Why the emphasis on mobile CRM? Well, the answer is simple and all around us literally. As noted in the aforementioned post, keitai’s (Japanese word meaning mobile phone) are simply surrounding us. Just looking at the current population estimates from Stats Japan we see the current estimate as of July 2008 is sitting at 127,720,000 and then simply referencing the number of ketai’s on the market as provided by Wireless Watch Japan—103,045,300 as of June 2008---we come to realize that the penetration rate is extremely high. What this means is that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find a person, young or old who doesn't own or at least know how to use a keitai. The ramifications of this simple observation are quite large in that it has opened up a new realm of opportunities for many who feel that the next digital frontier is currently expanding all around us. And to some the significance lies in that this expansion is taking place in the palm of our hands.
These facts have certainly not gone unnoticed as Dentsu—A Japanese company and one of the largest advertising firms worldwide—noted that mobile revenues exceeded half a billion U.S. dollars for 2007 and are expected to double within the next four years. Couple this with the fact that a lot of these revenues are now coming from the content being produced rather than pure advertising dollars. It must be noted however that for this type of development to be occurring the basic infrastructure must be set to promote it. From a more detailed look within Japan one can definitely see some of the pieces which have allowed for this development:
- the phones themselves are high tech (4 in 5 are 3G)
- the partnerships between the operators and manufacturers are complementary
- operators have been offering unlimited use plan packages for quite some time
- walled gardens are crumbling and operators allow this
- heightened user experiences are emphasized
- standardization efforts from competing operators
From this, there has been a flood of content onto the mobile in recent years ranging from mobile manga (comics) to music, to games, auctions, shopping, SNS, television to content aimed at creating and enhancing digital cash and coupon functionality, as well as that of GPS mapping applications. This device has literally woven itself into the fabric of society to the point that you are undoubtedly a bit of an anomaly if you are without. This is especially true if you are part of the youth movement.
So, with penetration rates already so high, keitai technologies constantly evolving and many product, service and content based businesses already established both on-deck and off-deck, the rules for interacting with these consumers are changing.
In particular opportunities relating to the development of mobile CRM software applications and tools which enable and enhance mobile driven sales, as well as bolster support marketing relationships are certainly increasing. The nice thing is that despite the development already taking place and the rush to get into this market here in Japan---and globally for that matter---it is still early. It is our hope that through the sharing of perspectives like these and from other users new ideas will be generated which will hopefully lead to a deeper understanding and thus better opportunities for those of us with a keen interest in mobile CRM development.
Canadian Chris
