“To be On-deck or Off-deck? That is the question…”

Recently I have been pondering the exponential growth of the mobile market here in Japan. It’s one of those things that if you think about for too long it can really excite you or scare you depending on your nature and your inherent love or hate towards technology. The number of changes on the way in terms of the way we currently live and structure our lives are undoubtedly many. I personally get very excited by this and the opportunities that are surely to abound. As do a number of mobile support marketing and mobile CRM software/application companies I am sure. To get a good taste of this, one need not look much further than what is happening on the streets of Seoul or Tokyo. Those two particular cities have their fair share of early adopters which are leading the way towards what you and I may soon be doing with our keitai’s in a new way a year from now.
As I thought about this topic a little more and here in Japan in particular I was struck by a bit of a dilemma for new start-up mobile application based companies who wish to tap this market and enter this frenzied game with a mobile based website. Those companies have a big decision to make between creating a site on-deck versus off-deck. For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, on-deck simply refers to registering one’s site with an official carrier and having the site listed as part of their official line up. Off-deck site creation is the foregoing of this formal registration and simply creating your site on the mobile web. The differences are huge and something I would like to partially explore in this blog entry.
From past research and calls made to both carriers and companies specializing in the creation of off-deck sites I came across a number of distinguishing differences. Below are some of the highlighted differences:

Time and Costs: On deck sites require individual formal registration across each operator with separate fees. These costs on the cheaper end can run upwards of 3 to 5 million yen for a basic mobile site along with the formal registration costs. Not to mention the lengthy time needed for the site to be evaluated and approved. Off-deck on the other hand can be thrown up as fast as you can put it together for as cheap as you wish pending your site development needs.

PV`s: At this point according to calls made to leading mobile site development companies like Infinitia on deck sites offer high reliability and thus higher PV`s due to the inherent formalities of registering the site. Also if your company requires formal payment and bill collection the carriers can also do this for you. That aspect alone definitely makes a difference and knocks down a huge barrier between you and your customer. As we all know trust issues are huge in business however I would like to add that this factor can be especially important here in Japan.

On the other hand, nowadays the youth in Japan are beginning to initiate their searches off deck and by-passing the operators. Already, Japanese teens 13-19 prefer searching using mobile search in 70.1% of cases versus official mobile carrier listings in 47.1%. (Source: CNET Japan, May 2007) One can only assume that this trend will accelerate with internet search engine giant Google entering the mobile world here in Japan recently.

Future Trends: With the sheer numbers of off-deck sites versus on-deck one is inclined to think that the future of these walled gardens offered by operators will soon be a thing of the past. Looking at Docomo's i-Mode and we are already seeing a shift. Roughly 70% of the traffic is moving off-deck with 30% staying on. (Source: Infinitia--Japan Case Study: Mobile 2.0 and the Next Generation of of Mobile Appplications) Now If history has much to say about this along with current trends on both the web and mobile web this is a distinct possibility. The question for many is when of course.

So looking at but a few of these comparisons, one can see that there are distinct structural, technical and operational differences between both on and off deck sites. It must be noted that the list I have created here is certainly not exhaustive as issues of operator filtering amongst other key issues are not examined. But for the purpose of this exercise I thought those highlighted points I noted do illustrate some fairly major issues faced by start-ups who wish to enhance or add a layer to their CRM image or best practices.

The questions I suppose for a lot of these start-ups are what are their goals? What type of site is needed? Who is the site targeted at? How long will their site take to develop a loyal following? These answers which can be garnered from one’s business plan can go along ways towards really simplifying and making seemingly difficult dilemmas very straightforward. I invite others thoughts on this topic!

Canadian Chris

A path of Business Education

Over the countless months I have been on a path of education....a path of business education. Well, better put a path of reading numerous and various business books in order to expand and further develop my business understanding and thought process. Upon reading these books I came across a number of "must reads"....

• E Myth Mastery by Michael E. Gerber

"What every successful entrepreneur does".....focuses on the seven disciplines that provide the key to unlocking success in leadership, marketing, money, management, fulfillment, lead conversion, and lead generation. Definitely an excellent read that requires you and challenges you to be involved in the reading and thought development process.

• The New Business Road Test by John W. Mullins

Ever had an idea you thought would be successful and be the next big thing? Well, why not take it for a "test drive" or better yet run it through the seven domains of attractive opportunities

1. Market attractiveness (Market domain/Macro-level)

2. Industry attractiveness (Industry domain/Macro-level)

3. Target segment benefits and attractiveness (Market domain/Micro-level)

4. Sustainable advantage (Industry domain/Micro-level)

5. Mission, aspirations, propensity for risk

6. Connectedness up, down, across value chain

7. Ability to execute on CSFs (critical success factors)

Most new businesses fail, despite how much capital they have, or how talented they are, or how good the business plan is. If a 'lousy business' or flawed opportunity is being pursued its destined to head down the road to failure. A nice wake up to due diligence!

• Doing Business With The New Japan by James D. Hodgson, Yoshihiro Sano, John L. Graham

Despite today's markets being fairly global and borderless, boundaries and invisible communication bridges are prevalent and at times down right difficult to encounter and comprehend. Japan provides a fruitful market of opportunities and is a fascinating land with "ancient cultural roots and the most modern capabilities", but at times you may ponder if you are welcome and if so how do you maneuver through the intricate and distinct business culture of Japan.

'Doing business with the new japan' provides grand insight and helpful advice for any foreigner daring to do business in Japan and touches upon negotiation styles and tactics, key cultural differences and speculates on future relationships.

• The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott

The days of exclusively using TV, radio, newspaper, and magazine media forms for sending your message to your target audience are pretty much obsolete...not obsolete but pretty much. Now, leading companies no longer use one or two media forms but now use a package ranging from news releases, blogs, podcasting, vidcasting, viral marketing and online media to reach buyers directly.

David Meerman Scott provides a great learning curve on how you can reach and speak directly to consumers and niche buyers with targeted messages that cost a fraction of traditional means.

• Mobile Advertising - Supercharge your brand in the exploding wireless market by Chetan Sharma, Joe Herzog, and Victor Melfi

With the emergence of the internet people thought brick-and-mortar stores would slowly decrease in numbers. Now, with the emergence and rapid development of mobile phone use in people's lives, does this mean PCs will become useless pieces of equipment merely taking up desk space? Highly unlikely, but the buzz of mobile advertising is certainly becoming an exciting topic of conversations.

'Mobile Advertising' transforms that buzz by covering "the conceptual, analytical, and practical applications of mobile advertising, giving marketers, service providers, and investors in-depth guidance on tapping the full potential of mobile advertising". A definite read for anyone on the technical or marketing side of the mobile advertising equation.

Australian Chris

Where's twitter gone?

Recently and unexpectedly I ceased receiving Twitter updates from the people and organizations I follow on Twitter...and it left me puzzled and wondering...where's twitter gone?

So the bad news is, as stated on the Twitter blog, "Twitter is no longer delivering outbound SMS over our UK number. If you have been receiving SMS updates from Twitter via +44 762 480 1423, you'll notice that they've stopped and you may want to explore some of the alternatives we're suggesting." Ok, so what are the alternatives then...??!

Alternatives;

"If you don't live in Canada, India, or the US, then we recommend receiving your Twitter updates via one of the following methods.
m.twitter.com works on browser-enabled phones
m.slandr.net works on browser-enabled phones
TwitterMail works on email-enabled phones
Cellity works on java-enabled phones
TwitterBerry works on BlackBerry brand phones
Twitterific works on iPhones"

Now, I want to know WHY??!!

Twitter said that it simply can’t afford to support outbound long-distance SMS Twittering anymore and the company claims “it could cost Twitter about $1,000 per user per year to send SMS outside of Canada, India, or the US.”

Possible wisdom gained??!!

The potential of using services like Twitter for mobile CRM are definitely evident and promising, however at present maybe it is not wise to rely on a service that hasn't established a sound system or business model for that fact. Maybe, its better to try the wait and see approach for the service to be tried and tested in the market first or if still intending to use the service for mobile CRM, definitely have a contingency plan of B, C & D.

Australian Chris

On shaky ground?

As of late, I like most globally aware individuals have been tuning in to the Beijing Olympics. It’s not hard to see why as the games certainly have their fair share of drama, hype, controversy and just about every other desirable emotion inducing qualities. With that, I have been drawn to the television for the latest coverage and updates. From conversations with many Japanese the timing of these Olympics were perfect in that a portion of the games fit nicely into the national holiday period. The problem now however, is that most of us living and working here in Japan have returned to work and the notion of catching one’s favorite event live is that much more difficult. That is if you don’t have a cell phone with television capabilities.

I recently came across a link at Wireless Watch Japan of a study conducted by the “Communications and Information Network Association of Japan” which releases reports on mobile usage in order to capture the latest trends within the mobile industry here in Japan. As I read through, I came across a chart packed full of statistical goodies. It showed the latest and most popular uses for keitai`s and also compared the stats from one year prior. As expected, email was still by far the most common function for users. However, what caught my attention was the percentage of users who have started to use the television functionality within their phones.

In 2007 a mere 7.5% of Japanese users watched T.V. with their keitai but fast forward to the present and we see that this figure has shot up to 28%! That is a fairly bold spike in usage. Now I am sure there are a number of reasons for this such as the manufacturers releasing more phone with television viewing functionality, Japanese users tendency to frequently upgrade their keitai`s and so on. However, I believe that the biggest factor lies in the fact the cost to watch television via your mobile is free in Japan. That’s right, it costs you nothing to tune in and watch Japan’s latest Olympic hero Koisuke Kitajima give a post race interview after winning yet another gold medal.


Providers in Japan have certainly not forgotten that mobile CRM extends to nurturing their customer base with truly desirable software, applications and in this case mobile devices supported by developed networks. Pondering this notion of free services, I was curious as to how this technology was being utilized within North America and more specifically the U.S. Upon doing some research I came across a great article posted by a Canadian newspaper publication The Globe and Mail. What it told me was that a mere 3% of American`s are regularly using their keitai`s for television viewing and those figures included people who downloaded short video clips rather than watching broadcasted T.V. As a reminder, 28% of Japanese are currently using their keitai to view television versus 3% in the U.S.. What gives?!


Apparently, the main problem lies with the technology surrounding television broadcasts and the fact that at present broadcasts are still analog. To add to this, there is only one keitai model in the U.S. made by a Chinese manufacturer which can handle analog viewing. At present American’s with this type of mobile are able to view for free however by February 17th 2009 analog will be a dinosaur in the states with digital broadcasting taking over.
It must be noted that there are other technologies available to enable viewing in America without using the Chinese manufactured device however the issue lies with the pricing and packaging. Due to the special networks created to enable viewing, the providers need to get their cash back somehow and this comes in the form of monthly packages ranging from $10 to $15 for roughly ten channels.


So as you can see the infrastructure really dictates the usage, habits and ultimately the level of offerings and all of which can drastically affect the development or hindering of mobile customer relationships for some companies. These notions echo the words of many familiar with the mobile industry. Despite technical know how or capabilities for exotic mobile services or applications, countries such as the U.S. and others appear to be playing catch up on the foundations for this technology. What this potentially means is that despite you having that next killer app idea or cannot fail business model, it might not be a bad idea to really study the base or foundation on which it lies. Is the industry sufficiently developed to the point where it can handle your idea? These words ring just as true here in Japan even with the mobile industry being relatively ahead of other countries. We are still in a state of massive flux and this development issue cannot be overlooked.

Canadian Chris

Japan: A Techno Wonderland or Wasteland?

A few months ago while attempting to further acclimate myself with Japan in terms of definable business opportunities, I stumbled across a book entitled "Saying Yes to Japan: How Outsiders are Reviving a Trillion Dollar Services Industry by Tim Clark and Carl Kay". The book as the title suggests examines the service industry here in Japan along the lines of four key industries namely finance, real estate, information technology and health care services and how there is a distinct gap between the level of service offered and what is truly needed to create real value.

One of the key points articulated by Clark and Kay is that the low end services here in Japan are handled quite well compared to the west--as evidenced by the extraordinary service one encounters in a trip to the local 7-11 or MacDonald`s. However, that level of service sharply drops once the higher end servicing opportunities appear. The reason I bring this up is that in starting this blog on mobile CRM and the various CRM software applications and tools being developed worldwide, I am still seeing a distinct gap in what is available in terms of raw technological capabilities and what is currently being offered or even used within the Japanese workplace.


Japan at first glance is certainly a techno wonderland--a coin phrased by the authors of Saying Yes to Japan--in that the level of sophistication relating to technology is quite high. In particular, the technology being utilized to navigate through one`s daily life is highly developed here in Japan versus the west. From buying a Coke with your keitai (mobile phone), to watching your favorite television program, to even programming your rice cooker the examples of keitai based technological savvy are everywhere.

Things get interesting however when one turns their attention to the workplace where this wondrous blend of machinery and human skill is suddenly lost. The dazzling array of technology which pervades one`s daily life outside work suddenly disappears. In visiting local governments, one is stunned by the acute lack of fundamentally deliverable services that are either non-existent or painfully outdated. The amount of paper work one is subjected to for just about any request is extraordinary. Or looking at residential neighborhoods--which are still very connected versus that of western culture standards--and how communications are primarily via a head community centre which circulates a clipboard with the latest news, notices and event information. Visiting a local bank and noticing the fairly recent push of Internet banking capabilities as a relatively new customer enticement service seems a bit behind the times too considering Japan' reputation as a technological leader worldwide.

These points are but a few which illustrate a point driven home by Clark, Kay and countless others. Japan in some regards could certainly be looked upon as a bit of a wasteland technologically speaking. Services utilizing information technology within the workplace aimed at improving either productivity or service support are at levels which are not sufficient considering Japan`s capabilities.

Now, relating these notions to mobile CRM tools, applications and software and statistics as shown in one of our first blogs, one can see that this particular technology offers an outlet for improving or enhancing mobile customer relationships. The applications which are currently developed or are in use within B2B--business to business applications--or B2C--business to consumer applications--pale in comparison to what they could be.


Why is this? Possible explanations include the technology racing too fast for the culture to keep pace. With most large board room executives in Japan being in their latter years and the rate at which this technological is occurring, could it be too much for them to digest and apply all at once? Is the technology itself too forward thinking for even the hyper-connected and technologically savvy Japanese to apply instantly? Both explanations seem plausible, but I am sure the reasons aren't so simple or clear cut. I believe that it is probably a combination of a number of factors such as the above, along with others relating to IT infrastructure not being fully developed or proven to the degree in which companies are willing and comfortable to outlay large expenditures on it just yet. So many questions, but no simple answers.

So, is Japan a techno wonderland or wasteland? Well, it all depends how you further define that question and what the next five to ten years say. What is clear however, is that there are opportunities and that understanding what they could be is the first step in poising oneself to capitalize on them.

Canadian Chris

"Twitter" - an alternative mobile CRM system

Over the past several months I have been closely following the developments of a new blogging service or should I say microblogging service in order to see if it could be utilized as a mobile CRM system. This new microblogging service called Twitter, allows users to send "updates" (up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter web site, via the Twitter web site, mobile phone short message service (SMS), instant messaging, or a third-party application. Updates are instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them and are received via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through an application.

Basically, Twitter and alike services (Pownce, Plurk and Jaiku) enable people to blog in between blogs in real time and enable friends or followers to get a better insight into their daily life, thoughts and opinions.

So, if friends and followers are able to get a better insight into their daily life, thoughts and opinions.....how can it be used as a mobile CRM system for customer centric companies?

Recently, customer centric companies have been monitoring social media such as blogs, social networking sites and now even microblogging in an effort to better understand and satisfy customers. Companies are adopting and adapting to social media and the web 2.0 in order to extend and further develop their CRM systems, through such services as Twitter. Twitter enables companies to further integrate mobile CRM via:

• responding to any customer service issues in real time


• enabling an instant consumer feedback system


• providing higher clickthrough rates to relevant content


• interacting in relevant discussions and topics of thought leadership


• enabling a great networking, marketing and brand awareness tool


• enabling the ability to create push/pull content and advertising, and


• providing a open social network for affinity marketing
  

As one can see, Twitter certainly bridges the gap for mobile customer relationships and now with new microblogging services popping up in Japan, such as timelog and mogomogo, it is only a matter of time until Japanese companies start tapping into this mobile CRM free resource.

Australian Chris