Dancing In The Digital World (China, Japan, Korea)

Dance as a metaphor

How do you make a good impression?

She (the Consumer) has a VOICE

Easy publishing and search enable reach and collective power

google and other search tools enable like thinkers to connect

She (the Consumer) has CHOICE

Infinite choice (change the URL), infinite aisle, focus on personal choice

She (the Consumer) has CONTROL

They express/control their own message – brand can suggest, but control is their own

Will this work in the Asia Pacific communities?

Cultures are different, but human expression is the same

Everyone wants to be recognized within specific communities

Some like national recognition, some like familial recognition

Everyone expresses themselves within constraints

How do we ask the consumer to dance?

Can we cut into these conversations?

In Japan, publicly-visible arguments are not accepted

Important to express ones self without offending another

mixi offers service with strict privacy guarantees to allow for users to be other than themselves

In Korea, online norms have been shaped by dating practices

Gifts provided by a boy to a girl (“gift packages”) are used as a social currency

Boy gets to connect/contact girl through online channel which is private and does not expose one to embarrassment

In China, forums/BBSes are the place for discussion

sports discussed on BBSes and blogs

Where are they finding their dance partners?

Entry points to the Digital World Mobile accounts for the majority of access in all three countries Console gaming primarily in Japan due to piracy concerns in China and Korea PC/Online Games high in all countries either at the home, work or in Internet Game Rooms

Accessing the Digital World: both Internet and Mobile

In China

mobile devices (2.4 phones : 1 PC)

3G just getting rolled out

Internet Game Rooms / PC Cafes

Average PCs in IGRs = 100

In Korea

connection to digital world

Internet Game Rooms

personal PCs (in the under 30 crowd)

35M Internet access, 43% broadband

In Japan

personal PCs (in the under 30 crowd)

90M Internet access, 30% broadband

console games

Mobile users (million) Internet users (million) Note : the size of bubbles represents the online ad market size in billion USD Reference: plus8star

When they enter the digital world, they see:

Blogs

Primarily diaries – not news aggregations (as in the political speech of the US)

Also fan sites (celebrity watch) for local actors, actresses, bands, etcetera

Microblogs (status)

Mini content commentary

Found primarily on homepages of walled garden communities (cyworld, mixi) or externally (twitter.co.jp)

Forums / BBSes

Threaded discussions on various topics – can be celebrity or other topics of interest

Rarely discusses political and/or controversial issues

When they enter the digital world, they see:

Social Networks / Virtual Worlds

Ranging from new force to an old mainstay (e.g. cyworld in 1999)

MMO Games

Primarily PC-based

Role-playing with strong fantasy style (e,g. World of Warcraft, Maple Story)

Casual Games

Connected though the PC and/or mobile

Entertainment with simple games

Console Games

Primarily Japan-based due to piracy

Fostered the online gaming style of Korea and China

Seeing the Digital World from three points of view

Jun in China

26 year old girl from Shanghai

Kim in South Korea

28 year old girl from Seoul

Joi in Japan

30 year old investor from Osaka

A Day in the Life of Jun

She start reading directly from her shou-ji (“handset”)

Primary use of mobile phone

SMS/text and Email for IMing

Reading content from Chinese BBSes (forums)

Topical, not personal – discussing issues on forums with anyone in the community

Discussing topics that are not political – which means issues and brands can be found

Accessing Social Networking Services and casual games

Mobile Subscribers:

592M subscribers (46% of pop)

Normal data service (~80%)

3G just rolling out

QQ Stats:

300M+ users (23% of pop)

95% of Chinese Internet users on QQ

Expanded from IM to SNS and games

Forums/BBSes

Starting place for opinion and content

75M BBS users (> 35% of Internet pop)

Internet Game Rooms (PC Café)

Student spend 24/7 in the PC Café doing food, bathroom and network games

Network games are team based

Team strategy – very social

Online Games

Casual games

Poker, go, etc. with single or multi-player versions

Strategy games

World of Warcraft or Maple Story have players interacting in teams via VoIP

Online Gamers:

60M+ users of online games

61% are aged 16 to 25 yrs old

College / Uni students overrepresented

Blogs and/or microblogs

Primarily found in the SNS, forums and portals (e.g. qzone.qq.com)

Social network services

QQ.com, 51.com, Xiaonei.com

Friendster

Gaming/IM platforms

QQ.com

Started as an IM platform, has become the game platform (300M users)

Users share QQ numbers, not email

Sina.com.cn

Portal play w/ search engine, blogs and editorial content

US clones

Facebook clone: Xiaonei.com

Yahoo + Games: MOP.com

Asking Jun to dance requires….

Understanding she consumes much of her content via the mobile

Primary device via forums and friends communicating

Understand what she is reading and/or commenting on

She will diarize on SNSs and blogs and comment in the forums

Be where she is playing

Often within a social network (QQ) or virtual world – she chooses to play with anyone

Watching what content she records, stores or reads

Within the portals or blogs, other content is available for listening to, ready or visually appealing

9.5 2.5 0.5

A Day in the Life of Kim

She stays connected to her friends all the time

Primarily on mobile devices

Tracking friends on mobile SNS / communities

Cross connecting via forums, blogs and social network services (SNS)

Korea dominates the cultural innovation curve in the region

She plays games in many contexts

On SNS – flirting with others

Casual games on various networks

Online strategy games

Source: white book of game in South Korea in July 2007, KOGIA (Korea Game Industry Agency)

Mobile Subscribers:

Data service usage (> 80%)

3G service usage (50%)

Online Gaming:

Increase percentage of leisure time of 30 and under population

Casual and online gaming also popular

Korea’s Digital World User statistics Neighbors View this person’s neighbors Emotional status Content copies (scrapping) Registered number as a favorite Updated contents Visitors Personal URL Add to Favorites My photo Comment Name & Gender Main menu Configured by user (photo album, guestbook, etc.) [Mini-room] Cyber residence of user Music Player Bought by user Comments by neighbors Skin Background, icons, etc Reference: plus8star

22M members (45% of pop)

Trusted social network and virtual world

Virtual currency (acorns / points)

Monthly usage: 10 hours and growing

mobile cyworld: SNS connection

User figures

Launched in March 2004

In November 2007, cyworld exceeded 1M unique users

200K users access daily in Nov 2007

Average page views are reaching 350M per month.

Demographics

50% of mobile cyworld users are age between 19~25 years old.

65% of users are female

Revenues

In 2005, SK Telecom reported revenues from mobile contents increased 34% in 2005, largely due to the huge success of mobile Cyworld

SKT said mobile Cyworld brought an additional 53 million USD in 2006

Guest book Photo Album Friends List Diary (blog) Plaza BBS (forum) Club My Cy (settings) mobile mini hompy Emotion / status Cyworld Zone: Map, Video service Virtual goods shop Reference: plus8star

How Kim crosses online to offline

Every day, friends are trying to engage her online through gifting

In cyworld and other properties, gifting is the primary means of social interaction

Women collect gifts to show status; men “gift” and collect “proof” of gifting

For example, one of SK’s properties, Nate-On provides crossover advertising and coupons

User goes to Giftcon site and sends virtual gift to friend

Friend receives SMS/mobile message on phone, can draw up gift for use at store

Asking Kim to dance requires….

Understanding she consumes much of her content via the mobile

Understand what she is reading and/or commenting on

She will diarize on cyworld and comment in the forums

Be where she is playing

Often within cyworld – she chooses to play

Watching what content she records, stores or reads

Within the portals or blogs, other content is available for listening to, ready or visually appealing

6 5 0.5

Benefitting from East and West

Efficient connection to US Member of the Asian Pacific Region

Incredibly fast internet and mobile connectivity

lowest cost, highest speeds of connectivity, exceeding Korea

Frequent technology innovation and rapid market testing

Joi spends his time

Connecting via mobile device

twittering, emailing, IMing, gaming

Gaming

via networked console and online games

casual games on mobile phone

A Day in the Life of Joi

Mobile Subscribers:

Data service usage (87%)

3G service usage (78%)

Consoles

All major players in region

Networked services with closed platform

Blogs

Blogging is tied directly to SNS and/or virtual worlds rather than standalone

Microblogging just beginning to break into the mainstream

Rich Mobile Email

Standard visual email for low fee

Social networking services

mixi: most popular PC-based SNS

diary (blogging) primary

mixi mobile: #2 mSNS

4.9M members (#1 PC SNS, #2 mSNS)

Diary (blog), pictures, community groups

Monthly usage: 2 hrs and 27 min

Mobile PVs exceeded PC Aug 2007

A Day in the Life of Joi

Go to My Page

Invite a friend

New

New assets, games

Incentive programs (get “gold”)

Let’s Play

Flash games

Decorated email

Let’s Gather Together

Visit Mobile Game Town

Read latest diaries

“ Circles” – clubs, communities

SNS and mobile gaming

Mobile Game Town / Mobage

#1 mobile SNS

Growth from 3M in Feb 07 to 11M in Aug 08

Mobile Phone Novels

Keitai Shousetsu

11M members (#1 mSNS)

Flash games, avatars, blog, chat, SNS

Monthly PVs: 15B mobile page-views

Mobile PVs exceeded PC Aug 2007

A Day in the Life of Joi Reference: plus8star

Asking Joi to dance requires…

Understanding he is always connected on all devices

Mobile acts more like PC

PC acts more like console

Console acts more like mobile

Understanding what he is reading and/or commenting on

Tools are easier to find since crossover from the West provides access to mechanisms (e.g. Technorati)

Be where he is playing

Often within networked console games and/or online games

8 7 4

Lessons about Consumers in Asia Pac

Our consumers are consuming more than promoting

Watching and listening more, entertainment focus

Our consumers are primarily using mobile to consume regularly

Easy access, technology available, speeds comparable

Access to our consumers can be found in large sites

QQ.com, Naver, mixi, cyworld, Mobage, mobile portals, etcetera

Focus has been on consumption and expression within the constraints

Blogs are about personal lives and what they see / do / feel

Where are the touchpoints in this Digital World?

Meet at the door: mobile touchpoints

Major interface for connecting

Mobile is used primarily for communicating with each other one-to-one (email) and one-to-many (posting and reading on forums/BBSes and SNSes/virtual worlds)

Mobile touchpoints

Mobile ads in the forums/BBSes

Placement on network portals

Ads on email newsletters

Meet at the door : mobile touchpoints

Portal placement and advertising is key due to environment

Carriers dominate placement

Most still use number pad for input

Carrier Portal Client’s site (landing site) Go over the banner: it goes full screen Reference: plus8star

Meet at the door : mobile touchpoints Millions 10 million yen by e-mail lottery! Competitions Blog/Homepage creation つくる！さがす！あそぶ！魔法の i らんどって？ ① つくる②さがす③あそぶ Books The pillow book Free online Japanese comics Games & SNS Mobile Game Town Free game-SNS Portal Yahoo! Mobile Mobile version of Yahoo! News R25- Style Mobile Mobile version of the free mag “R25” Ringtones Melody creation Receive ringtones for free Magic Island Personal mobile sites portal Reference: plus8star

Meet on the floor : gaming touchpoints

In networked games, the touchpoints are the digital assets and product placements

Platforms are walled gardens – access is controlled by the network

Touchpoints in network games

Product placement in avatar builders

Performance enhancers if competitive game allows for improvement of attributes

Demand created by artificial scarcity within the digital asset inventory

Product placement by the game producers

Reference: plus8star

Meet on the floor : virtual world touchpoints

Goal of contact is also found within the digital assets and the components chosen

Touchpoints in Virtual Worlds

Product placement in avatar builders

Demand created by artificial scarcity within the digital asset inventory

Product placement by the game producers

Groups/Tribes sponsored by brands

Allows for branded competitive gaming within the virtual world

Social Network / BBSes (forums) touchpoints

Puma in cyworld:

Mini-hompy to promote the brand and connect with fans

Announce promotional events

Publish pictures or short movies about the brand, new models, etc.

Open “Q & A” for dialog with customers

Sports Enthusiasts:

In China, on BBSes and blogs, enthusiasts are beginning to “show off” (shai-ing) their love for brands and teams

Discussions on forums are on teams (football and basketball) and brands (Nike,adidas, Lining, etc)

Listen to her - Blogs and microblogs

Blogs are personal diaries, not as often aggregation of opinion:

In Korea, the movie, “My Sassy Girl” was born out of a blogger’s personal diary

Some blogs do express their affection in terms of celebrity and brand

Microblogs are beginning to grow beyond status updates:

twitter.co.jp and 20+ microblogs starting in these countries

Blog / microblog touchpoints:

Engage the bloggers via the blog search engines (to find them), connect via comments/email (to connect with them) and express your intention (to win them over).

Dancing in the Asian Pacific Digital World