Case#3: Mobile Marketing

 “Imanara!” is a Japanese iPhone application through which users can download coupons for various restaurants and bars, launched in May 2010. The unique feature of this mobile marketing is that it’s not only location-based, but also time-based. The word, Imanara, literally means "Only Now" in Japanese.

So, here is how the marketing strategy works. When starting the application, GPS automatically searches for nearby restaurants with promotions based on the current location. Google map shows up with marks that identify the locations of those restaurants. Each of the restaurants has specific discount, such as “You’ll receive 30% off if you come within 30 minutes!” The coupons show a clock that counts down toward the expiration time. Once the user decides which one to go, they can download the coupon and make a quick phone call to make reservation. Finally, once they arrive at the restaurant, they will just need to show the downloaded coupon to the staff. 

【Left】Google map indicating the locations for coupon availablility. 【Middle】Coupon description with count down clock and remaining # of coupons. 【Right】Coupon with phone number for reservation

Although location-based mobile marketing is becoming a standard these days, there is not much out there that uses time-based marketing strategy yet. This strategy is very popular among the participating restaurants because they can easily provide time-specific coupons when a reservation gets cancelled in last minutes, when the weather is bad, or simply when there are not enough customers to fill the seats. With the traditional coupons in flyers and on the website, it’s difficult to predict and control when customers come to their restaurants with coupons. However, with this time-based marketing strategy, the timely coupons make customers come in at the best timing for the restaurants in need of more customers.

For the users, this mobile marketing strategy is appealing because it is highly convenient to be able to see cheap dining options when they are not familiar with the area, when they do not have any reservation for a large group, or when they are looking for new restaurants. The coupon with time limit works effectively as an incentive to try out, stimulating the customers’ human nature to favor something “limited.”

Increasing number of users from May to December, 2010

               More than 400,000 users have downloaded the app so far, and there are over 10,000 restaurants that provide coupons through “Imanara!” The app was named for the best mobile solution at Mobile Project Award in 2010. 

                Here is a promotional video of "Imanara!" from YouTube. Unfortunately, there is no English subtitle, but hopefully you can get the gist of it. 

               
               The primary target audiences for this mobile marketing are both male and female young workers who are under 35. In Japan, it is very common for colleagues to have dinner or drink together after work almost every day. This is especially true for those young demographics because they are less likely to have the obligation to go home early to take care of children.

In terms of geography, the target audiences are in large cities, where tons of restaurants and bars are concentrated close to each other. This is quite important because the users need to be able to choose from many dining options on the map within walking distance. (The Japanese in the cities rarely use cars to commute – trains and subways are the main transportation for them.)

　　　　The psychographics of the primary target are tech-savvy with smart phones, and they like to try new places in the surrounding areas of their offices. They aren’t attached to certain places yet because they recently started exploring the cities as full-time workers. Also, they are always looking for cheaper deals due to the entry-level low salaries. They also don’t like spending too much time on choosing restaurants when their brains are already exhausted from overtime work. 

　　　　The secondary target audiences are college students in large cities. College students in Japan go to restaurant bars after school no matter which day of the week it is. Since most of them are smart phone users and looking for cheap meals and drinks, “Imanara!” helps them to conveniently find appropriate places for groups of college students near their campuses. In addition, weekend lunch and dinner are targeted to female college students, as there is an ongoing trend called “Girls’ Party,” at which girls gather at a fancy, yet affordable restaurant or café to chat, gossip and laugh on weekends.

I think the mobile marketing strategy of “Imanara!” is highly effective as more and more people own smart phones these days. Before, the audiences used to look for coupons on magazines, free papers and on website for computers. However, their behavior is shifting towards quick mobile search, and they value easiness, convenience and promptness when searching for something. The incorporated Google map with GPS is very helpful for the users to find the desired restaurants without getting lost or wasting time.

Additionally, I personally think that this mobile marketing works well because it reduces awkwardness when making a decision among many people in a large group. I’m sure everyone has experienced the awkward moment no one suggests a specific place to eat out, and you and your friends eventually get irritated because they are simply too hungry to come up with ideas. I think “Imanara!” is desirable because its timeliness and location-specific suggestions trigger the users to decide on destination without hesitation. Once one of the group members finds a suitable coupon on the app, that person can suggests the place, saying, “Let’s go here! This coupon will expire in 20 minutes!!”

And, as I mentioned earlier, this marketing strategy is effective in attracting more restaurants to participate and generating competition in the targeted areas. The time-specific offers are preferable for the participating restaurants because the management could balance out the number of users with discount and the number of normal users, so that sales promotions do not harm their businesses. Once a substantial number of restaurants put coupons on “Imarana!,” other restaurants nearby will need to participate as well to remain competitive in the market, which gives more revenue for the provider of “Imanara!”

This mobile marketing will surely keep improving more and more in the future and other marketing companies will copy the basic business model soon as a successful strategy. However, one suggestion I’d make for “Imanara!” is to develop more interactive features among the users. As of now, the communication process is only one-way: from restaurants to customers. I think there should be a system through which the users can share the coupon with their friends to maximize the possibility of attracting potential customers to the restaurants. Facebook and Twitter might be the best built-in mutual function to spread the discount information in a timely manner.

I tried the application on iPhone when I went back to Japan this winter. It was extremely convenient to be able to see the availability of discounted restaurants with only one click. The interface is very simple and easy to follow, so I had no trouble going through the process for the first time. I believe this marketing strategy shouldn’t and won’t be limited to dining options. There is a huge potential for the time-based mobile marketing, such as hair/nail salons, Internet cafes, karaoke, drug stores and supermarkets.

One day when everyone becomes a smart phone user, there might be a conglomerated mobile app of time-limited coupons for any kind of stores you can think of.

Sources:

1) Official Imanara website: http://imanara.jp/

2) Toremaga News: http://news.toremaga.com/computer/mobile/302394.html
3) Nikkei Trendy Net: http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/pickup/20091013/1029604/?rt=nocnt

Book Signing 2.0

Today, I found an article on NY Times about the new technology that allows authors to sign electronically for fans - what I'll name, "Book Signing 2.0"!

Now that increasing number of people read books on electronic devices, like Kindles, Nooks and iPads, there is a no doubt that an alternative way of book signing is needed.
T.J. Waters, who is the author of "Hyperformance," came up with this idea of digital signing when one of his fans told him, "It's too bad you can't sign my Kindle."

According to the article, Mr. Waters is going to use a new software called "Autography" at the BookExpo America in New York in May.
The first step of this process is to take a picture with the author either with an iPad camera or any external digital cameras. Then, the image will appear or be sent to the author's iPad screen, on which the author writes a digital message using a stylus. The signed photo will be immediately sent to fans by e-mail.
This whole process only takes 2 and a half  minutes, and the fans will be able to brag about it by posting the signed picture on Facebook and Twitter right away.

For those of you who value the actual signature written on paper with a pen, this technology may sound like a sad idea. (I personally feel that way, as I still prefer having concrete proof, not a digitized one.)
However, I'd guess there will be more trend like this in coming future because people's values keep changing over time. Think a moment - Didn't you hate watching movies on your small laptop screen 5 years ago? We used to love watching movies on wide TV screen and going to movie theaters was even more appealing. But now, we don't really mind watching them on tiny screens.

The norms and values are changing before we know...

*You can read the full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/fashion/14NOTICED.html.

Gmail Motion?

On April 1st, aka April Fool's Day, Google launched a prank page for a new service, "Gmail Motion".
This incredible program is Gmail plug-in that allows users write their emails by body motion! Well, learning about the latest technology a lot in this class, I feel like this is not that ridiculous, I have to say. I'm almost sure that Google could make this happen if they try...the question of demand aside, of course!

The prank page had an introduction video that was made very realistic with expert opinions and demonstration.
You may think it's stupid, but it could be a head-up for new services sometime near future....so check it out!



Visit the prank web page at http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

Earthquake in Japan

As many of you know, Japan had the biggest earthquake in its history on Friday, March 11th. Tsunami demolished many towns along the shore, aftershocks are still occurring and people live with fear for the radiation from the broken nuclear plants. Over 10,000 people have died and another 10,000 are still missing.

Luckily, my family and friends are safe back home thanks to their locations far from the seismic center. However, they also experienced quite big quakes in Tokyo.
Today, I'd like to share my experience on 3.11 in relation to social media.

The first earthquake happened in late afternoon on Friday in Japan, which was around 2 am in the morning in New York.
I was going out that night for 2 hours, and right after I came back to my apartment at 2:30, I saw my Twitter plug-in on Firefox with more than 200 tweets. I thought, "wait...this is too many for 2 hours...what's going on?"
And then, it turned out that Twitter was full of information about the earthquake, the magnitude data from news, panic of my friends, and so on.
As soon as I realized its a huge accident, I started calling my family. However, the phone system was basically down, so I couldn't reach them at all for a few hours.

The only thing that was working perfectly fine was the Internet.
I had never appreciated the existence of Skype this much before. While the phone system was down, I was able to contact with some friends with Skype accounts. At the moment, I really wished that every single Japanese had a Skype account. Seriously.

As I was getting very nervous whether my family is safe, shocking news kept coming in through Twitter, and someone started web streaming Japanese news broadcast.
2 hours later, I finally managed to contact my sister who was going out in the middle of the city when the earthquake hit. Surprisingly, she seemed not to understand the scale of the earthquake, while I, miles away from Japan, knew all the details about it.
I strongly felt the power of the Internet and social media at crisis.

For 2 weeks since the earthquakes, SNS has been showing us what it can do differently from mass media.
While the mainstream media tend to show striking, negative news from the seismic center, Twitter has more helpful information and encouragement among the people of Japan as well as caring messages from all over the world.
Lots of charity groups both in Japan and abroad are using Facebook to spread the words to their communities.
This sad crisis in Japan made me realize the potential of the social media, taking over the mainstream media.

There is a website where encouraging Tweets with hash tags of "#prayforjapan" are put together. The website has already been translated to 10 languages.
Please visit prayforjapan.jp to see the positive viral effects of Twitter.

Amazing Vending Machine

Today, I'd like to introduce the new vending machine I came across when I went back to Japan this winter.

This new digital vending machine has a touch screen that lets people choose drinks by touching the images.
After you touch one of them, the screen will show information about the drink and price.
Then, you can purchase a can or a bottle using the money loaded on your train pass. It's super easy!
These vending machines can be found in major train stations in Tokyo.

Surprisingly, there is actually more to it!
On top of the screen, there is an embedded camera that distinguishes the person's age and sex!!!! According to the profile, the vending machine will automatically show recommended soda, coffee or whatever for the age/sex group. Wow moment, right?
And of course, the demographics collected at the vending machine go to the database for building a rich customer profile for beverage companies.

Digital technology surely adds values to any contact point with customers theses days.

Case#2: Ethical and Legal Issues

Copyright Infringement: Rihanna vs. David LeChapelle

  Since its launch on YouTube on January 31^st, Rihanna’s new music video for S&M has been viewed by over 12 million people around the world. However, Rhianna, her label and video production company are currently in the middle of a lawsuit filed by a top fashion photographer, David LaChapelle. The music video was directed by Melina Matsoukas, who had nothing to do with David, but the concept of the video is too similar to David’s eight photos that he had previously published. David argues that the S&M video copied the “composition, total concept, feel, tone, mood, theme, colours, props, settings, decors, wardrobe and lighting” from his original copyrighted work. In this case study, I will analyze why Rihanna’s use of David’s work is illegal as well as the implications of copyrights in the digital age.

The copyright of the pictures copied in Rihanna’s S&M video are owned by David LaChapelle in accordance of 1976 Copyright Act. The law states that as soon as the work is finished, copyright becomes a property of the author. When David took the pictures, he is entitled to the rights as an owner of copyright. After that, David could freely publicize his work, reproduce and make an imitative work of the original. These rights are exclusive for the copyright owner, so it is illegal for the producers of S&M video to imitate his work without asking permission from him. In fact, David has reported that no one from his creative team was asked for permission prior to the release of the video.

The Rihanna’s use of David LaChapelle’s work does not fall into any of the fair use activities. There are four factors for fair use: purpose of use, nature of copyrighted work, substantiality of use, and effects on the potential market. First of all, purpose of use means whether the copyrighted material is used for commercial purpose or non-profit purpose. The purpose of Rihanna’s S&M video was clearly commercial because the music video attracted the audiences and encouraged them to buy her song online. In fact, S&M had sold 173,000 digital copies in the United States during the sixth week and ranked 7^th on Billboard Hot 100. This song is Rihanna’s 18^th single to be a top 10 hit on the Billboard chart. In addition, since S&M is a spin-off from her popular album, “Loud,” which was released in fall 2010, we can also argue that S&M helps the album to generate more demand from the audiences. Although the music video itself is not sold for individual sales, it is part of the commercial process because the song accompanied by the vivid image in the video leaves strong impression among the viewers, making the song more attractive to purchase. Thus, the commercial purpose of use does not accept the music video as a fair use.

Secondly, nature of copyrighted work means whether the original work is factual or fictional. In the case of S&M video, the original work was not factual because the pictures were fictional work produced by David LaChapelle. However, this factor also imposes another problem that makes it a little hard to judge whether it is fair use or not. According to Stanford University Libraries, “you will have a stronger case of fair use if the material copied is from a published work than an unpublished work. The scope of fair use is narrower for unpublished works because an author has the right to control the first public appearance of his expression.” In other words, if the original work is published and available for the mass audiences, it is hard for the original author to keep the control over his/her work. David LaChapelle’s photos, including the ones copied in S&M video, have been published in the mainstream media as well as online. The photos similar to his work were taken between 1995 to 2002 and published in Vogue Italia. Also, his basic art concept, using vivid colors and controversial themes, is publicly available on his official website that is entirely made for exhibiting his work to the online audiences (Visit the website from here). In short, since LaChapelle’s work is shown everywhere, the producer of S&M video may possibly argue that LaChapelle doesn’t have an absolute control over his work. However, this argument is more likely to be denied because even the original work is available in media and on the Internet, it doesn’t become public domain, as we discussed copyrighted myths in class.

              The third factor is substantiality of use, which means how much of the original work is copied in the subsequent work. If you take only a small portion of the original, you have more chance that it will be recognized as fair use. The S&M video would unfortunately be consider to copy the whole or the core concept of David LaChappelle’s work. Comparing the images side by side, you can easily spot the similarities between the scenes of the video and LaChappelle’s photos. The following is a side-by-side comparison of some scenes and pictures. (left: Rihanna's, right: David LaChapelle's)

 Since there are some changes made in Rihanna’s video, some may argue that they are not exactly the same. However, coping partially doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fair use as Stanford University Libraries state, “your copying will not be a fair use if the portion taken is the "heart" of the work.” Thus, it is undeniable that the S&M video has taken the important concept of the LaChappelle’s artwork substantially.

           Lastly, the fourth factor is effects on the potential market. Simply put, this is questioning whether the copy would impose any economical pressure to the original work. If the subsequent work becomes really popular, it is very possible for the original to lose revenue because it won’t be appealing to the customers anymore. I strongly think the S&M video could deteriorate the popularity of David LaChappelle’s work for two reasons. First, Rihanna is much more well-known compared to LaChappelle, making it easier for her to take over the virtual “ownership” of the concept. Regardless of her intension to do so, the video will be broadcasted to the global audiences, who may not hear about this copyright infringement issue at all. If this is the case, the viewers will make a mind connection between the video image and Rihanna, enabling her to hold the concept in a sense. The other reason for lost revenue is the fact that David LaChapelle was ironically known for his uniqueness. For a long time, his photos have exhibited distinctive creativity and his ability to implement the concept into the solid art form. However, now that a third-person recreated the work, it could give the audiences a negative impression that LaChapelle’s work is not “that” unique. This change in audience’s perception could decrease the popularity of David’s photographic work. In other words, his work will lose the premium it used to have before, causing a revenue loss.

            This copyright infringement case of Rihanna’s S&M is not settled yet, so we will need to wait to see the consequence. Issues around copyright have become more complicated than ever before due to the advanced global network of media. David LaChapelle might have harder time to convince the judge because his work has very high exposure online now. Also, the aftermath of this case would be incredibly harmful for David because of the online availability of the video is out of control. In old days, when there is a copyright issue in media, it was easy to stop the linear flow on radio and Television. However, now that everything is digital, it is extremely difficult to control the spread of media on YouTube, video streaming website and social media. Any photographers, writers, creators and performers will need to pay extreme attention to their copyrighted material as well as the possible infringement that could damage their careers and totally change their lives. 

Here is the video of Rihanna's S&M from YouTube.

Sources:

Stanford University Libraries: "Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors"

The Guardian: "Rihanna sued by David LaChapelle over S&M video"

The Huffington Post: "Rihanna Sued: David LaChapelle Alleges 'S&M' Video Steals From His Art"

Yahoo! Music: "Week Ending Feb. 20, 2011"

Our Hero?

Google announced today that "Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office" is now available globally for everyone!

Google Cloud Connect is a free plag-in that enables multiple users to simultaneously edit the same documents, such as Word and Power Point. As long as you have the plag-in, a Google account and the Internet connection, you will be able to use the full advantages of Google Cloud Connect.

Some of you may be confused about the functionality of this plag-in.
Simply put, you can enjoy the convenience of Google Doc without going into the document page online anymore!
You'll just have to open the shared file with a Microsoft Office program as you normally do, and be able to collaborate with other people. Isn't it great??

This service was released in November, but it had been available for only limited users. NOW IT'S FOR EVERYONE FREE OF CHARGE!!!
This innovation has the implication that online collaboration will be much more common at school, workplace and everywhere.
Maybe there is no need for setting up a meeting for a group project anymore...No more "what time can we meet?" conversation?
Google Doc has already made the online collaboration popular among college kids, but Google Cloud Connect will surely make the process much easier, accelerating the spread of this technology.

Here is the video provided by Google, explaining the key features of the plag-in. Enjoy!