59. GPS
Enabled: 55%
Usage: 23%
Source: impress R&D, September 2008
Base: All Respondents, N= 3,178 (2008)

60. Mobile NFC
Enabled: 73%
Usage: 18%
Source: impress R&D, September 2008
Base: All Respondents, N= 3,178 (2008)

61. Payment
(Prepaid & Credit)

62. Coupons/CRM

63. Flight Check-in

66. :
“Lifestyle Infrastructure”

67. a.k.a.

68. Glued to the screen 24/7.

69. Roles of Mobile Advertising
From attention to sharing
Attention Interest Search Action Share
URL
TV Newspaper Transit PoS
Mobile SNS
Mobile Site Mobile Mail
Radio OOH Magazines Mobile Search Mobile Tool
PC Site Blogs
Reviews
PC Search
Online Event Mobile Ads EC Site
Word of Mouth

70. Attention Interest Search Action Share
Broad Reach Targeted Reach Search PoS Social
Mobile SNS
Carrier Menu Fashion
News&Sports
Access Tools
Mobile Email Ads QR
Mobile Site
TV Guide
Short Codes
!"#$!!
Location/Maps
Mobile SNS Visual Search Mobile Email
NFC

71. Cool Stuff!

72. The problem is

73. Japan Advertising Market
70 billion US$

74. Mobile Advertising: 2%

75. It should be X times
that

76. There are still
huge challenges

77. Still early
To still early. within
It’s double
next 4 years

78. Still haven’t really figured out the
details of targeting

79. Still very basic
metrics and
measurements

80. Media buying is fragmented
To double within
next 4 years

81. It’s too cheap

82. Resistance is fierce

83. Education is necessary

84. Speaking of which...

85. Check out www.infinita.tv
(it’s completely free)

86. Thank you!
billich@infinita.co.jp
cbillich