2. Executive Summary
Japanese Animation has been around since the 1960’s in Japan, but only became popular
in the U.S. in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. This once very small niche market has expanded
and become quite popular with teens and young adults. The following represents a
marketing plan to expand service to the increasing number of fans wanting more from the
Japanese production companies. While the Japanese publishing companies have provided
Anime with translations into English, they have been slow to respond to this budding
market in terms of Manga and Light Novels leaving fans wanting more. Nine Tails Press is
invested in providing increased Manga and Light Novels translations quicker and more
efficiently to fill this void. To better understand this plan, I wanted to provide some basic
definitions:
Manga: Comics (like our comic books) created and published in Japan. The medium
includes works in a broad range of genres: action-adventure, comedy, detective, historical
drama, mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy, etc.
Light Novels: These are written very similar to our novels. They are a written medium
that may have some illustrations and tell stories that have a plot line that is more involved
and longer. They primarily target a teens and young adults. The texts are often serialized
in magazines before being published in book form.
Anime: Shortened term for Japanese animation. This can come in the form of movies,
but is more likely to show up as T.V. series in Japan. While there are exceptions, most
Anime is sourced from Manga and/or Light Novels. Most anime series are 12 to 13
episodes long (occasionally longer), but if they don’t get a “second season “ which many of
them don’t, the “story” doesn’t have an appropriate ending leaving non-Japanese fans
frustrated. (This is the void that Nine Tails Press has been created to fill.)
Torrent: Form of file sharing whereby fans share and download media content.
3. Product Overview
Nine TailsPressisa publisherof EnglishtranslatedJapanese LightNovelsandManga.The
companypublishesLightNovel andMangaseriesthathave Anime adaptations.The companyalso
publishestranslatedweeklyandmonthlyMangamagazinesfrom Japan.The goal of Nine Tails
Pressisto get thistype of Japanese mediatothe Englishspeakingpublicassoonas possible so
that NorthAmericanfanswon’tbe so far behindtheirJapanese counterparts.Todothis,for
example,if aManga serieshas20 volumesreleasedinJapan,insteadof releasingthem4or 5
volumesayearwhichisthe rate at whichcurrentpublishersreleasethem, NTP(Nine TailsPress)
combinesMangavolumesintoalargerbook sothat 8 a year can be released.The NTPalsodoes
thiswithLightNovels,butata slowerpace,because asnovels,theyare muchlongerandwill not
be “combining”volumesasisbeingdone withthe Manga.
Situation Analysis
The problemwiththe currentpublishingsituationisthatbecause the translations are limitedand
extremelyslow,the fanscurrently“take thingsintotheirownhands”anddo fantranslationsof
Manga chaptersfromManga magazinesandpost themonthe internet. Thispractice hasbeen
dubbed“scanlations”because the Englishfanbase wantstokeepupwiththeirJapanese
4. counterparts.Regardingthe LightNovel situation,veryfew are publishedinthe U.S,and because
theyare solong,fan translationsare unpredictable asfansare notalwayswillingtodothe
translationsbecause itissolaborintensive.ThisleavesEnglishspeakingfansdisappointedand
wanting.
Translationof LightNovelsbecomesimportantif the Anime isoriginallysourcedfromaLightNovel
seriesandnota Manga series.The reasonforthishas to dowiththe ability toactuallycontinue
the story afterthe Anime finishes.MostAnime seriesdonotgeta secondseasonandso if all the
fansare leftwithisa Manga seriesthatjustretellsthe storyuptothe TV seriesandgetnothing
more,fanswill be frustratedand leftunsatisfiedbecause there isno“closure”unlessthe original
LightNovel material ispublished.
Thisis whyitis importanttopay close attentiontothe type of mediaformatthat isbeing
publishedandit’srelationtothe content.
Competitive Analysis
The followingare the companiesthatare currentlypublishingMangaand LightNovelsinthe West
downbelow:
5.
6. Detailed Target Market Description
While Japanese animationhadbeenaroundforalongtime,itonlybecame introducedoutsideof
Japanin the midto late 80’s andthus, onlyhada small niche of individualsoutside of Japanwere
actively interested. Asthe 90’s came, some Japanese animationbeganairingonAmericanTV on
CartoonNetwork,asa 3 hour blockof time calledToonami. This causedthisonce small niche to
expandrapidlyandbroughtforthan expandedinterestinJapanese animationincludingadditional
formatssuch as Manga. As a resultof these changes,the currentdemographicgrew toinclude
teenagersandyoungadults. Teenagerswhohave beenintroducedtoManga have turnedinto
Young Adultswhocontinue theirinterestwhichhascausedthe markettoexpandexponentially.
As thisphenomenoncontinueswithanew generationof childrenbeingexposedonCartoon
Network,turningintoteenagers,andbecomingyoungadults,itisexpectedthatthe marketwill
continue toexpand.
Accordingto the data obtainedfromAnimelist.net, ourcurrentmarketwill be focusedonmale
teensandyoungadultsbetweenthe agesof 18-24 as theymake up67% of the demographic. In
termsof gendermalesare muchmore prevalentinthe Otakufandomwithamajorityof 70% while
7. only30% are female. It shouldbe notedthatalthoughwe are goingto be marketingtomale teens
and youngadultsthatdoesnot meanthat we will nottry andalso publishmaterialthatappealsto
female audiences. Thisnextchartis from the OtakuLounge Wordpresswebsite whichdescribes
the type of anime sourcedmediafansconsume. Bylookingatthe demographicsof anime fans,
we can get a good ideaaboutthe kindof audience thatbuysproductssuch as Manga and Light
Novels.
Manga, of course,makesupthe large majorityor sourcedmaterial asit hasbeeninthe marketin
the statesa lotlongerthanLightNovelshave been.The factthatbooksare the secondlargest
source material showsthatLightNovelsare growingintermsof consumptionintermsof social
mediaAnime,Manga,andLightNovels.
Nine Tail Press Goals
•Increase CustomerLoyaltyandOverall BrandHealth
•Increase Salesby10%
8. Action Plan
Banner Ad
The Banner Adwill have the title of
Manga 20% off at 9 Tail Press
Finishedthe Anime?Getthe full
Story from where itall began!
Thiswill be the Adsinformation
Below are the following sites that the NTP Ad could be placed:
The Anime News Network
The Anime NewsNetworkisanideal site toadvertiseonasit is considered tobe the leading
Englishnewssource withall thingsdealingwiththe Otakusubculture.Thismeansthatfanscome
to gettheirnewsaboutupcomingreleasesintermsof new Animeseries,products,reviews,and
interviewswithindustryproducers,actors,J-Popartists,etc.
Nayaa Torrent
Thisis a torrentsite that dealsmostlywithAsianmedia. Thisisbyfar one of the mostpopular
mediasharingsitesonthe internet. Thousandsof fansflocktoitevery daylookingforinformation
9. relatedtoAnime,Manga,LightNovels,andVisual Novels. While thereissome illegal downloading
of licensedmaterial,alotof itis importedmediafromJapanthatisnot licensedoravailablehere.
Anime List
Thisis a popularsite where thousandsof fansmake alistof the Anime theyare watchingand
where theyhave discussionsaboutthe Anime episodes,Manga,andLight Novelswithwhichthey
are involved.
Crunchyroll
Thisis one of the 3 major Anime streamingservicesinthe U.S. In additiontoAnime,theyalso
provide Mangato users. This a great site toplace Adson because itisfrequentedby thousandsof
fanseverydaywho are part of the Otaku fandomandwoulddefinitelybe interestedinour
products.
Facebook
Thisis a site that isoftenfull of EnglishspeakingOtakufans. There are fansitesforshowsand
Manga, etc. Knowingthis,itwouldbe agood locationtotry and place Adsbecause youngpeople,
whichisNTP’sprimarydemographic,use Facebook. AnotherplusisthatFacebookwill be sure
that NTPAds will reachthe specificdemographicthatNTPis aimingforas well asshowingupon
mobile devices.
10. Social Media Campaign
The top social mediasiteswe will be usingforourmarketingplanwillbe TwitterandFacebook.
Nine TailsPresshaschosenTwitterandFacebookasthese are the mostwidelyusedplatforms
that fansuse to connectwithAnime,Manga,and LightNovel distributers.These twosocial media
platformswill be usedtogive fansthe opportunitytoaskquestionsandgive feedback.
Twitter
Twitteraccountsresponsibilitiesinclude givingoutnews,informationaboutsales,upcoming
release of Manga andLight Novel volumes,andcontestannouncements.
Facebook
Nine TalesPressFacebookpage isresponsibleforgivingoutnewsupdates,informingthemabout
sales,upcomingreleases,andthisisthe locationthatwill host the Fan ArtContest.
The Fan Art Contestwill be usedtoshow how muchNTP cares abouthavingfanscontribute tothe
companymissionwhichisthe promotionandlove of Japanese media. The contestwillconsistof
fansturninginfan art connectedtoone the favorite licensedseriesthatare offeredatNine Tails
Press. NTPwill allowfanstovote ontheirfavorite fanart whichwill thenbe publishedinthat
specificseriesnextvolume. The fanthat winswill receive afree copyof the nextvolume of the
seriesthatthe fan art wasbasedon alongwiththeirname. Thiswill promote fansinvolvement
withthe serieswhichcanincrease brandawarenessandloyaltyandleadtomore sales.
11. Email Campaign
The Nine Tale Pressemail campaignwill be a promotional newsletter. The newsletterwill consist
of newsof upcomingreleases,contests,andsalesthatoffera10%-20% couponoffer. Whenthey
buya volume,if theypreorderthe nextvolume,theywill get20% off theirpre-orderedpurchase
as a “thank you”for supportingNine TailsPressandthe continuedpublishingof Mangaand Light
Novels.
Ways to Increase Customer Loyalty
Workingwithfantranslators- AfterlicensingaseriesNine TailsPressplanstotalkto the
moderatorsat Baka-Tsuki (Fan translationsite forlightnovels)tosee if itispossible touse some
of the fantranslatorswork,so that all that all theirhardtranslationworkdoesnotgo to waste.
Doingthiswill allowustopotentiallyincrease the speedof official lightnovel translationsthat
have alreadybeenreadunofficiallybythe Englishspeakingpublic. NTP,of course,will have an
editorgothrough the material tomake sure that the fan translationsare correct. NTP wouldpay
the fan translatorsbasedonthe qualityof the translationandthe contentusedinthe official
publications.
Taking Petitions into Consideration
If fans want a series licensed, they can send us a petition with a specific number of
individuals and if there are enough, Nine Tails Press may consider licensing it. There are
factors, however, to be considered in this matter such as licensing costs and the
willingness of the Japanese publisher to license the material. The petition, however, could
be used as evidence to help persuade the Japanese publisher to give a license if they are
unsure.
12. Website Features
Nine TailsPresswill create acommentssectionunderdigital Mangachaptersviewedonthe
website. Doingthiswillbe goodfor2 reasons. Notonlywill itgive NTPa way to sense customers
response toa series, butalsowill create a“community”onthe website. Topartake inthis
community,fanswill create theirownaccount. Thisaccount will have the person’sprofile and
digital library. Whena fan buysa Manga volume onAmazon,they will be able togeta code that
be usedto access to thatvolume onboththeirKindle accountandthe Nine TailsPresswebsite.
