Professional Luncheon
Thomas Crampton
Asia-Pacific Director of 360 Digital Influence, Ogilvy Public Relations
Worldwide

12:30-14:00 Monday, August 30, 2010
(The speech and Q & A will be in English)

Getting Business Results from Social Media : Digital Influence & Asia

How are companies and individuals using social media to communicate, buy, sell and interact in this new digital age? What does a former award- winning journalist turned ‘digital influence’ strategist see as the major changes shaping communications and commerce in Asia?

Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific director of 360 Digital Influence for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, heads a team stretching across 23 cities in 15 Asian territories that helps companies conceive, develop and execute strategies in Social Media.

Find out how the firms and individuals you cover are using social media. He will show how companies ‘listen’ to on-line conversations, plan influencer maps and execute social media engagement. As a former journalist, he is uniquely qualified to talk about how digital influence has changed the way news is made, gathered, shared and disseminated by companies and individuals.

Prior to joining Ogilvy, Crampton spent 18 years as a globetrotting newspaper correspondent, mainly for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times, reporting from five continents and dozens of countries. He writes a widely read blog, thomascrampton.com, and is a frequent keynote speaker and moderator at high profile conferences around the world, from the World Economic Forum in Davos to Le Web in Paris.

Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or http://www.fccj.or.jp (still & TV cameras inclusive). The charge for members/non-members is 1,350/2,300 yen for the sandwich plate (tandoori chicken wrap with cucumber raita,
bean sprouts, coriander, red onion, cashew nuts) and 1,700/2,600 yen for the hot plate (baked grouper with herb crust, lyonnaise potatoes, spinach, baked tomato & herb oil), non-members eligible to attend may pay in cash. Reservations canceled less than one hour in advance for working press members, and 24 hours for all others, will be charged in full. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.

Professional Activities Committee

The success of Twitter runs in stark contrast with other foreign Web 2.0 platforms. Less than 5 percent of Japan’s netizens are on Facebook (compared with more than 60 percent of US netizens); MySpace never broke through to more than 5 percent of the population while more than 35 percent of US netizens signed up, according to ComScore.

I have written about two cultural explanations previously:

Twitter actually means blog: One reason for the possible appeal of Twitter in Japan and Sina Weibo in China is how much can be expressed in 140 characters. Each character in Chinese and Japanese is equivalent to a word, making microblogs more like blogs.

Japanese like to blog anonymously: Or as Aki Akimoto put it to me, Blog Anonymously to Avoid Sushi. Interestingly, the translation of Twitter is “Mumble”.

Some other items on the Japan Twitter phenomenon from an Associated Press story:

- The proportion of Japanese Internet users who tweet (16.3 percent) now surpasses the ratio among Americans at (9.8 percent).

- Tweet examples: Retailer Tokyu Hands uses Twitter to answer queries; Uniqlo has used Twitter in marketing by setting up a virtual queue where people tweet with each other and get freebies; There is a hit TV show featuring characters that tweet; One Tokyo bar features a screen showing tweets along with World Cup games; Among the top Tweeters are pop idols, a former prime minister.

- Nearly 8 million tweets a day are written by Japanese, or about 12 percent of the global total, according to Twitter. Data from Tweet Sentiments, a web site that analyzes tweets, show Japanese are sometimes tweeting more frequently than Americans.

* The Japanese mobile market is highly saturated (89%) with modest growth (4%)
* Japan leads in 3G with over 95% penetration and most people (85%) have data plans
* 85% of users access the internet with their mobile – 60% to play games
* Use primarily for blogging, gaming and messaging
* Home-grown social networks rule the market (but Twitter / Facebook usage growing)
* Marketers must target mobiles as the main vehicle for serving ads
* In Japan read user identity is often hidden behind virtual avatars
* Premium content and ad sales equally contribute to revenue
* Japanese SNS’s have been slow to create API’s for their party developers

Clearly Social Networks and Social Media in Asia is dominated by local players who, although partly inspired by the success of western services, have diversified their offerings to suit local tastes and interests. Outsiders will find it hard to compete in this space but may utilize the tools they offer as a platform for targeting their users. Detailed research will be necessary to understand the incentives for participation and engagement to gain and maintain trust. Mobile and gaming are also big factors here with a greater emphasis on having fun and the form factor content is consumed on playing a major role in its consumption.

My colleagues in the Tokyo Ogilvy Digital Influence team compiled a list of some of the most widely visited websites in Japan. You can download the list from Slideshare here.

Some editorial and qualitative judgments were made in compiling the list. There are certainly more highly accessed sites than the ones chosen; adult sites were omitted, for example. The focus has is on a sampling of portals, blogs and web destinations that matter most and resonate with a Japan audience.

The aim is to provide a sample listing to help people better understand what Japan is viewing and where the conversations are taking place.

The main source for the data is alexa, with editing done by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (Japan).

I am trying to compile a list of Japan’s most interesting people in Social Media. Please add your name or others in the comments.

The list has begun based on those who turned up at a Twitter gathering I initiated at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. I learned so much on that evening and afterwards Steve Nagata generously took me on a great tour of Akihabara.

Add your name (or others) in the comments and I will be sure to invite you to the next gathering! (I am interested in interesting people, not companies, by the way. I enjoy hanging out with people, not companies!)

UPDATE: Shortly after I saved an early edit of this posting both Gen and Steve Nagata tweeted about the lack of Japanese names below. Be particularly great to get more names on that front!

Here’s the details of those in the video who attended that evening:

Rafik Dammak, a recovering blogger from Tunisia who now only Twitters. He is also a Non Commercial Stakeholder Group Board Appointee to the Generic Names Supporting Organization of ICANN (who manages the Internet.)

Alistair Townsend, founder of Bakoko Design Development, Tokyo who is on
Linkedin, Posterous, Twitter and has a company site.

Gen Kanai, the business director of business development at Mozilla has a personal blog, Mozilla blog and Tweets.

Robb Satterwhite, publisher of Bento.com, the best and biggest Japanese restaurant guide is also on Flickr and has a book. He also has FB fan page and a Facebook app “My Favorite Sushi”.

Rick Martin‘s personal blog, CNET blog and Twitter.

Steve Nagata, Akihabara fan and tech consultant who blogs, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Kyle Hasegawa on Blog, Twitter

Michael Q. Todd on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter

Martyn Williams, Tokyo Bureau Chief for IDG News Service, on Facebook Twitter

Orlando Camargo, the President of Ogilvy PR, Japan has a great photo feed on Flickr, is on LinkedIn and Tweets.

A list of more from Steve Nagata:

A list of more from Steve Nagata:

Fumi Yamazaki, @fumi – Author and journalist.  Well known and highly respected in both Japanese and English speaking communities. recently published a book on twitter marketing.
Nobuyuki Hayashi, @nobi – Author and journalist.  EVERYONE knows Nobi. Following Apple since it landed in Japan.
Andrew Shuttleworth, @@ashuttleworth – Social Networks.  One of the biggest names in social media in Tokyo.  One of the founders of Tokyo 2.0
Paul Papadimitriou, @papadimitriou – Technology evangelist.  Technically not in Japan anymore, he continues to support Web2.0 ventures in Japan from across the globe.  Honorary virtual member.
Toshiaki Kanda, @@knnkanda – Author, journalist, television personality. A Japanese techno-celebrity.
Satoka Fujita, @lhuga – Social media enthusiast.  Heavy web2.0 user and founder of Tokyo Geek Girls
Danny Choo, @dannychoo – Blogger, Entrepreneur. Tokyo’s Dancing Stormtrooper. YouTube star and Otaku blogger.
Oliver Reichenstein, @Ia – Information Architect.  Creator of Tokyo Web Trend Map.
Dr. Serkan Toto, @serkantoto – Consultant, Blogger. Writer for Techcrunch.  Little happens in Tokyo tech he does not know about.
Hideki Francis Onda, @onebeat – Blogger, Entrepreneur.  First marketing director for Apple Computer in Japan. Now CEO of Focal Point Computers and Tunewear.
Shinya Ichinohe, @shinyai – Professor, photographer.  Technology and media enthusiast. Now living in Niigata
Dean Fuji, @docmacpro – Consultant, networking mogul.  Social media consultant and power networker.
Taro Matsumura, @taromatsumura – Journalist, Researcher. Always on top of what’s tech and geek in Tokyo.
Takuya Kawai, @himanainu_kawai – Social Media Entrepreneur. One of Japan’s first Social Media specialists. Still in the center of new trends and technology.

From Gordon Kanki Knight:
I suggest myself, @kankiknight (2,712 followers) and my website here, Craig Mod (2,744), Oliver Reichenstein (over 10,000 followers), the staff at Japan Times (including many Japanese), Tomoko Hosaka, Tomo Akiyama (@tomoakiyama), Jean Snow and Roland Kelts (if he qualifies as being in Japan).

Order one direct from NEC here for a mere 199,500 yen ($1,650).

The key specs? Forget about GB in the drive and hz in the chipset. There are 299 Swarovski crystals. (Oh, and don’t forget to buy the Hello Kitty USB)

h/t Jack Schofield

Steve Nagata, a former New York city guide and confirmed geek, gave a great tour of his new neighborhood: Tokyo’s tech-crazy Akihabara.

Steve took Kohei Nishiyama and me on a whirlwind tour of computer megastores and back alleys of one of the world’s greatest epicenters of geekdom.

I had to leave for my flight before the afternoon’s festivities: Girls dressed in French Maid’s outfits cleaning the street.

(Apologies, Steve, for the typo on your surname in the video!)

…while younger users communicate increasingly in other ways
On the other hand, those under 35 show very little increase or even a decrease in visits to web-based email. The most dramatic decline was among 15-24 year olds, with a 7 percent fewer visitors to webmail services and a 34-percent decrease in minutes per visitor.

ComScore concludes:

1- Alternate communication channels, including social media and email over mobile devices, are increasingly popular among young people.

2- As the demographic composition of online users continues to expand, marketers will have the opportunity to reach and influence audiences online that previously were only reachable through offline media.

The raw stats:

Email Category Age Demographic Analysis

November 2008 vs. November 2007

Total Japan, Age 15+ – Home and Work Locations*

Source: comScore World Metrix

                       Total Unique Visitors (000)     Minutes per Visitor
                     Nov-2007  Nov-2008 % Change   Nov-2007  Nov-2008 % Change

Total Audience         26,493   32,396     22       67.7       84.7      25

Persons – Age                                   

    Persons: 15-24      5,289    4,900     -7       70.3       46.1     -34

    Persons: 25-34      7,307    7,557      3       57.8       63.9      11

    Persons: 35-44      5,568    7,386     33       63.8       80.0      26

    Persons: 45-54      4,576    5,511     20       51.8      107.6     108

    Persons: 55+        3,753    7,042     88      108.7      120.6      11
______________________________________________________________________________

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs

Japan’s top 5 email sites:

Top 5 Email Sites by Number of Unique Japanese Visitors

November 2008 vs. November 2007

Total Japan, Age 15+ – Home and Work Locations*

Source: comScore World Metrix

Property                             Total Unique Visitors (000)

                                  Nov-2007     Nov-2008    % Change

Total Internet: Total Audience     54,153       59,198        9

e-mail                             26,493       32,396       22

Yahoo! Mail                        21,838       26,891       23

Windows Live Hotmail                8,528        7,135      -16

Google Gmail                        1,714        2,720       59

Goo Mail                            1,145        1,806       58

Nifty Mail                            306          181      -41

______________________________________________________________________________

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Akky and other A-list bloggers in Japan fear retribution if their identities are fully known, though they do share their real identities with one another. Whenever they do group photos, all faces are hidden.

Among other forms of retribution, Akky fears receiving an unwanted deliveries of Sushi to his home.

“There are some prominent face disclosing Japanese bloggers, but many of them live in Silicon Valley or they are retired, so they don’t have to care about employers,” Akky said at the Le Web conference in Paris. Apologies for the Mariachi band that suddenly started playing in the background.

In true Joi fashion, he offers up a blog posting with a Creative Commons (with attribution) video of the wedding. (Joi is currently CEO of Creative Commons, a cause worthy of supporting!)

Congrats Mizuka and Joi!! Look forward to congratulating you in person next week in Paris.

Mizuka and Joi’s Wedding from Joichi Ito on Vimeo.

Japan: Regulation decreeing that broadcasts to mobile must be the same as those on TV, a measure that helped keep rival services from telcos at bay, was just lifted two months ago. A quirk in the Japanese law stops people recording programs on their home but allows them to do so on their mobile phones. While broadcasters transmit their channels live, many people are watching TV on their mobiles in a non-linear way.

Korea: Broadcasters offering free mobile TV services are governed by the same rules restricting advertising on free-to-air TV, leaving little scope to develop an advertising medium in its infancy. Advertising revenues on free mobile TV are tiny – just 0.38% of TV advertising overall as of December last year according to Korean TV sales house Kobaco – leaving little money to invest in areas such as original content that might extend the medium’s appeal.

Content Helps: One key driver for new media platforms is exclusive content that people can’t get anywhere else, one of the reason why video sites have become so popular online. Companies are looking at bespoke content for mobile TV too – Korea’s TU Media for example commissioned its own comic action movie, Once Upon A Time in Korea, to help energize flagging subscriptions. Such initiatives remain the exception rather than the norm. Creating bespoke content costs money, and with little proof people would be willing to pay for it and currently limited advertising prospects, few companies are taking a punt.

- Above from The Asia Media Journal

His examples:

eBay went it alone and had to leave and now don’t exist in Japan having lost net auctions to Yahoo Japan and Rakuten. Friendster and now Facebook who have launched “localized versions” are not getting traction. Mixi, the Orkut knockoff with arguably a much clunkier interface, has 10M users and is public.

Infoseek, Technorati, Twitter, Six Apart/TypePad/Vox/Movable Type and other brands that we’ve helped launch are all doing pretty good in Japan IMHO.

I think the only two non-joint ventured web companies that are doing well in Japan right now are Google and Amazon and both took years and lots of investment to get there.

Why don’t foreign companies work in Japan?

Foreign brands have very little value in Japan without local promotion.

It is very hard to hire people into fully-owned subsidiaries. Many foreign companies pull out of the market. Japanese companies tend to go public more quickly than US companies. Even when US companies do, often they don’t give subsidiary team member any or as much upside incentive. Local partners tend to incentivize local teams and push for local IPOs. Everyone knows this. Even Google had a tough time and are finally getting traction.

Joi, by his own admission, is promoting his own services, since he has launched many foreign web companies in Japan.

For China, the need for a local partner is clear, but the reasons different. Asian markets have large local sensibilities.