Sorry for the long time without updates, I’ve been working a lot, and also, I moved, I’m still in the same apartment but know I have a new room.
I did a small presentation for some people at work about Mobile marketing tools and strategies, we aren’t going to use much of it but the research process was a lot of fun, and are some highlights.
There are nearly 2 billion cell phones worldwide, this is close to number of existing televisons. Television is still the main media in revenue income, but with the growth of mobile technologies such as broadband internet access, e-wallet and multimedia functions (digital TV reception, video and audio players, high quality cameras and etc.) cell phones are close to becoming the most intimate media in the market. And this is a good thing.
To understand why this is important we should take a look at Japan. A research by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication shows that in 2006, there were more people using the Internet on mobile phones than those using the Internet on their computers.
An NHK report says:
“Mobile phones have achieved rapid upgrades and functional diversity. In addition to standard communication functions such as making phone calls and sending e-mail, others such as web searches, music downloading, cameras, games, calendars, calculators, 1seg (one-segment; mobile digital terrestrial television broadcasting service) reception, video reception, and electronic payments for Internet shopping have become the focus of increasing attention. This shift has become more pronounced with the spread of 3G (third-generation) mobile phones, which make possible highspeed, high-volume data transmission. As such, mobile phones have increasingly become “multiple information terminals” used in every imaginable situation in daily life.
Here is a chart from the some report:
Mobile phone use by function:
Here is the link about with the full report – Mobile Phones as Multiple Information Terminals: From the Research Project “People and Media Usage in Japan
But we also have to see how this information can be applied into a real environment. I going use the Tokyo Girls Spring Collection 2009, thank you very much for CScout for the excellent report of the event in English.
Tokyo Girls is an annual event is a semiannual fashion show. The fashion event showcases the seasons fashionable streetwear, and are modeled by popular various Japanese models. Unlike the regular fashion shows, the event is open to the general consuming public as well as to buyers and journalists, and incorporates charity auctions and live performances by well-known artists. The event is planned and sponsored by Branding Inc, a company which runs girlswalker.com and fashionwalker.com, and the outfits adorned by the models are made available for purchase on the spot through the official website of TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION.
The detail that makes this fashion show unique is the fact that people can buy the clothes that are shown in the runaway in the event through online mobile shopping service. What does this means? well they found a sustainable way to combine E-commerce strategies with normal fashion shows. Imagine if people started doing this in NY Fashion Week.
The chart below is a survey conducted by Branding Inc that show the growth of teens usage of mobile internet in the last three years.
And just to see how successful is this business model the organizers of the event , a remarkable 57 million yen worth of merchandise was sold during the event as users accessed their phones to grab the latest looks as they were first revealed on the catwalk.
Media, Marketing and Culture 