JIN-461 -- Please take one

[jin at mailman.japaninc.com]

J at pan Inc Newsletter
The 'JIN' Japan Inc Newsletter
A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends
in Japan.

Issue No. 461 Wednesday April 16, 2008, Tokyo

------------------ HOW PBXL IS DIFFERENT ------------------

PBXL, Japan's leading Cisco hosted telephony provider,
is easy to use and understand.

1) Pick a plan for your office (Knight, Bishop, King)
2) Pick your phones (Standard, Advanced, Premier)

and you're done! One week rush orders also available.

Get your new phones in three simple steps:
http://www.pbxl.jp/plans

Call us today!
03-4550-2557
info at pbxl.jp

Monthly seminars at Cisco HQ: http://www.pbxl.jp/seminarstt
More about PBXL: http://www.pbxl.jp/aboutus2
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Please take one

Giving away products for free is an interesting marketing
strategy. It was perhaps most famously employed by Gillette who
gave away razors—a cost which was easily covered by sales of
the blades that had to be purchased separately. Other strategies
involve attempting to add value to products via a complimentary
gift or, the free distribution of a product paid for by
advertisers. In the post-web world, the latter has become a
hugely important market force with sites such as YouTube,
Google, and Mixi all providing services free of charge to the
end-user and then monetizing that community to advertisers.
In both online and print, media organizations (including
ourselves) are also increasingly likely to make content freely
available in order to compete for attention. The last decade has
thus seen a large increase in the number of free papers, email
newsletters, websites and magazines, and even books, funded in
a similar way.

In Japan, the business of give-away has some interesting
features. For example, there is tissue marketing—work around any
major city center and it is hard to avoid having a packet of
tissues pushed into your hard carrying a small notice, or simply
a logo, from the sponsor. According to one Japanese company that
have taken 'free tissue marketing' global, research indicates
that the read and retain rate for leaflets is only 4.2% but for
tissues it is 81.6% (www.freetissues.com/thestory.html).

Covering this topic in her excellent 'So, what the heck is that'
column in the Japan Times, Alice Gordenker traces the origin of
this marketing tactic back to the late 1960s when a paper goods
manufacturer was trying to expand demand for paper products
(http://search.japantimes.co.jp/print/ek20070821wh.html). The
packs of tissues cost next to nothing and are thus an attractive
form of direct marketing. A survey conducted by GMO research
found 'that 43% of pocket tissue adverts are loans or related to
finance. Other runner-ups include travel (4.4%), real estate
(7.2%) and adult content (13.4%).' Although this form of
marketing has been tried in other countries, it remains
significantly more popular in Japan and relatively limited to
tissue although handheld fans in the summertime must surely come
in at a close second.

More promotional products tend be dreamed up by companies
creating their own marketing materials, from the ubiquitous
logo-stamped matchboxes at bars and restaurants to the bog-
standard company pen. In Japan, another common promotional
accessory is the 'keitai strap,' – a small tag or object on a
string that can be attached to a mobile phone. Health and beauty
salons have also in the past been known to give out nail files
and bath salts while small, branded cuddly toys have also proved
popular. Some printing companies are even offering their
services for free in return for being able to put their URL on
the material, for example on the back of a business card or copy
paper. The most unusual promotional item that has come to our
attention is the portable ashtrays mailed out by the organizers
promoting Japan Fashion Week.

Meanwhile, some corporations seem to be able to get people to
actually pay for things that also carry their brand name. The
most obvious example is Disney who manage to have product lines
in almost every retail sector in Japan from kitchen appliances
to luxury brand jewelry. Other characters such as Hello Kitty
are also 'marketing prostitutes' in the sense that if a high
enough license fee is paid, any manufacturer can use them to
add interest to their product. When Japan held the Aichi Expo
back in 2005 the two characters created especially for the
event, Morizo and Kiccoro, were sold in every possible shape or
form and can still be bought to this day
(http://morizo-kiccoro-ecoshop.com).

But back to the free stuff, it seems that we can be prepared to
get an increasingly varied (if not more useful) range of
products up for the taking in return for a few seconds of our
attention. It is interesting to ponder the limits of this. Could
we end up with free loaves of bread baring logos on every slice?
Or, will we be able to download sophisticated software
applications in return for detailed personal information about
our habits? Sounds eerily familiar.

Peter Harris
Editor-in-Chief

++FEEDBACK
Want to comment? It is now even easier to voice your opinion
than ever before! Simply post a comment below the article
online at www.japaninc.com/jin461

++EVENTS

-----------------------------------------------------------
Marcus Evans Events - Supported by J at pan Inc

Customer Relationship Excellence, 15th - 16th April 2008, Tokyo
http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=13548
Featuring speakers from American Express International and others

Compensation and Benefits Forum, 27th - 28th May, Tokyo
http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=13778
This event provides Japanese firms the 'how-to' of investing in
their employees to sustain their businesses.
Supported by JSHRM

3rd Annual LNG World, 15th - 16th July 2008, Tokyo
www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=13569
This event focuses on key operational aspects of LNG business and
current market dynamics to succeed in this competitive market.

'J at pan Inc readers are entitled to a 10% discount upon
registration with Ms. Esther Wong.'
Contact: +603 2723 6736 Email: estherw at marcusevanskl.com
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------------------- ICA Event - April 17 ------------------

Speaker: Brent Reichow and Andrew Anderson
Co-founders of Blueshift Consulting

Event: The Growing Data Protection Market
-What's Changing and Why?

Details: Complete event details at http://www.icajapan.jp/
(RSVP Required)

Date: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Time: 6:30 Doors open. Includes open bar and light buffet
Cost:4,500 yen (members), 6,500 yen (non-members)
Open to all-Venue is The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map

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++END
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