mobagetown Research Report V2.0

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Slide 1: mobagetown Social Networking, Games and Avatars: The Incredible Success Story of Japan’s No. 1 Mobile Portal August 24, 2009 Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 2: mobagetown and DeNa Co., Ltd. D DeNA Co., Ltd., founded in 1999, is a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It started it business activities in online auctions, with the “bidders” commerce platform. Soon it expanded into other online and mobile commerce activities, including operating commerce and auctions platforms for medium- and large-sized enterprises (such as mobile network operator au KDDI), and later launched the mobile afﬁliate advertising network PocketAfﬁliate, which quickly evolved into the market leader. In early 2006, the company launched mobagetown, the ﬁrst mobile service in Japan to provide free games through a social networking platform with avatar features. The site reached 3 million users in the ﬁrst 12 months after launch and has grown its membership base to more than 14 million, generating more than 18 billion page impressions per month currently. mobagetown has evolved far beyond the initial concept: Although free Flash and Java games on a social networking platform with avatars still constitute the core of the service, a variety of additional elements like mobile commerce, user-generated content (mobile novels, music), information and entertainment content (news, weather, celebrities, horoscopes, etc.) and utilities like maps, transport information and mobile search have been successfully incorporated. The site has developed a diversiﬁed and highly sophisticated business model combining revenues from mobile advertising, avatar-related revenues, in-game content purchases and afﬁliate revenues from its portfolio of mobile commerce partner sites. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 3: About this Report D In the past two years, mobagetown has grown from 4.4 to more than 14 million members, from 9.4 billion page views per month to almost twice that, and quarterly revenues have close to quadrupled to reach ¥5.4 billion (US$ 56.8 million) currently. Parent company DeNA Co., Ltd. has relentlessly added innovation after innovation in its quest to make mobagetown the Number 1 mobile portal in Japan. The company’s success story has been an inspiration for individuals and companies from all corners of the mobile industry across the globe, not a few of whom have turned to Infinita to learn more. We published the original version of our mobagetown research report in March 2007, and it has been flying off the shelves ever since. This completely revised, expanded and updated report on mobagetown provides detailed analysis of the company’s history and strategy from its beginnings until today, contains a step-by-step walkthrough of every single important feature of the service itself, deep analysis of the games portfolio and provides detailed information on mobagetown’s business model and financials, usage patterns and demographics. It covers the factors that have made the service a runaway success and provides insight into the inner workings into one of the world’s most successful mobile services to an unprecedented degree. Current version 2.0 published July 29, 2009. 206 pages, 21 charts, graphs and tables, more than 200 screenshots. Author: Christopher Billich, SVP, Research & Strategy, Infinita Inc. Company-wide license: US$ 1,500 Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 4: Who should read this Report and why D Social Networking Providers: Whether you run a branded or white label platform, whether you already have entered the mobile space or are considering moving into it, this is a unique and rare chance to learn from one of the very best in the business - and a highly proﬁtable one at that. Game Studios and Publishers: Learn how to successfully integrate mobile gaming content with a community platform, and how to monetize casual as well as complex mobile games with revenues from advertising and paid in-game items. Mobile Content Providers: See how to monetize mobile content beyond subscription and pay-per-download fees - and how to let your users contribute to create more compelling services. Mobile Network Operators: Get ahead with best practices from one of the most innovative mobile social networking providers in one of the most advanced markets worldwide - to create or improve upon your own mobile social networking strategy, whether you are following a “build” or “partner” approach. Advertising Agencies and Marketers: Find out how one of the most heavily trafﬁcked mobile sites in the world has developed its highly sophisticated portfolio of mobile advertising formats, and how they work with some of the largest consumer brands to create truly engaging campaigns. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 5: Key Questions answered in this Report D How does mobagetown work? Step-by-step descriptions and walkthroughs for all major features: games lineup, social networking functions, avatars and shopping for virtual goods, maps, user-generated novels and music, and information and entertainment content (news, weather, horoscopes, etc.). How does the service make money? Business model and revenue stream analysis, including fiscal year 2008 financial data on parent company DeNA Co., Ltd. and mobagetown. How does it leverage its virtual currency system to generate revenues? See how the virtual currency model results in substantial revenues from mobile commerce partner sites and purchases of in-game items for DeNA. How has the service evolved, and where is it headed strategically? Check the detailed timeline of major feature and content innovations, as well as the company’s strategic vision. What mobile advertising formats does the site offer, how are they priced, and what do successful campaigns look like? Learn how mobagetown ties up with brands like NIKE, Coca Cola and UNIQLO for branded entertainment content and avatars - 6 case studies. How do they promote it? Comprehensive information on marketing strategy and promotional activities building on celebrity endorsements and cross-media tie-ups. What does the games portfolio look like, and how do the games work? Detailed description of the top-ranking casual titles and in-depth analysis of complex games with in-game paid items. Who uses it, and how much? Read about how demographics and usage are shifting from teenage segment-driven hype to mainstream. How does it all tie together? An in-depth analysis of mobagetown and DeNA strategy: From free games site to No. 1 mobile portal. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 6: Company Background D Founded in 2005 and based in Tokyo, Infinita Inc. helps clients from all corners of the globe define and improve their mobile strategy, based on learnings from a part of the world that epitomizes the transformation into a mobile society: Japan. We work with network operators, media companies, technology providers, consumer brands and marketers, investors and government agencies worldwide, leveraging insights from one of the world's hotbeds of mobile innovation to develop concrete business strategies for local markets. Our product and service lineup spans quantitative and qualitative research, innovation workshops and ongoing strategic advisory, covering business models, service concepts, user behavior, and enabling technologies. Inﬁnita’s clients include DoCoMo.com, Deutsche Telekom Group, Swisscom Innovations, Orange, Maxis, IBM, AOL, Adobe, Qualcomm, Naspers/MIH, NHN, Gameloft, Embassy of Canada in Japan, Embassy of Denmark in Japan, GroupM and Dentsu Avenue A Razorﬁsh. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 7: Author Background D In late 2005, Christopher Billich stored his former life in his Grandmother's attic and moved to Japan to spend some time inside the giant pinball machine more commonly known as Tokyo. As SVP of Research & Strategy at Inﬁnita Inc., he manages the company's market intelligence and research operations, advising a wide variety of international and Japanese clients on mobile strategy. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and industry events across the globe. Christopher has been active in the digital media and communications ﬁeld since 1998. Prior to joining Inﬁnita, he worked as a consultant for online and mobile strategy in the German media and telecommunications industries for 7 years, including assignments with Vodafone D2 Germany, BenQ Mobile and Deutsche Telekom. He holds a cum laude masters degree in psychology from University of Cologne, with a focus on communications psychology, entrepreneurship research and business psychology. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 8: Disclaimer D Claims: Due to the nature of this product, all sales are ﬁnal. Therefore, we recommend you study the information, table of contents and sample pages provided to ensure this report ﬁts your needs. Brands and trademarks: All brands and trademarks mentioned or pictured in this report as well as the promotional materials relating to it are the sole property of their respective owners. Liability: We have gone to great lengths to ensure that all information in the report itself, as well as the promotional materials relating to it, is correct and actual. However, Inﬁnita Inc. does not assume any responsibility for potential errors that this report or related documents may still contain, nor for any potential damages or losses arising from relying on or applying the information contained herein. Feedback: Whether you have purchased the full report, read the sample pages or attended a conference where we spoke on the topic, we are greatly interested in hearing your opinion.You can contact the author directly via email at billich@inﬁnita.co.jp. More detailed contact information can be found on the ﬁnal page of this report. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 9: Copyright D This is a free sample of the full report, released under a Creative Commons “Noncommercial, derivative works, share alike” license. This means Infinita Inc. grants you permission to copy, distribute, display, and perform this work, as long as this happens for non-commercial purposes only, and as long as you credit us for it. Furthermore, Infinita grants you permission to modify this work and to distribute derivative works based on it under the same license or one compatible with the one that governs this work. For further details, please visit www.creativecommons.org. To order the full version of the report (US$ 1,500, company-wide license), please visit www.infinita.co.jp/research, or email us at info@infinita.co.jp. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 10: Table of Contents Part I: Company and Service Proﬁle DeNA Co., Ltd. and mobagetown Company Data Introduction Company History DeNA Business Model and Financials Revenues by Business Segment Operating Proﬁt and Proﬁt Margin mobagetown Service Overview Main Components Account and Registration Top Page Social Networking Functionalities Games Top 15-ranked Casual Games Titles Portfolio Current Lineup of DX Games Virtual Currencies Avatars Item Shop Room Item Shop User-generated Content Information and Entertainment Content mobagetown Business Model and Financials Business Model 6 7 8 9 13 13 14 15 15 17 18 19 21 22 25 26 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 34 Marketing Approach Timeline of Major Activities Advertising Formats and Pricing Advertising Campaign Examples NIKE Coca Cola AEON UNIQLO Suntory BOSS Coffee 7-Eleven Usage Registered Members Page Views Net Member Additions; Page Views per User Demographics Gender Distribution Age Distribution Service Evolution Major Feature and Content Innovations Strategic Evolution Mobile Portal Approach Game Portal Strategy Revenues by Revenue Stream 36 38 38 39 40 41 41 42 43 58 62 63 64 65 65 68 73 90 91 92 94 95 96 97 2 Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 11: Table of Contents Part II: Major Functionalities Overview Inviting a New Member by Email; Setting Up a New Account 3 98 99 101 102 104 105 106 108 110 112 113 114 115 117 119 120 123 125 127 130 132 134 136 137 My Games Page Creating a Diary Entry about a Game 138 139 141 142 143 146 148 151 Inviting a New Member by QR Code Receiving an Item Reward for Inviting a New Member Editing the Proﬁle Page Footprint Sending and Receiving Mini Mail Posting a Diary Entry Creating a Circle Joining a Circle Creating a New Topic in a Circle Commenting on a Topic in a Circle Registering to a Sponsor Site to Receive MobaGold Purchasing a Premium Avatar to Receive MobaGold Shopping on a Partner Site to Receive MobaGold Avatar Item Shopping Playing the Avatar Gaccha Playing the Avatar Mixer Sending an Avatar Item Present to a Friend Building a House Entering another Member’s Room Inviting a Friend to One’s Own Room Discovering Games Playing Games; High Score Rankings Tie-up Game without Friend Request Tie-up Game with Friend Request In-Game Chat while Playing a Java Game Information Content: Weather Entertainment Content: Celebrities Purchasing MobaCoins with WebMoney Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 12: Table of Contents Part III: Complex Games Overview “Fishing-getown 2” Fishing Game Game Concept Basic Gameplay Levels and Rank The Fish Encyclopedia Equipment and Shopping MobaCoin Purchase Process Fishing Proﬁle Teams and Quests Communities 154 155 155 156 159 160 161 163 164 166 167 “Coolga! Grand Prix” RPG Game Concept Basic Gameplay “Kamaitachi no yoru” Visual Novel Adventure Game Concept Download Process Basic Gameplay 168 168 169 170 Quests Battles Item Shop and Exchanging MobaCoins for GC 4 “Elemental Monster” Card Battle Game Game Concept Download Process Basic Gameplay Network Battle Mode Shop Selling Cards in the Shop Elecoin Exchange Process 172 172 173 174 177 179 180 181 182 182 183 185 186 187 188 189 Coolga Station Arena (Network Battle) Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 13: Table of Contents Part IV: Casual Games Overview (Top 15) Make up Queen 2 5 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 Goooooal! Oedo Puzzle The Depp Show: The Depp Chronicles The Hungry Rabbit Get U With My Heart Dog and Vegetables Umbrella Hopping in Oedo Chuken Momotaro’s Day in the Life Classroom Musical Chairs Connect the Mofrees Make up Queen Samurai Baseball “Yoiko” Shooting Puzzle Game Ofﬁce Lady Volleyball Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 14: Sa mp le Part I Company and Service Proﬁle Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 15: Company History DeNA Co., Ltd. 2007 DeNA launches “mobadepa” (Mobile Department Store) as mobagetown’s ofﬁcial online commerce site. Similar to mobakore, it is based on the pocket bidders platform and only accessible to mobagetown users. As opposed to mobakore, it provides a much wider range of goods (1.2 million items total in 20 categories) such as fashion items, games, personal computers and food. DeNA commences operations in China and starts the free mobile-only SNS service ,a service modeled on mobagetown, with features including free content,email, chat, diaries, bulletin boards, and communities. Because Chinese handsets do not support mobile email, the speciﬁcation for notiﬁcation messages was changed to SNS. Free games are not yet part of the service. DeNA launches “Airlink,” an online ticketing site for ﬂight reservations. DeNA announced the launch of two new ofﬁcial sites on i-Mode: kirame.jp, which provides users with over 5,000 free Decomail elements (graphical elements/illustrations for mobile email), and yandi.jp, a mobile site offering more than 100 different fortune-telling and horoscope services. Access to the sites is priced at ¥210/month each. DeNA launches “Shumihito Club” (“Hobby People’s Club”), a PC-based social networking service for middle-aged and elderly users Sa mp 11 le February April June December Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 16: mobagetown Service Overview Main Components High-quality Games More than 250 high-quality games (Flash and Java), single- and multi-player Sa mp 16 le Top Page SNS Functionalities Proﬁles, Blogs, Friends, Groups, Mail Avatars;Virtual Currency User-generated Content Videos Keitai Novels, Music, etc. Information and Entertainment News, Weather, Transport, Search, etc. Horoscopes, Celebrities, etc. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 17: mobagetown Service Overview Social Networking Functionalities Sa mp 19 le The core of the social networking functionalities is the so-called “my Page,” which provides links to the most important communications functions: Proﬁle Room Write new diary entry Mini mail Friend list Item bag (avatar wardrobe) Communities (“circles”) From the perspective of an “outsider” (not the member himself), the “my Page” appears as the “proﬁle page”: my Page as viewed by user Proﬁle page as viewed by other members • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Avatar picture View friend list View diary View room Send mini mail Send friend request View user’s circle memberships Member proﬁle/description Member’s current horoscope View information on current avatar outﬁt, send avatar item present Read and post guestbook entries View member’s footprint page (list of visitors) Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 18: mobagetown Service Overview Social Networking Functionalities Sa mp 20 le mobagetown members can freely communicate with each other in a variety of ways, even though they may not be connected as friends. The main means of communication include sending mini mail, leaving comments on blog posts or guestbook entries. Members are notiﬁed about newly arrived mini mails and friend requests by notiﬁcation via mobile email. As opposed to mixi, all members can also not only see each others’ friend lists, but also view each other footprint pages (list of visitors to someone’s page). There is much less of a perceived need for privacy among mobagetown members than on mixi because rather than a social networking service reﬂecting real-world connections and (to some degree) identities, mobagetown is much more of a “fantasy world” focused on games and entertainment (with members actually even being prohibited from disclosing their real identity). It is also possible for mobagetown members to enter other members’ rooms and communicate with them in a semi-private setting by posting entries that are only visible to other members in the same room (although in principle anyone can enter anyone’s room). Members can add nuance to their entries by changing their avatars’ facial expression. Footprints left by other members, with date (lower half of screen) Guestbook entries on member’s proﬁle page Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 19: mobagetown Service Overview Games: Top 15-ranked Titles Rank Title Description Sa mp 23 le Category 9 Chuken Momotaro's Day In The Life Momotaro is a dog that loves to play games on his mobile phone (featured in recent mobagetown TV commercial). Control Momotaro so he doesn't bump into people in a crowd. Once you gain a certain number of points, you will be able to play a baseball minigame within the game for bonus points. Action 10 Classroom Musical Chairs Connect the Mofrees Similar to the Oedo Puzzle game, based in a classroom. There are different colored icons of boys and girls in a 4x4 Card/ matrix. The objective of the game is to insert another random icon (which circles the matrix) into the matrix to Board/ match colors side by side (horizontally and vertically). Scores are higher if the two matching colors are boys and girls. Puzzle Mofrees are a kind of sheep that live on a farm. One day they decide to break free from the farm, but the only way to Character do so is to bump into each other and form a bigger Mofree. Control your Mofree so he runs into as many other Mofrees, which adds points, to gain freedom. There will be obstacles along the way. Similar to Make up Queen 2, but work-related setting rather than party this time. Make up elements that can be inﬂuenced are less complex than Part 2. A simple baseball mini game, the goal to score as many points as possible. The setting is an international baseball game, and the Samurai team is down 0-3 bottom of the ninth inning. The objective is to turn around the game and win. One of the "Yoiko" games, featuring two famous comedians. The objective is to shoot at a board that has 6x3 targets. When a target is hit, that target disappears and new ones come falling from above. The targets are to match colors side by side (horizontally and vertically) to make them disappear. If multiple targets disappear at the same time, the player gets higher combo scores. Action 11 12 Make up Queen 13 Samurai Baseball Sports/ Martial Arts Famous Entertainer 14 "Yoiko" Shooting Puzzle Game 15 Ofﬁce Lady Volleyball A stressed-out ofﬁce worker has reached the limit of her temper after being scolded by her useless boss. During lunch break, she and her colleague relieve their stress by doing spikes on a volleyball that has her boss’s face painted on it. Spike the ball at different targets to get points and relieve stress, but beware of hitting colleagues, and other objects that can in turn add stress. Sports/ Martial Arts Note: as of April 21, 2009, monthly ranking across male and female players, ranked by total times played Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 20: mobagetown Service Overview Games: Portfolio Category RPG Action Shooting Sports/Martial Arts Card/Board/Puzzle Games Adventure Nurturing/Educational/Quiz Casino Games (MobaCasino) Famous Entertainer Games Mini Games Character Games Variety Games Total of which DX Games Count 10 86 22 35 42 3 8 9 23 13 36 1 288 7 Java Titles 7 1 1 7 27 3 6 5 0 0 5 1 63 4 Sa mp 25 le For the DoCoMo version of mobagetown, the site currently has 288 games (up from 85 a little less than two years ago). Due to handset capabilities not available on au and Softbank phones, the relevant version of the site features approximately 40 games less. 63 of the games available are Java, the rest are Flash Lite titles. 27 of the Java games are multiplayer titles, 6 of which are virtual multiplayer (player competes against simulated past rounds from other players) and 19 actual realtime multiplayer, which feature in-game chat as well. Among the 288 games, there are a total of so-called “DX Games” (7 in total) that feature use of the MobaCoin currency. Depending on the game, MobaCoins can be used in different ways to purchase weapons and tools, unlock levels, enter multiplayer mode etc. 4 of the DX games are Java titles, 2 are Flash- and webbased, 1 is web- and mini mail-based . The selection of DX Games will be expanded over the course of the coming months. In order to produce the DX games, DeNA has teamed up with well-known publishers that it shares revenues from MobaCoin purchases with. All titles are direct adaptations or derivatives of famous console, PC or handheld titles. The only games that feature use of the MobaGold currency are the casino games on MobaCasino, which allow users to gamble with chips (“Casino Coins”) Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 exchangeable from/to MobaGold. Note: as of April 21, 2009 Slide 21: mobagetown Service Overview Virtual Currencies Sa mp 28 le mobagetown features a virtual currency called “MobaGold”, which members can spend on avatar items (such as clothing, haircuts etc.) as well as virtual items for their “room” (which is where their avatar “lives”), such as furniture etc. Various amounts of MobaGold can be obtained in a variety of different ways: As reward for recruiting a new member to the service • As reward for clicking on ads or purchasing something from one of mobagetown’s many afﬁliate sites (mobile content, shopping and auctions) • Bought with actual money (via carrier billing - on DoCoMo only, credit card, or prepaid cards with serial codes sold at convenience stores) Additionally, mobagetown has a section called “MobaCasino” where users can exchange MobaGold for “Casino Coins” and play Roulette etc. to win - or lose Casino Coins, which can then be exchanged back into MobaGold. In some premium games, (and there only) users can pay with a separate currency called “MobaCoins” to obtain ingame items such as weapons, tools etc. or to unlock new levels. MobaCoins are not exchangeable with MobaGold or Casino Coins in any way and need to be purchased with actual money (same billing mechanisms as for MobaGold). Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 • MobaGold Account History Purchasing MobaGold Slide 22: mobagetown Service Overview Avatars Sa mp 29 le When signing up for mobagetown, users are automatically given a very simply dressed avatar, along with 500 MobaGold for initial purchases of virtual items. Avatars are exposed in many contexts throughout the site (on diaries, footprints, games high score rankings and many others), as well as within some multiplayer games, although most of the games do not feature avatars. The avatar item shop offers a selection of more than 6,000 items, ranging from clothes, haircuts, accessories and pets to facial expressions. These are organized in ca. 30 categories, some of which have virtual brand names (e.g. “orange” or “MODE”) and feature items of a certain style. Trying on avatar outﬁts Newly available avatar items More than 20 real-world brands, from Burton Snowboards to Vans, offer branded avatar items in a separate category. During large tie-up campaigns, brands such as NIKE or UNIQLO often offer exclusive avatar items for users who participate. Similarly, several popular cartoon characters, such as Naruto, are available as avatars in a variety of versions. Some items are only offered seasonally (e.g. Christmas, Valentine’s Day) or as prizes in “item lotteries.” mobagetown often features whole “collections” of rare items that users can collect. These are stored in the socalled “Collection Box.” Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 23: mobagetown Business Model and Financials mp le Revenues by Revenue Stream On a year-over-year basis (FY07 Q4 to FY08 Q4), advertising revenues on mobagetown grew by 79%, which is higher than the mobile advertising market growth rate overall. The very strong growth, especially in the latest quarter, should largely be attributable to mobagetown’s recently strengthened ad sales partnerships with some of the largest media representatives in the country. Afﬁliate revenues decreased by 32% over the year. Although the mobile afﬁliate market in Japan grew overall during the term, many afﬁliate advertisers started to question the effectiveness of advertising on mobagetown as many users signed up for a partner site in order to get MobaGold, then cancelled as quickly as possible after. Since the introduction of direct purchases of MobaGold (= avatar items) in FY06 Q3, related revenues grew strongly until FY07 Q4, however, on a year-over-year basis, were down -14%. DeNA has publicly stated this may be due to a saturation effect, and consequently introduced MobaCasino in FY08 Q2 in an effort to create other ways of spending MobaGold rather than just on avatars. It has also recently started offering 3D avatars. Although games with in-game purchases were introduced on an experimental basis as early as FY07 Q3, this has only become a non-negligible revenue stream since FY08 Q2, which is when DeNA announced partnerships with several games publishers and started building out the portfolio of related titles (DX Games). Growth is strong, with the segment almost doubling in value from FY08 Q2 to Q3, and again growing by 32% from Q3 to Q4. Sa 37 Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 24: Usage 3,500 le Net Member Additions (million) and Page Views per User/Month PV/UU/Month 0.7 0.7 0.7 Sa mp 40 3,000 2,500 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 2,000 0.4 1,500 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 1,000 0.2 0.1 500 0 0 Feb 06 Jun 06 Sep 06 Dec 06 Mar 07 Jun 07 Sep 07 Dec 07 Mar 08 June 08 Sep 08 Dec 08 Mar 09 Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 25: Service Evolution mobagetown 2008 Convenience store chain Seven Eleven runs a tie-up campaign on mobagetown. By scanning a QR code on selected Seven Eleven products, accessing a special campaign section of mobagetown, and entering the product ID number, they can receive an avatar item from the well-known and popular TV cartoon series “Yattaman” (20 different avatar items total). DeNA, Sanctuary Publishing and popular author Yoshichi Shimada (who has a column on mobagetown) publish a book focusing on the needs and challenges experiences by teenagers, partly based on an online survey conducted on mobagetown. mobagetown provides special content covering the “90th National High School Baseball Championships” in collaboration with the Asahi Shinbun newspaper. Beverage producer Suntory runs a tie-up campaign on mobagetown. mobagetown users that sign-up for a promotional PC website for Suntory’s BOSS coffee brand can access special branded content on mobagetown, such as avatar goods and games. By reaching high scores on the games, additional avatar items can be unlocked. For a limited time period, mobagetown users can play the game classic Tetris on the site. The version of Tetris used for the campaign includes the feature of measuring one’s “Tetris ability,” popular with older user segments. mobagetown offers editorial content and community features focusing on environmental issues and sustainable development. In this context, eco-related products that can be bought via DeNA’s mobadepa mobile commerce site and the mobaoku mobile auctions service are promoted. DeNA announces the closed beta launch of a version of mobagetown accessible from Internet access devices that do not have a mobile browser, such as PCs, iPod Touch and the iPhone. This “PC version” of mobagetown supports the main social networking functions, avatars, MobaGold virtual currency, user-generated novels/stories and music, as well as some of the entertainment content such as fortune-telling, but no games content. Sa mp 53 le June July Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 26: Major Feature and Content Innovations mobagetown Games Lumines moba Casino 6 Game Publisher Coop. Novel GP Book Creator Music CD Sports News HS Baseball UNIQLO TakeAction Media Tieups Page Views NTV Charity PC version beta Music Editorial HS Baseball 7-Eleven BOSS PC version beta No Drug Hancock Novel Festival Intuition Games Tetris Prof. Layton PC version beta 10 Remakes Sa mp 60 le SNS 15 billion Commerce Usergenerated Content Other Content Campaigns Univ. Exams HMV Karaoke Videos Comedy Disasters Personal Weather Diamond 2008 2009 Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 27: Strategic Evolution Game Portal Strategy PC Online Games Market ¥ 100 million Paid Items etc. Subscriptions Software Sa Mobile Content Market mp 65 le mobagetown Target Audience ¥ 100 million 1,000 800 774 600 589 412 848 Heavy Full Games 400 Light 200 Current game users - Puzzle games - Increased promotion Female 0 2007 Source:Yano Research, February 2008 2011 2004 2005 2006 2007 Male Source: Mobile Content Forum Leverage power of 12 million member strong community of mobagetown users (high games afﬁnity) Departure from until-now common subscription fee model for online games, towards paid item model Utilize existing platform across all mobile operators and work with strong partners to deliver powerful games lineup Goal: gain 10% share of mobile games market Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 28: Marketing Media Date Name Focus Remarks Sa TV, supported by Print and OOH May ‘07 Yoiko’s R&D Free Games included campaignrelated games TV, supported by Print and OOH Aug ‘07 Taxi; Meeting Free Games Timeline of Major Activities TV, supported by Print and OOH Feb ‘07 Dancing Ladies Free Games included campaignrelated games mp 69 le TV, supported by Print and OOH Dec ‘07 Military; Keitai Novels Free Games; Creator (Novels) 0.70 0.50 0.70 0.70 0.50 0.40 0.41 0.54 0.45 0.36 0.34 0.52 Member Additions (million) 2007 2008 Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 29: Advertising Formats and Pricing mobagetown Top Page News Description and Placement Text ad on top page, a) Exclusive or b) Rotation (3 companies) a) 4 days b) 7 days a) 27 million b) 9 million a) ¥7,000,000 b) ¥2,500,000 GIF 45x45 px; Text none -Top Page Flash Banner Flash banner on top page, a) Exclusive or b) Rotation (3 companies) 7 days 6 million ¥3,000,000 SWF/FLA/GIF 192x106 px none i-mode and EZweb only Top Page (Top Page News) Sa mp 74 le Period Impressions (est.) Price Size Targeting Remarks Top Page (Top Page Flash Banner) Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 30: Advertising Formats and Pricing mobagetown Physical Store Tie-up !"#$! Sa mp 89 le % Physical store Description Go to store to receive serial code (either for purchases generally, speciﬁc products or just for visiting store); then enter it online to receive special avatar items 2 weeks case by case ! #$ " %& ! Card with QR code and serial number Period Price Details -Enter code page &'! Promotion details page Choose product page Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 31: Advertising Campaign Examples Suntory BOSS Coffee Campaign Date: June 2008. Sa mp 96 le Accessible to mobagetown users that also signed up for Suntory BOSS Coffee PC website. Avatar character called “Mr. BOSS” represented brand online and acted as spokesperson, while publishing a mystery novel within mobagetown’s mobile novels section. BOSS-branded avatar goods, as well as branded games available to participating users. By reaching high scores on the games, additional avatar items could be unlocked. “BOSS Hotel” Mystery Novel (top left), game page (top middle), game (top right) avatars with BOSS items (bottom) Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 32: Advertising Campaign Examples 7-Eleven Campaign Date: June 2008. Sa mp 97 le Joint tie-up promotion by mobagetown and convenience store chain 7-Eleven. Designed to drive both purchases of selected products at 7-Eleven and mobagetown trafﬁc. Users could scan QR codes on the packaging of selected 7-Eleven products, and were then directed to a special campaign section of mobagetown to enter product ID number. In exchange, they received an avatar item from the well-known and popular TV cartoon series “Yattaman” (total of 20 different avatar items could be collected). Campaign promotion page on mobagetown (left), avatar items collection (middle), avatars with Yattaman items (right) Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 33: Sa mp le Part II Major Functionalities Overview Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 34: Major Functionalities Sa Inviting a New Member by Email; Setting up a New Account mp 99 le From top page, click “invite friend” On campaign page, click “invite by email” Email client opens Enter email adress Send Invited handset receives email “Join mobagetown now!” page, click to... ...be taken to “set up account” page Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 35: Major Functionalities Sa Inviting a New Member by Email; Setting up a New Account mp 100 le Enter user name Enter other personal data Conﬁrm Preview. OK? “Click here to send conﬁrmation email” Handset receives conﬁrmation email... ...click link to conﬁrm Done. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 36: Major Functionalities Sa Registering to a Sponsor Site to Receive MobaGold mp 115 le From top page, go to “get MobaGold” page Click “subscription sites” Select site to subscribe to “You are now leaving mobagetown” Click to subscribe Choose your course Conﬁrm Proceed Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 37: Major Functionalities Sa Registering to a Sponsor Site to Receive MobaGold mp 116 le Enter carrier billing code Enter code Click OK Done From My Page, scroll down to “Balance” Click MobaGold balance has been updated Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 38: Major Functionalities Sa Sending an Avatar Item Present to a Friend mp 127 le Go to avatar shop page, scroll down... to desired item, click On try-on page, scroll down to... “Send as present” link Select recipient from friend list Preview, click to buy Conﬁrm order Send or click link “purchase greeting card” Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 39: Major Functionalities Sa Sending an Avatar Item Present to a Friend mp 128 le Choose a greeting card design Preview Conﬁrm order page Enter title and message page Enter title Enter title and message page Enter message Send Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 40: Major Functionalities Sa Sending an Avatar Item Present to a Friend mp 129 le Preview/conﬁrm Sent. Recipient notices new message on own My Page Click to open present Flash animation starts Push enter View greeting card, click to... Try on the item Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 41: Major Functionalities Sa Entering another Member’s Room mp 132 le From list of users living in an area, click to... ...see their room and who is in it. Click to enter. You have entered the room. Scroll for list of members who have left comments Click button to exit room or... Click text form to leave comment Enter comment Choose facial expression Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 42: Major Functionalities Sa Entering another Member’s Room mp 133 le Preview/conﬁrm Done. Comment appears at top of list Below the comment list, a list of all past visitors to the room page (not the room itself) can be viewed Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 43: Major Functionalities My Games Page Sa mp 138 le From one of the rankings, click on “My Games” for a player His “My Games” page links to... ...all game diary entries written by the player Click to view a particular entry For reaching certain scores per game, players are awarded “amateur” and “pro” ranks for that particular game, which they are rewarded for with trophy avatar items. It also shows his amateur and pro ranks Own game page further links ...complete list of unplayed and played games with own rank to... Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 44: Major Functionalities Sa Tie-up Game with Friend Request mp 142 le Click game title from list Game description page... ...with link to start the game... ...”please connect with Fanta as a friend ﬁrst” You are now friends with Fanta Play game Game exit page has information on avatar rewards, view details Details on avatar item promotion Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 45: Sa mp le Part III Complex Games Overview Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 46: “Fishing-getown 2” Fishing Game Game Concept Sa mp 155 le The basic premise of the mobagetown Fishing Game “Fishing-getown”, the only sports game on mobagetown, is to go ﬁshing in different environments, using different types of equipment, building out one’s ﬁsh collection and rising in rank in the process. Equipment can be bought with mobagetown’s virtual premium currency MobaCoins, which has to be bought with real money (either by carrier billing, by credit card or with the WebMoney prepaid currency, which can be bought at conveniences stores or with a credit card online), or with Fishing Points (experience points gathered by playing the game), There are 100 different kinds of ﬁsh total that users can collect (these types of ﬁsh come in different sizes), across 8 levels. The higher 4 of these levels can only be accessed by ﬁrst completing group quests (see teams and quests section). The game features a variety of social elements, including user rankings in terms of experience points, ﬁshing proﬁle/diary pages, team play, and communities/message boards for players to discuss game-related issues. Fishing-getown start page The only part of the game implemented in Flash Lite is the actual process of catching the ﬁsh, and the so-called “aquarium” feature, which lets users display ﬁshes they have caught in a Flash animation on their ﬁshing proﬁle page. All other functionality (level selection, shopping, ﬁshing proﬁle page except aquarium, communities, etc.) is mobile webbased. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 47: “Fishing-getown 2” Fishing Game Basic Gameplay Sa mp 156 le After selecting a level, a Flash game screen loads that shows the ﬁshing spot, a rod and a buoy that is moving forwards and backwards. Players aim for a spot to drop the buoy in by hitting the OK button, and repeat the process to position the buoy laterally. The position of ﬁshes is hinted at with shadows of ﬁshes that appear and disappear at random locations on screen. The buoy drops in the relevant spot, and a small buoy marker appears in the upper left corner of the screen. When a ﬁsh bites, the buoy is drawn down. While the buoy is down, the player needs to hit the OK button to start reeling in the ﬁsh. Aiming for the spot (vertically) Aiming for the spot (laterally) A new screen loads, showing two concentric circles, further divided into green and purple sections, and the shadow of the ﬁsh on the hook moves around the screen. Whenever the ﬁsh is within the green sections of the circles, pressing OK reels it in a little. The closer the ﬁsh is to the center of the circles, the bigger the effect. With too many “misses” (by pressing OK when the ﬁsh is outside the circle or in one of the purple sections), the ﬁsh disappears off the hook. Bigger ﬁsh are harder to reel in. When the user performs well, he will occasionally be given the “immediate reel-in” chance: all but the bull’s eye of the concentric circles disappear, if he hits the ﬁsh with ﬁve seconds, it is reeled in, otherwise the game continues as before. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 48: “Fishing-getown 2” Fishing Game Basic Gameplay Sa mp 157 le Buoy drops Buoy appears Fish bites, buoy moves downward Hit! Game moves to reel in stage Bad reel in Perfect reel in “5 second chance!” Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 49: “Fishing-getown 2” Fishing Game Basic Gameplay Sa mp 158 le “Instant hook” appears Instant hook mode is on Get the ﬁsh within 5 seconds Miss - Timeout Game reverts to normal mode Reeled in! Get! You caught a ﬁsh Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 50: “Elemental Monster” Card Game Selling Cards in the Shop Sa mp 180 le Cards overview screen Card detail view Card properties; sell card link (lower left) Please conﬁrm to sell Contact server Y/N? Contacting server Shop main screen with updated Elecoin balance Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 51: “Coolga! Grand Prix” RPG Sa Item Shop and Exchanging MobaCoins for GC mp 187 le Back to town Y/N? Go to item shop Shop menu (buying and selling items, Gaccha, go to MobaCoin Exchange) Detail view/shopping cart for premium items (explanation appearing at bottom) Choose exchange amount (mobile web) Conﬁrm Done. Back to game? Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 52: Sa mp le Part IV Casual Games Overview (Top 15) Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 53: Make up Queen 2 S Sa mp 191 le Game start Stop powder puff at desired whiteness Stop eyebrow liner at right time Stop mascara at right time Stop lipstick at right time Stop hairspray at right time Stop hair curler at right time Go to exit page and score Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 (2 scenes total) Slide 54: Chuken Momotaro’s Day In The Life S Sa mp 199 le Game start Dog moves right, looking at mobile phone Hit to change direction After having avoided pedestrians for long enough, dog enters baseball mode Wait for right moment Hit and score Bumping into pedestrians will cause the dog to drop phone Go to exit page and score Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 55: How to order D Order online: You can easily purchase and instantly download this report via our online shop at www.inﬁnita.co.jp/research. We accept all major credit cards. Alternatively: We are happy to arrange non-credit card forms of payment, such as wire transfer and PayPal. Please email us for details at info@inﬁnita.co.jp. Mobile Social Networking Research Mega Bundle: For a limited time, we offer a bundle of our research reports on all 3 leading Japanese mobile social networking services (mobagetown, Mobile GREE and mixi Mobile) at just US$ 3,375 (that’s 25% off the per-report price!) - available online at www.inﬁnita.co.jp/research, or email us at info@inﬁnita.co.jp. Loyalty Discount: Existing Inﬁnita Inc. research clients (with research purchases prior to July 15, 2009) are entitled to a 15% discount on the mobagetown report, as well as the Mobile Social Networking Research Mega Bundle. Please email us for details at info@inﬁnita.co.jp. Inﬁnita Inc., 2009 Slide 56: Contact D Christopher Billich, SVP, Research & Strategy Inﬁnita Inc. 202 Arrow Plaza Harajuku 4-19-8 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku Tokyo, 151-0001, Japan Phone: +81-3-5775-7270 Mobile: +81-90-9015-3572 Fax: +81-3-5775-7281 www.inﬁnita.co.jp/en info@inﬁnita.co.jp Inﬁnita Inc., 2009