Missing you already

Our return to the UK brings us back to the reality of mobile marketing in the year 2008, some of the great stuff we saw in Japan will not be in the UK until after we have hosted the Olympics.

Japan is a fascinating country, it really does take first hand experience to understand the culture, the mobile market, and how we can learn. It is a place of contradiction, it is illegal to smoke in the street, but finding a no-smoking section in a restaurant can be impossible. People queue in orderly lines on the platform whilst they wait for the subway train to pull in, but when it arrives they charge like raging bulls filling the carriage and squashing anyone foolish enough to have placed themselves at the back.

So what have I taken from the trip? Well with a two day conference, plus meetings with 17 mobile experts, and hands on experience of mobile's use in everything from vending machines to Karaoke we have taken away a vast amount of insight, ideas and understanding.

Three things that spring to mind right now are:

Firstly was a realisation that the reason why Japan is 2-3 years ahead of most other developed countries in the use of mobile is not in my view because of some amazing cultural difference or that babies are born with a mobile in their hand. It is a result of planning and investment by the government (for example they do not make mobile operators pay licence fees) , and greater control by the mobile operators. And that means there is no reason why the main trends we see in Japan could and will not be seen in Europe and the UK, it just takes a little longer.

Secondly, that there are key triggers which could and most likely will accelerate our own adoption of more advance mobile internet usage such as genuine flat rate charging, inclusion of software such as Flash Lite and QR code readers in handsets by the mobile operators/manufacturers. Once even one of these triggers is here, and it could happen instantly, we will see a rapid change and we should be at the crest of that wave not just riding it.

Perhaps we can not only be seen as a pioneer as it develops, but we can be developing the killer applications that drive people to change their mobile behaviour.

Thirdly the opportunity is massive. By making it easy and convenient we can create enormous m-commerce opportunities in mobile. In Japan the value of tickets bought on mobile phones for one single train line exceeds the total volume of m-commerce for the whole of Europe. We have seen how one airline has enhanced it's loyalty through the use of mobile not only to book, pay for their flight, track and spend their air miles and check-in, but also to take you through security, they are exceedingly close to a true ticketless system.

And the benefits they realise from this are wide-ranging, not only does it make the process for customers much simpler and therefore aid with loyalty, but by making it easier it means customers will change their bookings when they have flexible tickets rather than just not turning up and leaving the airline unable to fill the seat.

It was an amazing opportunity and I can genuinely say I not only benefited from a good understanding of what is and will be possible but also feel inspired to push the boundaries on my thinking today and for tomorrow.

Tequila does some interesting work for Cartier

One of the great benefits of this trip has been to be able to learn through first hand experience. Whilst we can all now access pretty much whatever we want through the net nothing beats face to face engagement and meeting people who are at the forefront of driving interesting work. One example of this was the meeting we had with the team at Tequila Japan . Whilst giving us our first overview and introduction to the state of the mobile market here in Japan they also detailed some interesting work they had done for luxury brand Cartier. Not familiar with mobile as a marketing channel Tequila proposed a campaign that put mobile at its core, reaching out to a younger audience with a view to raising awareness and establishing a long term commercial relationship as well as building brand loyalty with an audience who until then, had not even considered them. Running from May 2007 - March 2008, their approach focused on a phased launch of two websites for the mobile user based on two main events: LOVE DAY in June and Christmas in December. Content was tailored around these two themes. For example for LOVE DAY users were able to view branded content via video streaming, view products in an online gallery, find out about their nearest boutique store, or download branded wallpapers. For the second website which was centred on the theme of Christmas, the site evolved to incorporate flash downloads, wallpapers, mobile greetings as well as an introduction movie. And the results? A campaign that opened the eyes of Cartier to the benefits of using mobile to target a younger audience, so much so that they are now onto their third campaign that places mobile at the centre of its activity to drive traffic instore as well as to an updated bespoke site. User registrations for regular updates continues to grow and the number of users accessing the second site has passed the half a million mark. For the user, Cartier have developed content that their target audience not just wants but is accessing and downloading on a regular basis.

Crazy dining

We had a funny dining experience last night. Taking a suggestion from the hotel we found ourselves at a place called Robataya which from the outside looked fairly innocuous. When we entered however we were greeted by a chorus of "Hai! Hai! Hai! Sumimasen!" from roughly 6 burly looking guys dressed in kimonos and wearing narrow headbands that looked like they had escaped from the seventies. A small room, the food was laid out in front of us and then cooked on a grill by two of the kimono dressed henchmen, food being passed to customers on a long paddle. There was even a fish tank in the centre, and yes, if you wanted, you could choose your live fish which would be swiftly yanked out, gutted, chopped and grilled faster than Gordon Ramsay could say kitchen nightmare. Needless to say the food was excellent, and the chorus continued all night. Every time a customer walked in or left, there would be a friendly volley of greetings, drowning out any immediate conversation. At one point the chefs changed and this was accompanied by a clapping fest that would rival anything out of a German beer hall. Great atmosphere and highly recommended although perhaps not a place for a delicate meeting.

The tentacles of search are everywhere

Whilst we are all aware of the role of search in a digital environment, the impact of consumer’s clicks is making itself felt in traditional advertising channels. Yesterday at a meeting with Google Japan we heard of a new trend amongst advertisers of pushing search terms across all forms of advertising. For instance, TV ads are now being developed that feature keywords (as well as actual visuals of a search box) that users should enter when they search, driving them straight to the campaign site or landing page, rather than feature the URL. There are several learnings here for advertisers. By featuring a keyword that is close to the consumer’s intent it makes it easier to remember, rather than a long www address. Advertisers also know that there is a correlation between people watching TV and using their mobile at home, rather than using their PC. So, if an ad runs and the user notices the search term or call to action, they are more than likely to enter it on the spot via their mobile, driving them to the targeted site. Finally, it means that advertisers can track the performance of the TV ad far more effectively rather than relying on viewing figures.

This technique is also being used on outdoor advertising we've seen on the metro - an actual search box with the suggested keywords and an arrow with the text "Click" next to it. Again, tracking effectiveness and performance of the spot is vastly improved. The one downside to this would be a potential increase in bidding activity on the keywords, thus a higher search spend with a potentially decreasing ROI, but worthy of further investigation.

The Client Blogs :o)

Well, I couldnt leave it all to the agency could I?

Its been a fantastic trip, and we still have one more day to go. We have met so many people who have been incredibly passionate about mobile, and when you see how its used here you can see why. Its such a part of life here that it seems the whole city would crumble without mobile RFID, GPS and Flashlight.

Its amazing to think of all the things we could do back home if we just had the infrastructure. Why the big operators dont sit down in a room and agree some basics together is a mystery. Then we could all get a Coke Zero from a vending machine without needing cash, could swipe in for our flight to Edinburgh, pre-select our song list at the local Karaoke bar, and be followed by as GPS tracker should we end up falling asleep on the Circle Line. But, until the big 4 agree some standards, this is all Minority Report stuff for us in the backward west.

Yesterday we were taken on an innovation tour of Tokyo that was truely incredible. Machines dotted everywhere with readers to tell you what you need to know. It almost comes as a disappointment when you need to use cash for anything here.

On a completely different note, I think we are all still reeling from the vegetable medley in aspic in a sweet condensed milk (as posted by Merran). Who thinks these things up? Did they see us coming? Did they run out of summer berries and think 'just use veg, they wont notice?'. The only thing thats making us reel even more is the story of the Korean delicacy that we were told last night. I cant even begin to describe it.

Lufthansa embraces mobile

We saw an interesting case study today from Cybermedia one of the companies we met as part of our C-Scout Tour, on Lufthansa, who recently set up a mobile website with the aim of engaging a younger audience, raising awareness of the brand amongst this audience and countering a consumer perception that they are too expensive. Theirs is a long term strategy which they are hoping will in time lead to sales and loyalty to the airline.

In developing their mobile site they used all of the usual tools that you would expect in order to reach this audience - games, wallpaper, screen savers, City Guides, downloadable music to name a few. A key to gaining traction was getting the site included on carriers deck's. This requires a specialist to negotiate the tricky path of carrier negotiations however once a site is listed it is very hard for it to be removed. Content is then refreshed regularly. For instance, new games may be introduced every 3 months and the whole site may be refreshed every 6 months based on consumer feedback. Theirs is a long term investment and they have some way to go but its interesting to see how this channel is being utilised for brand activity.

Another interesting case study we saw detailed how the Australian Tourism Board who ran a 3 week test on social network site Mixi that targeted groups who talked about Australia and their desire to travel there. The deal incorporated community management, email and paid for media space that promoted special deals to Australia. And the result? 15-20% of those who registered went on to buy tickets. Again, its curious to see how brands are using these channels to drive awareness and sales. It requires indepth knowledge of the audience and what they will respond to, as well as a willingness by brands to try something different but for those that persevere it seems there are new audiences and sales, to be found.

An educational role to play

The longer we're here the more obvious it seems that these trends will hit Europe and that there are business model triggers to look for such as the flat rate data contract model and preinstalled hard/software on the handsets.
What is also being reinforced from previous thinking is the need to drive people to the mobile from other touchpoints, but with valuable content. Whether that be QR codes, RFID, unique search terms embedded in ads to working with the carriers on search.

However the disconnect between here and Europe is the ease with which the conusmer can embrace the technology. What companies in Europe need to understand is that rather than saying these trends won't appear here is that by leading a trend that is inevitable they can gain that valuable headstart and consumer bond.
How? Simply by educating people in Europe of the benefits of using mobile in a Keitai manner, because both parties will benefit in the long run; the user will get great experiences making daily tasks easier and more fun (see picture of buying a coke with your phone thanks to coke's c-mode) with the company gaining opportunities to make really personal connections that breeds loyalty.

Here the carriers aren't burdened with licensing costs, so they can plough money into making it easy for the public to embrace the technology, in the UK the carriers are burdened with huge licensing costs, so are slower in doing this. This gap instead of being seen as a hinderance by brands should be seen as a positive opportunity to gain a deeper personal relationship with their customers. By embracing both the technology to make a great user experience and also playing a key role for the consumer in educating them about the possibilities of mobile integration brands can create the lasting personal bond they all seek.