I love Japan
Before I get on to the point, which is how far the Japanese are ahead of us when it comes to doing cool things with mobile phones, I wanted to reflect for a moment about how similar we are in many ways. Both island nations, both rich through trade, both innovative but in different ways, a proud naval tradition etc etc. There are probably other similarities as well, so when I saw that there was a mass-market Japanese game with a level called “Ouch, the City of Anal Torture” I assumed it was something to do with either public school or sitting through Harry Potter films (about which the Japanese are mental). But it turned out to be part of a mobile phone-based advertising campaign. Check it out…
Users bought a packet of snacks, then scanned the 2D barcode on the back with their mobile, and joined the Habanero Evil Army or the Satan Jorquia Evil Army (depending on which one they purchased). They could then recruit friends to join and get promoted in rank in their army. The armies then fought wars over 31 battlefields with excellent names like “Ouch, the City of Anal Torture” and “Shadap Bay”, and users got all sorts of SMS news alerts from “war reporters” to make the experience more immersive.
[From MobHappy » Blog Archive » Some Cool Mobile Marketing From Japan]
Sometimes, I feel so jealous. The apogee of mobile marketing here is the occasional annoying text message from O2 about signing up for so some sort of rewards programme that I don’t understand.
Mobile is the future though. The goal, as with all advertising, is to stop the information from being intrusive and annoying and make it part of, essentially, a conversation. The knowledge of new products and services then becomes helpful and useful (but only when introduced into the right conversation, of course, hence the phorm storm).