Tokyo Tours from CScout on BBC Fast:Track

Written by: Michael Keferl on July 2, 2009 at 7:06 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS | 1 Comment

Earlier this month we had the pleasure of spending the day with Rajan Datar and the crew of the BBC World business/travel show fast:track during their visit to Tokyo with Richard Branson.

Since the show expressed an interest in our Tokyo Trend Tours, a service we’ve been doing here since 2002, we planned a full day of locations and meetings that give a well-rounded view of what we do. We do tours and market immersions for professionals and globe-trotters alike, this time with a focus on a few of our favorites: The KDDI Designing Studio, Beams CULTuART, HP France, and Toppan. The idea was to show the power of mobile culture, fashion, and where they converge in the retail space.

It was also nice to find out that our friend Danny Choo was going to be featured in the same segment, which I believe we had once before on Attack of the Show. Funny how these things work out.

Many thanks to the BBC for a successful day, though I think I’m going to change my last name to “Keferi” since it seems to be the default misspelling/mispronunciation every time I do television!

Check out the video here on Yahoo. If you’re interested in inspiring yourself or your team with some time in Tokyo, from street-level trends, to nightlife, to boardrooms, feel free to contact us anytime.

Tags: Mobile, Press coverage, Retail
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
Other categories: No categories

Net-based Supermarkets on the Rise

Written by: Rebecca Milner on July 2, 2009 at 7:06 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE | No Comments

According to a study conducted by Yano Research, the commodity home delivery market rose 4% between 2007 and 2008 reaching a worth of over 1.5 trillion yen (about USD15.6 billion). Moreover, the value of “net super” orders (groceries ordered over the internet) reached 23 billion yen in the same year—1.7 times the value of the previous year. The growing elderly population and increasing number households where both partners work are cited as reasons for presumed market growth.

While convenience is obviously key, a number of customers concerned with food safety are using the internet to order food directly from organic and pesticide free foodstuff producers. Orders of this nature (following recent scares about tainted food from China) rose an impressive 12.6%. Yano anticipates that the general commodity delivery market will rise to 1.8 trillion yen (about USD18.8 billion) by 2013, of which 46.8 billion yen (about USD488 million) will be organic foodstuffs.

While most major national grocery store chains have “net super” components, other service providers are rising to the occasion. Once such example is the fashionable Kunitachi Farm. Originally a restaurant in suburban Tokyo that sources ingredients from nearby farms, the brand has expanded to include a net store on Rakuten, Japan’s enormous, all-encompassing net mall. Shoppers to the site can see pictures and profiles of the farmers who bring the food to the table, adding a new element to the food preparation process.

While some may lament that solitary shopping online means that neighbors will no longer meet and interact at local markets, a few web services actually have a community element built in. A popular example is the Co-op supermarket chain online Pal System that allows neighbors to form community purchasing groups, saving money on bulk purchases and receiving free shipping. To date, over a million shoppers around the country are enrolled in the Pal System.

Trend Potential
Online grocery shopping rises to the occasion, meeting the needs of consumers valuing not only convenience but, increasingly, food safety. Meanwhile key sites show how a community element can be included, demonstrating that net shopping need not necessarily be anti-social.

Tags: FMCG, Retail
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Bara-Iro T-Shirt Pop-Up Shop from McDonalds in Shibuya

Written by: Michael Keferl on June 14, 2009 at 5:20 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

McDonalds seems to have much more creative leeway in Japan than elsewhere, perhaps due to the comfort level consumers have with marketing campaigns. The Quarter Pounder Shop is a great example…what would be seen as a cynical marketing ploy by many in the U.S. gets great press as an innovative new concept in Japan.

The Quarter Pounder campaign has evolved into another pop-up shop concept for a very limited time. The Bara-Iro (rose color) T-Shirt shop is a pop-up shop within a McDonalds, lasting only from June 11-16.

The Shibuya Center-Gai McDonalds has completely remodeled its second-floor eating area into a super-pink, t-shirt-selling wonderland. Customers who order Quarter Pounders receive metal “bara-iro” pins, but those who are a bit more bold can venture into the Bara-Iro T-Shirt Shop to purchase one of fifty different designs, all printed on rose-colored shirts.

Each shirt costs about $10 and is quite limited, as can be seen below. When we visited yesterday nearly half of the shirts were all gone already, and with a surprisingly large number of customers inside.

As mentioned previously, this seems like the type of campaign that wouldn’t get nearly the same reception in a major U.S. city. The cool factor would only arise twenty years later when hipsters started wearing them ironically, and by then it’s a bit late.

UPDATE: Our pal Andrew Shuttleworth snagged some video from another McDonalds t-shirt campaign in April, this time giving out free “Love & Beer” shirts (?).

Tags: Limited Edition, mcdonalds, Pop-Up Shops, Retail
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Taspo FAIL - Japanese Reject Scarlet Letter of Smoking

Written by: Michael Keferl on May 19, 2009 at 6:18 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | 4 Comments

We’ve written before about Taspo, the RFID-chipped ID card that allows “of age” (20 or older) smokers to get their smokes through any of the nations 420,000 tobacco vending machines. Mostly the campaign has been a disaster for folks who own vending machines, a boom for convenience stores (where you don’t need the cards), and and a burden for smokers who just want to buy a pack without registering themselves with Big Brother.

Taspo originally began their campaign to get people to sign up by providing application packets at vending machines. These required applicants to submit copies of identification, fill out a form, and provide pictures in specific sizes before mailing it all in. When this didn’t work, they began to set up stalls in conventions and train stations (like this one) to get folks signed up without having to pay for a picture.

Clearly, this hasn’t worked either, as a Taspo service center has even opened up in Yoyogi to provide instant ID checks and card creation within 30 minutes.

Out of 27 million smokers in Japan, only 33.7% have signed up for the card, a significant amount if you consider that the rest have nearly no chance to use vending machines at all. In fact, convenience store sales have jumped to record highs in the last year thanks to the “Taspo Boom” in the midst of recession.

Going by purely anecdotal evidence and personal experience, even the heaviest smokers want nothing to do with the card. For most, however, it’s not a privacy issue, but one of pride: They don’t want an official “smoking license”, complete with a picture of themselves, to buy something that is their choice. In order to protect a small minority (teenagers) the rest of society must bear the burden of Taspo.

If tobacco makers are actually interested in selling their products and not just submitting to what will surely become complete regulation, they would be embracing vending machines with facial recognition, rather than making their customers file with the authorities. Of course, facial recognition doesn’t always work, but it’s a relatively non-invasive way to solve a problem that isn’t such a big deal to begin with.

In the meantime, convenience stores should beware: Increased sales in your sector mean that you’re next on the chopping block. Expect a full-on Taspo reader integrated into cash registers in no time.

Tags: POS, Retail, RFID, Tobacco
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

AEON Lake Town - Japan’s Largest Eco-Shopping center

Written by: Rebecca Milner on March 27, 2009 at 8:50 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION | No Comments

The Aeon Group has created Japan’s largest commercial monument to the recent eco boom—in the form of the Aeon Lake Town Shopping Center. The center is comprised of two separate complexes, Mori (forest) managed by Aeon Retail Co. Ltd. and Kaze (wind) managed by Aeon Mall Co. Ltd. In between the two is an artificial lake (three times the size of Tokyo’s famous “Shinobazu no Ike” pond), also designed for flood control.

The concept for the center, Hito to Shizen ni Kokochi Ii, translates roughly as “people and nature feeling good together” and Aeon is billing the space as Japan’s biggest “eco shopping center.” What does that mean? At 220,000 square meters (and with five times the number of shops as Tokyo Dome) Lake Town certainly is large, but attempting to minimize its footprint just the same.

Furthermore, the space packs in green not only on landscaped lawns and centrally located inside planters, but also built into some of the “green walls,” a trend we’ve seen emerging in the last couple of years. Lake Town also uses solar panels and a hybrid gas eco system (the first of its kind in Japan). The combined efforts of these various eco-friendly systems results in an estimated 20% reduction in carbon emissions.

While not useful for the majority of drivers at this point, Lake Town also features Japan’s first consumer-ready charging station for electric vehicles. 30 minutes charging (presumably while they’re shopping) is good for 120 kilometers (75 miles) on an 80% charge.

Meanwhile, the space (and website) seeks a roll in dispatching the latest products and news from the ecology movement. Additional keywords include walkable (get those pedometers ready), universal design, and community space—the latter including the Act Green meeting and information room and a sunset terrace at Lake Town.

Trend Potential
Eco concepts mixed with retail are certainly more palatable to the public, especially in times when at least the perception of environmental catastrophe is real in their minds. Japan is doing much in both the technology and the marketing of the environmental message. We explore Japanese eco trends in more depth and compare them to other global examples in the Trendpool.

Tags: Eco, Retail
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS