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.
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.
