Panel – Big in Japan: Outreaching to a Unique Market
Japan has ubiquitous high-speed coverage and a voracious appetite for tech gadgets, however, their tools have developed with entirely different features than other countries. For example: Japan’s “”Galapo-phones”” commonly include streaming TV and multi-character sets, Mixii and Gree each have more than 30 million users on their social networks, and Yahoo is a whole different experience from US counter-part. With meteoric growth in Twitter and network tools, Japan aims on becoming the regional leader for emerging social web technologies — much like their early leadership in consumer electronics and gaming industries. This presents opportunities for collaboration and partnerships but localizing requires more than translation. This panel will discuss the unique characteristics of Japanese web and mobile market including tactics for connecting to markets, identifying opportunities, and outreaching to audiences, plus understanding unexpected cultural nuances and consumer expectations.

Presenters:

• Fumi Yamazaki – Blogger
• Robert Laing, CEO, myGengo
• Ryan Holmes, CEO, HootSuite
• Steve Mock, GM, Mangahigh.com

Hash – #BigInJapan

Notes:

• Emergence of Sekai Camera and other object recognition
  • Emergence of Together – like a Twitter, but content persists. English version is called Chirp Story
• How does an American business find Japanese partner companies?
  • Holmes – Go through embassies and trade groups, who’s whole goal is to encourage trade between countries.
  • Liang – VISIT the country, immerse in the culture and environment. Go over there and have meetings with people, intersting companies.
• How does an American business gain access to Japanese power users?
  • Yamazaki – PR in Japan can be very effective – Don’t underestimate the value of a newspaper article in a print article. Magazines, tv, books works.
• Who is using social media products the most in japan?
  • ALL of the younger generation using it, if you’re not on it, you can’t communicate
  • Since most people in Japan use public transport, almost everyone uses a mobile phone during their commute.
• What will the social media situation in Japan be like for the tsunami?
  • Newly created hash tags: #SXSW4Japan #SXSWCares
  • https://sxsw4japan.org
  • Tuesday 11am Japan Tsunami
  • Monday 11am Hilton Salon – Mobile in Japan
• What are the opportunities for luxury brands to engage consumers in Japan, since Facebook and YouTube aren’t as large?
  • Yamazaki – Actually, FB and YT ARE relevant in Japan
  • Category based services – Cosmetics is AtPlusMe
  • D-List celebrities are blogging a lot