Japan Marketing News

Effective Japanese TV advertising: Softbank/Samsung 930SC

This TV commercial from Softbank does a great job selling the Samsung 930SC. Not only is it incredibly eye-catching and engaging, it covers the bases in showing how the device offers a lot of the things Japanese consumers feel are missing from Apple's iPhone (e.g., it lets you watch TV, lets you send mail with emoji*, has a 5.1 MB pixel camera).

Academy award winning composer Ryuichi Nakamoto appears in the spot and composed the music as well.

See the full-motion version on Samsung Japan's website here.

* Emoji are Japanese style emoticons. Apple recently made a number of the graphics available for the iPhone in Japan.

Cell phones used to assist indecisive Japanese shoppers

So, you're a Japanese consumer and you're thinking of buying a new outfit online, or you're wondering how you might look with the latest trendy hairstyle, but you can't decide which look is right for you. Well, worry no more.

If you're an owner of a KDDI au cell phone, you can now use their EZ MY STYLING feature to snap a photo of yourself and composite it with various hair styles and fashion items. And if you want to get that haircut or buy those clothes, well the au partner companies that provide the images will be more than happy to assist you.

The technology was developed by the same folks who powered the Schick Japan Hige-Chen website we wrote about back in February.

Coach partners with Japanese carrier to release branded cell phone

In the first weeks of November, KDDI au will release a limited batch of branded Coach cell phones in Japan. According to a KDDI press release, the handsets were created to celebrate the launch of Coach Japan's cell phone website Coach Mobile, as well as to promote the introduction of the new Coach Madison Collection. 1,941 of the phones will be sold for 19,410 yen each at au shops throughout Japan (Coach was founded in 1941).

For those of you who are interested in specs, no, Coach did not build this phone from the ground up. While the casing and display have been styled to reflect Coach sensibilities, the innards are from Sony Ericsson, whose re "Full Change" model was designed with the specific purpose of allowing this kind of customization to look and feel. (English information here).

Kudos to all three of these companies, because as far as collaborations go, this one is a three-way winner. Sony Ericsson can show off the phone's main feature—customization, au gets to reinforce its design-centric positioning, and Coach creates buzz around its products and cell site, while enhancing brand equity.

Additional posts on cell phone co-branding in Japan here and here.

***Full disclosure***
Spark Productions has worked extensively for Coach, and on behalf of both au, and Sony in the past, but none of these companies are amongst our present clientele. Spark Productions was in no way involved in the development or marketing of the Coach phone.

"1 Seg" and video sharing amongst top content viewed by Japanese cell phone owners

No matter where you turn in the land of the rising sun, you see people staring into their cell phones. Just what are Japanese users doing, besides surfing the web, exchanging e-mail, and looking at photos and video they've shot?

Last month, NetAsia Research conducted a survey amongst 444 people in their teens, 20's and 30's (49.8% male, 50.2% female).

Amongst the questions:

Which of the following rich content do you look at on your cell phone? (Indicate all that apply)

Choices: "1 Seg" (One Seg) broadcasts, video sharing sites, anime, celebrity promotion videos, cell phone novels, cell phone comics.

The top three answers amongst all respondents?

1. "1 Seg" broadcasts (26.1%)
2. Video sharing sites (23.4%)
3. Cell phone novels (17.1%)

Interestingly, teen males and females differed significantly in their usage.

Top 2, male teens

1. "One Seg" (36.2%)
2. Video sharing (31.9%)

Top 2, female teens
1. Cell phone novels (50%)
2. Video sharing (36%)

Puma Japan using QR codes in ads

Gucci isn't the only major foreign brand using QR codes in its Japanese advertising. Puma Japan's magazine ads also use them to nice effect (above ad edited by JMN to show closeup of QR code—click for enlarged view).

Never heard of QR codes? See how this cool technology is being used by other brands.

QR codes used to keep cherished memories alive

One Japanese company was thinking out of the box when it came up with the latest use for QR codes. Ishinokoe manufacturers memorial tablets and gravestones imprinted with the codes that link to special websites featuring details on the departed. Anybody visiting the cemetery can use his/her cellphone camera to snap the code and visit the websites—where they can view photos and learn more about whomever is being memorialized.

Luxury brands, QR codes and cell phone commerce

If you have any interest in e-tailing, e-marketing, marketing technology or fashion, check this out. An article in last Friday's edition of Women's Wear Daily (WWD)—the must-read daily newspaper of the fashion industry—announced that Polo Ralph Lauren is about to embark on selling its products through cell phones (presumably in the U.S.).

"Taking its philosophy of “merchan-tainment” to a new level, Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. is breaking into mobile commerce — m-commerce — incorporating technology that allows shoppers to buy Polo merchandise from their cell phones.

To realize this, the company is incorporating Quick Response Technology codes in its ads, mailers and store windows, which potential shoppers can scan and download on their camera phones. Once scanned, the site m.ralphlauren.com allows a mobile phone user to enter the world of Ralph Lauren — not just by offering the limited edition 2008 U.S. Open collection, classic polo and oxford shirts, chinos, and even the Ricky bag, but also with exclusive video content and a style guide."

A bit further on, the article goes on to say that "Polo is the first luxury retailer to tap into the QR technology, which is already popular in Asia and Europe."

As the piece is written, readers could be forgiven for assuming that Ralph Lauren is somehow out in front of other luxury brands when it comes to cell phone e-tailing and technology adoption. But truth be told, here in Japan, a number of luxury brands have been operating cell phone commerce sites for some time. Open any of Japan's top fashion magazines this month and you'll see that Gucci is using QR codes prominently in its advertising right now—and is using a customized code design, the latest trend amongst design sensitive brands (click on the image for an enlarged view).

If you're new to QR codes, they (and other emerging technologies), can be used by marketers in a number of ground-breaking ways. To see how they're being leveraged as powerful marketing tools in Japan, read this Japan Marketing News article from early 2007.