http://www.mformobile.com/print.asp?pk=15411
Are You Official? The Life of a Mobile Content Provider In JapanThe diaries
will now attempt to throw light onto the life of Japan's mobile Internet
content providers. By GoCapital CEO Julian Lai-Hung (5/4/2001)
One key element of NTT DoCoMo's 'positive feedback cycle' is an environment
where content providers can make money through micropayments that are added
to your monthly mobile phone bill. The fact that content providers make
money means that they are motivated to innovate and produce better quality
content. Better quality content means more users, which makes the operators
happy and so on in the circle of mobile content life.
Even outside this cycle, since the content is relatively easy to produce,
there are also many so-called 'unofficial' sites, in fact more than official
sites, over 40,000 versus 1,600 official sites. The 'unofficial' sites can
still make money through third party billing systems, mobile advertising,
and as part of a cross-media strategy, however most do not. This motivates
many of the most ambitious content providers to graduate to the official
content world.
Nevertheless, making this transition is not straightforward and not even a
guarantee of success. We interview Neeraj Jhanji, CEO of imahima.com
('imahima' means 'are you free now?') a successful mobile buddy location
service that has managed to make the transition from unofficial I-Mode site
to official I-Mode site.
With a 30 million user strong mobile Internet market the eyes of the world
content industry are on Japan - how difficult is it to really access those
30 million users?
It is not as difficult as you may think. With over 30 million users, the
ratio between available sites and the available viewing population is very
good. The ratio is good enough to sustain a mobile content business and
there are many opportunities to attract traffic. This audience is also used
to making micropayments. All these factors mean that it is an exciting place
to be for an entrepreneur.
For the same reasons, brands that are strong in the PC-based Internet world
are at a disadvantage because they always have the PC-based user in mind.
Amazon and Yahoo are weak in the mobile space because in Japan there is not
so much crossover between the PC and mobile world. It is much easier for a
mobile venture to think how users can be served in the PC world once they
are a customer in the mobile world.
For example, instant messaging is much more powerful in the mobile world
since customers want to know where their friends are and the mobile gives
them more chance of discovering that compared with PC-based instant
messaging.
How difficult is it to actually get listed on the official mobile content
menus in Japan?
Very difficult ! The sales process for us was approximately one year.
Considering we already had a very successful unofficial content site, I
consider this to be very long. We found NTT DoCoMo to be very bureaucratic
and slow in their decision-making process. This is something that needs to
improve.
In addition, NTT DoCoMo exercises tremendous editorial power over what we
can and can't update our site with. This inevitably adds to the difficulty
of presenting a dynamic site. As a start-up content company, we were in a
very weak negotiating position, almost all content providers are weak
compared to DoCoMo.
Having said that, we do have a rather unique application compared to
something like a news site and therefore we had to factor in the time it
took for us to educate DoCoMo as to our content and the benefits of having
it on the official menu.
As a content provider, is dealing with DoCoMo difficult?
As I mentioned, Yes. However I would say that it is understandable in the
sense that they need to ensure that the experience for the user is of
sufficient quality. They certainly succeed in making sure each content
provider presents a plan that is well-thought out and detailed. The point is
that the mobile user may have never been exposed to the Internet before and
therefore needs a quality experience when they use the I-Mode service.
I have found working with the other operators similar however I would say
J-Phone is more flexible. KDDI is also more flexible in the sense they allow
things like Dating-type applications which DoCoMo shys away from.
What do you think of recent government moves to ensure DoCoMo makes the
listing process more transparent and efficient?
Well, it is necessary in my opinion however do I believe this will happen
anytime soon? No, because DoCoMo is too strong. In terms of opening up the
official content lists, I believe in the concept of an organising I-Mode
portal. Since users do not use their phones to browse the Internet in the
same way that a PC-based users does, it must be easy for them to find the
content that they need very quickly.
In our view, the average user only accesses for a few minutes per day and
only has about 2/3 sites that they use on a regular basis.
Is a listing on the official content menu of one of the mobile operators a
guarantee of success?
No. As I mentioned before, since the user does not browse extensively, being
on the official listing does not guarantee success in spite of the
micropayment advantage.
As an unofficial site, we managed to achieve up to 1 million page views
through attracting users through traditional means.
If this is the case, how do users get to know about your site?
As a start-up we used guerilla marketing, word-of-mouth, features online, in
the press and TV. Traditional means of promoting yourself are key.
Will entertainment continue to be a key driver of usage?
Entertainment is good because it allows the operator to really use the
technical features of the phone, users enjoy it and the operators have been
very keen to attract entertainment content. We have not pursued it so
actively since it is very difficult to compete with the more established
entertainment brands.
How many companies in Japan are actually making money from providing pure
mobile content?
I don't know. There are certainly some companies out there not making money
is all I can say. I don't have any statistics and data to back this up
however.
Many people talk of the need to convince businessmen to use the mobile
Internet more actively in order to maintain the impressive growth in users
seen so far - do you agree with this assumption and if so, how can business
use be stimulated?
Business applications have not been very present on official menus so far,
however it is an important mobile application. This is an area where the big
systems integrators and IT companies are strong and it is difficult for a
niche start-up to compete. I-mode has been positioned as a consumer product
to date and the official menu approach may not be the best business model.
Business applications should be treated separately.
How did you first conceive the imahima concept?
I came to Japan in 1995, working for Andersen Consulting on Internet
strategy consulting projects. I asked myself as an entrepreneur, where can I
best utilise my creativity and abilities?
One lonely Saturday afternoon I wanted to go out and eat, and looking at the
crowds of people outside I wondered 'are any of these people my friends who
would join me for lunch?' I then thought that since everyone has a mobile it
would be a great way of finding friends.
Two or three months later, I had a patented Beta application. I continued to
believe in the concept and develop it. Today, we have over 250,000 users, 20
staff and are now an AOL/Time-Warner funded venture.
The latest version of our imahima application is available on the official
menus of DoCoMo, J-Phone and KDDI for 100 yen per month and we are
considering plans for European expansion with a recently opened office in
Germany.
What are the current challenges facing imahima?
The major challenge we are facing is the typical fast growth strains of a
start-up venture. In addition, the key thing that I am facing is that
without Global Positioning Technology, our service still doesn't allow you
to find your friends with pinpoint accuracy.
How do you see imahima developing in the future?
We are open to partnership discussions to any interested parties who may
have a fit and we are also looking to fully utilise the benefits of GPS when
this becomes available.
How do you address users concerns over privacy and sharing of data on
people's movements and interactions?
The key to privacy concerns is trust. We need to win the trust of our
customers and keep their belief in the service. We do not initiate any
advertising from the imahima site onto users and since the users only
declare their whereabouts to a chosen group of friends we are giving the
user choice about who he or she shares their location data with.
What do you see as the key misunderstanding that people have about the Japan
market?
The strongest message I have is that being on the official menus is not the
be-all and end-all of existence. There are costs associated with being on
the official menus and it is sometimes difficult dealing with the operators.
We achieved strong user growth as an unofficial site and it is not clear to
me that my users have grown simply because of being on the official menu.
The users will grow if they know about your service and it is a good one.
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
Received on Mon May 14 13:30:35 2001