Now this is bizarre! News Time reports that a Japanese man has committed suicide on live streaming on the Internet:
Reports from Japan today say that a 24 year old man took his life live on the Internet.
The suicide occured after the man - who comes from the city of Sendai - had posted complaints about his job online after being placed on extended sick leave from August.
On Sunday night he broadcast his intentions to kill himself on live streaming service Ustream. He had been discussing his views on life with an audience on the site.
His broadcast received feedback from users with some encouraging him to end his life as he planned.
On Tuesday he resumed his broadcast and he hung himself at around 05h30 in the morning.
The Ustream service stopped the broadcast around half an hour later after receiving reports from viewers. The man’s body was found by police later in the morning.
Japan has averaged over 30,000 suicides a year for the past 12 years which is one of the world’s highest suicide rates.
Showing posts with label U-Stream. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U-Stream. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Marketing Japan: Get a Professional Looking Logo for $200 (USD)
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
People who read this blog often (thank you) will know that I am a member of many online communities. I do that because it is a good place to see what people are writing about SNS, Social Media, and Social Media Marketing (SMM). It is also a good place to see what the old school people are doing to try to make themselves look as if they are up on the Internet and the new media.
It is pretty easy to pick the people out who are still stuck in the old ways at these "Marketing Online Professionals" communities. They write things like,
For this reason , I am convinced that SM works ONLY when being integrated inside a marketing plan, together with media placement, PR, promo, direct marketing and CRM.
It is painfully obvious that the guy who wrote this is an old-school advertising guy posing as an "Internet and Social Media" expert. He laments the fact that his Social Media Marketing (SMM) plans fail consistently. He is trying to convince us - but more likely he is trying to convince himself - that the old way is vital.
In some ways he's right. The old media is vital if my product is targeted to to the 45 ~ 70-year-old crowd or if my product or service is for everyone in the family from the smallest kids to grandpa and grandma (think Disneyland, etc.) But when your product /service is for the under 40 crowd, I think you'd have to consider long and hard about spending a cent on old media... In many cases you would not be doing your client any favors to recommend spending huge budgets on TV or radio. I wrote about that in detail here and here.
Earlier today, I went to a different online professionals community and was so surprised to find people saying things like "First things, first! You must hire a professional to do your company logo!"
Of course a good logo is a must... But coughing up a few thousand dollars to hire a professional? And this advice coming from a community that calls itself, "Online Professionals"? Hmmm... Why would the people who are supposedly sold on online business be pushing the old-school ways?
Perhaps hiring a big-bucks professional will be necessary down the line, but I think us Internet types should try to use our creativity and brains before we just throw money at the problem like people used to do....
As I suspected many times, these online communities are often places where old-school advertising agents try to gain credibility as "Internet" and "online experts"... But they actually don't really do either (always ask any self-proclaimed "Internet" and "Social Media Marketer" for a list of their blog URL's and Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, U-Stream, Mixi (in Japan), etc, accounts. That's an easy way to pick out the frauds).
Click here and read at bottom for tips on how to pick out the poseurs.
I know many a small to medium business owner who has hired a professional and spent a few thousand dollars only to wind up with a handful of designs and they didn't like any of them. Foolish especially considering the fact that new businesses must watch out for every single penny and paper clip!
Well, now my friends, there is a solution! It is a company called Logomyway.
Logomyway is a new service that started in April 2009. At Logomyway you make a logo design contest and get 1,000's of artists to compete for your business... You pay nothing excepting to the winning submission. The cost can be as low as $200 (USD). You decide the winner's prize fee.
Hiring a professional designer right off the bat is old school. It is also the easy way to do things for salaried employees who have no problem spending the company money... They wouldn't recommend this is it were out of their pocket. The people people who were so quick to recommend throwing away $1,000 ~ $2,000 were from an online professionals group! I'm surprised that anyone would suggest the old way without investigating the new and exciting things going on online. Try Logomyway.
http://www.logomyway.com/
I have no investment nor business relationship with Logomyway whatsoever but have used it twice and recommended to three other people who have used it. Everyone has been more than thrilled with the results... One friend was so happy because the professional that he had hired before - and paid well - gave him designs that weren't that good... He was worried that he was going to be out another $1,000 when I introduced him to Logomyway... The result? He spent $200 and got a killer logo.
And, if you don't like any of the logos... You don't pay!
All hail the Internet!!!!
-----------
Keywords:
Logo, Logomyway, SNS, Social Media, SMM, old media, Japan, Mixi, Internet, Facebook, Twitter, blog, online professionals, Marketing Online Professionals, YouTube, Online Marketing, Universal Vision, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, U-Stream, Mike in Tokyo Rogers,
People who read this blog often (thank you) will know that I am a member of many online communities. I do that because it is a good place to see what people are writing about SNS, Social Media, and Social Media Marketing (SMM). It is also a good place to see what the old school people are doing to try to make themselves look as if they are up on the Internet and the new media.
It is pretty easy to pick the people out who are still stuck in the old ways at these "Marketing Online Professionals" communities. They write things like,
For this reason , I am convinced that SM works ONLY when being integrated inside a marketing plan, together with media placement, PR, promo, direct marketing and CRM.
It is painfully obvious that the guy who wrote this is an old-school advertising guy posing as an "Internet and Social Media" expert. He laments the fact that his Social Media Marketing (SMM) plans fail consistently. He is trying to convince us - but more likely he is trying to convince himself - that the old way is vital.
In some ways he's right. The old media is vital if my product is targeted to to the 45 ~ 70-year-old crowd or if my product or service is for everyone in the family from the smallest kids to grandpa and grandma (think Disneyland, etc.) But when your product /service is for the under 40 crowd, I think you'd have to consider long and hard about spending a cent on old media... In many cases you would not be doing your client any favors to recommend spending huge budgets on TV or radio. I wrote about that in detail here and here.
Earlier today, I went to a different online professionals community and was so surprised to find people saying things like "First things, first! You must hire a professional to do your company logo!"
Of course a good logo is a must... But coughing up a few thousand dollars to hire a professional? And this advice coming from a community that calls itself, "Online Professionals"? Hmmm... Why would the people who are supposedly sold on online business be pushing the old-school ways?
Perhaps hiring a big-bucks professional will be necessary down the line, but I think us Internet types should try to use our creativity and brains before we just throw money at the problem like people used to do....
As I suspected many times, these online communities are often places where old-school advertising agents try to gain credibility as "Internet" and "online experts"... But they actually don't really do either (always ask any self-proclaimed "Internet" and "Social Media Marketer" for a list of their blog URL's and Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, U-Stream, Mixi (in Japan), etc, accounts. That's an easy way to pick out the frauds).
Click here and read at bottom for tips on how to pick out the poseurs.
I know many a small to medium business owner who has hired a professional and spent a few thousand dollars only to wind up with a handful of designs and they didn't like any of them. Foolish especially considering the fact that new businesses must watch out for every single penny and paper clip!
Well, now my friends, there is a solution! It is a company called Logomyway.
Logomyway is a new service that started in April 2009. At Logomyway you make a logo design contest and get 1,000's of artists to compete for your business... You pay nothing excepting to the winning submission. The cost can be as low as $200 (USD). You decide the winner's prize fee.
My company, "Universal Vision" logo... $200! Excellent!
Hiring a professional designer right off the bat is old school. It is also the easy way to do things for salaried employees who have no problem spending the company money... They wouldn't recommend this is it were out of their pocket. The people people who were so quick to recommend throwing away $1,000 ~ $2,000 were from an online professionals group! I'm surprised that anyone would suggest the old way without investigating the new and exciting things going on online. Try Logomyway.
http://www.logomyway.com/
I have no investment nor business relationship with Logomyway whatsoever but have used it twice and recommended to three other people who have used it. Everyone has been more than thrilled with the results... One friend was so happy because the professional that he had hired before - and paid well - gave him designs that weren't that good... He was worried that he was going to be out another $1,000 when I introduced him to Logomyway... The result? He spent $200 and got a killer logo.
And, if you don't like any of the logos... You don't pay!
All hail the Internet!!!!
-----------
Keywords:
Logo, Logomyway, SNS, Social Media, SMM, old media, Japan, Mixi, Internet, Facebook, Twitter, blog, online professionals, Marketing Online Professionals, YouTube, Online Marketing, Universal Vision, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, U-Stream, Mike in Tokyo Rogers,
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Does Social Media Need Old Media to be Effective? No! Here's Proof!....
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
It said:
For me , some are:
- lack of time investment,
- Boring / irrelevant content,
- lack of clear objectives,
- Being inactive,
- Do not react when sollicitate
- ...
What are yours?
I think everyone is missing two huge points that I see all the time and that I do believe will be, say, Twitter's undoing within 3 years (besides 60% of all Twitter users dropping off within the first 30 days).
1) Boring writers make boring content. Get motivated, creative and funny or interesting writers. Quit forcing office clerks to do SMM (I see that all the time). If the writer is not motivated what makes anyone think the readers will enjoy the writing?
2) Quit sending out motivational and sales stuff all the time... I'd say that at least 1/2 of the junk I get on Twitter is the same as Direct Mail. Who needs it?
Another guy (obviously an old hand at advertising and marketing) wrote:
I see the market and clients every day, and the thing I can tell you is that a B to C company investing all its marketing budget and ressources in social media has 99% chances failing. (sic)
This might be true, but rather than trying to convince you or me, I gather he is trying to convince himself... This would also explain why his Social Media Marketing efforts fail. He doesn't "get it."
He goes on to write:
This for one simple reason, their are rules and processes in marketing and nobody will want to connect and engage with a brand you don't know.
For this reason , I am convinced that SM works ONLY when being integrated inside a marketing plan, together with media placement, PR, promo, direct marketing and CRM. (sic)
Notice that there is not single fact or piece of evidence that he inserts into his claims. What a load of nonsense. What "rules"? What "processes"?
(I can imagine that his retort to my skepticism would be "Because I know. I've been in this business a long time!" Just as the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, was a thirty-two year veteran when they hit that ice-berg!)
I bet this is the kind of crap he tells his clients. What's he doing on a Linkedin Social Media site besides posing as a SMM expert I don't know. Besides that, like I said, I hope this guy doesn't write copy. It's terrible.
Besides his being wrong and just throwing out opinions. He obviously doesn't know or comprehend how to use Social Media well... I suspect that, from being in a dusty old advertising company desk for so long, that he's so used to taking client money and going out to "do" lunch while on the client's dollar that he thinks he can do things the old way; think for a while (or tell someone else to do the thinking) and order someone else to do the Social Media part (I explained above why that's a bad idea) and sit around like always.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
I didn't blast the guy (like he deserved), but added this as my last word:
One more thing that I think is missing - and I don't agree that a big bucks mass media plan is necessary - I've done it without one.
Notes: We increased airline passengers to and from Japan for a Chinese airlines by over 270% between October 2009 and April 2010. We also increased tourism to Croatia by 300% in three years (don't forget this was during a seriously down market - airlines lost billions in 2009) all by the internet only - with minimal mass media support (we certainly did not spend one cent on mass media!).
It seems that too many good folks are trying to do the SMM the lazy way... You do SMM to keep costs down, but SMM is, perhaps not labor intensive, but it is certainly effort intensive.
Besides SMM you need to do a Word-press blog for the client that includes SNS (Use Ruby on Rails to build - dirt cheap) and gives away killer content, has contests and prizes, and motivates people to return everyday!
Being lazy and throwing money away at the old media then doing a few Twitters doesn't cut it anymore. (which is actually why I say Twitter is in serious trouble!)
Make a killer blog for the client (perhaps using a persona like Helga of Volkswagen - Look her up on Google). The blogs needs video (suggest U-Stream recorded to YouTube), SNS, chat, free information, excellent and compelling writing, and free giveaways all the time.
That motivates people!
Then your SMM directs people to the blog, not to some boring corporate site that is nothing more than an online company brochure (that is structured like web 1.0) .
This is effective. This s the new way. It is not easy and lazy people who think that throwing money or half-butt efforts at it need not apply.
Like I've said many times before, it seems that a lot of these people who claim to be experts at Social Media actually do not "do" Social Media. If you ever get anyone who claims to be an expert, first off ask for their URL's
Hint: If they do not blog - and do not actively blog at least three times a week - I'd say it's a 99% chance that they are blowing smoke in your face. Don't fall for it.
Smart Social media marketers will have a rundown of what they do (excepting for invitation members only sites) as the signature of their e-mails. Here's mine:
Mike in Tokyo Rogers
e-mail: mike.rogers@universal-vision.
Blog: http://modernmarketingjapan.
Look for these kinds of things when investigating a potential company to help you with marketing. Be leery of companies, big or small, who claim to be experts at Social Media. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.
Some of my readers know I will be on vacation from tomorrow, but nevertheless the BLOG calls! Tomorrow, I will place diagrams and information tomorrow morning for all of you who have mailed about bit differentiations between Japanese Katakana and Japanese Kanji versus English pertaining to my recent blog.
But, just for a teaser. Consider:
Word (translation).......................................Bit count
イギリス (England)...................................8 bits
England.......................................................7 bits
旅行 (Travel)...............................................4 bits
Travel...........................................................6 bits
Data on the Internet consist of bits. It is the way data is stored. This is important to know if you want to run a successful business in Japan.
------------
Keywords:
blog, Social Media, Mixi, Google, Helga, SMM, Mike Rogers, Social Media Services, China, Croatia, England, Travel, bit, bit count, Japan, Japanese Kanji, Modern Marketing Japan, social media marketing, promo, Japanese Katakana, PR, Twitter, marketing plan, Facebook, Linkedin, airlines, YouTube, U-Stream, e-mail, Lew Rockwell, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, chat, Marketing Japan, web, web 1.0, Volkswagen, Ruby on Rails, Placement, Word Press, mass media, free information, direct marketing,
There sure is a lot of boring stuff on Social Media these days. I was just checking out Linkedin where they had a topic of "What are for you the most common mistakes in social media marketing approach?" (sic)
It said:
What are for you most the common mistakes in social media marketing approach?
Either from client's side or agencies' side, what are the obvious reason why social media strategies you have seen were not working?
For me , some are:
- lack of time investment,
- Boring / irrelevant content,
- lack of clear objectives,
- Being inactive,
- Do not react when sollicitate
- ...
What are yours?
(sic)
I didn't correct his post. That's how poorly it was written. I'm assuming that he's missing one of the reasons that his SMM is doing poorly is because his spelling, diction and grammar are wretched...
Besides that, these good people are mainly talking about pick, Twitter and Facebook (Mixi is only in Japan). Some of the good folks actually did write intelligent comments and I usually don't write comments on these things, but this time I made an exception. I responded:
I think everyone is missing two huge points that I see all the time and that I do believe will be, say, Twitter's undoing within 3 years (besides 60% of all Twitter users dropping off within the first 30 days).
1) Boring writers make boring content. Get motivated, creative and funny or interesting writers. Quit forcing office clerks to do SMM (I see that all the time). If the writer is not motivated what makes anyone think the readers will enjoy the writing?
2) Quit sending out motivational and sales stuff all the time... I'd say that at least 1/2 of the junk I get on Twitter is the same as Direct Mail. Who needs it?
Another guy (obviously an old hand at advertising and marketing) wrote:
I see the market and clients every day, and the thing I can tell you is that a B to C company investing all its marketing budget and ressources in social media has 99% chances failing. (sic)
This might be true, but rather than trying to convince you or me, I gather he is trying to convince himself... This would also explain why his Social Media Marketing efforts fail. He doesn't "get it."
He goes on to write:
This for one simple reason, their are rules and processes in marketing and nobody will want to connect and engage with a brand you don't know.
For this reason , I am convinced that SM works ONLY when being integrated inside a marketing plan, together with media placement, PR, promo, direct marketing and CRM. (sic)
Notice that there is not single fact or piece of evidence that he inserts into his claims. What a load of nonsense. What "rules"? What "processes"?
(I can imagine that his retort to my skepticism would be "Because I know. I've been in this business a long time!" Just as the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, was a thirty-two year veteran when they hit that ice-berg!)
I bet this is the kind of crap he tells his clients. What's he doing on a Linkedin Social Media site besides posing as a SMM expert I don't know. Besides that, like I said, I hope this guy doesn't write copy. It's terrible.
Besides his being wrong and just throwing out opinions. He obviously doesn't know or comprehend how to use Social Media well... I suspect that, from being in a dusty old advertising company desk for so long, that he's so used to taking client money and going out to "do" lunch while on the client's dollar that he thinks he can do things the old way; think for a while (or tell someone else to do the thinking) and order someone else to do the Social Media part (I explained above why that's a bad idea) and sit around like always.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
I didn't blast the guy (like he deserved), but added this as my last word:
One more thing that I think is missing - and I don't agree that a big bucks mass media plan is necessary - I've done it without one.
Notes: We increased airline passengers to and from Japan for a Chinese airlines by over 270% between October 2009 and April 2010. We also increased tourism to Croatia by 300% in three years (don't forget this was during a seriously down market - airlines lost billions in 2009) all by the internet only - with minimal mass media support (we certainly did not spend one cent on mass media!).
It seems that too many good folks are trying to do the SMM the lazy way... You do SMM to keep costs down, but SMM is, perhaps not labor intensive, but it is certainly effort intensive.
Besides SMM you need to do a Word-press blog for the client that includes SNS (Use Ruby on Rails to build - dirt cheap) and gives away killer content, has contests and prizes, and motivates people to return everyday!
Being lazy and throwing money away at the old media then doing a few Twitters doesn't cut it anymore. (which is actually why I say Twitter is in serious trouble!)
Make a killer blog for the client (perhaps using a persona like Helga of Volkswagen - Look her up on Google). The blogs needs video (suggest U-Stream recorded to YouTube), SNS, chat, free information, excellent and compelling writing, and free giveaways all the time.
That motivates people!
Then your SMM directs people to the blog, not to some boring corporate site that is nothing more than an online company brochure (that is structured like web 1.0) .
This is effective. This s the new way. It is not easy and lazy people who think that throwing money or half-butt efforts at it need not apply.
Like I've said many times before, it seems that a lot of these people who claim to be experts at Social Media actually do not "do" Social Media. If you ever get anyone who claims to be an expert, first off ask for their URL's
Hint: If they do not blog - and do not actively blog at least three times a week - I'd say it's a 99% chance that they are blowing smoke in your face. Don't fall for it.
Smart Social media marketers will have a rundown of what they do (excepting for invitation members only sites) as the signature of their e-mails. Here's mine:
Mike in Tokyo Rogers
e-mail: mike.rogers@universal-vision.
Blog: http://modernmarketingjapan.
Lew Rockwell: http://www.lewrockwell.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/
Pick: http://naver.jp/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/
Pick: http://naver.jp/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/
Look for these kinds of things when investigating a potential company to help you with marketing. Be leery of companies, big or small, who claim to be experts at Social Media. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.
Some of my readers know I will be on vacation from tomorrow, but nevertheless the BLOG calls! Tomorrow, I will place diagrams and information tomorrow morning for all of you who have mailed about bit differentiations between Japanese Katakana and Japanese Kanji versus English pertaining to my recent blog.
But, just for a teaser. Consider:
Word (translation).......................................Bit count
イギリス (England)...................................8 bits
England.......................................................7 bits
旅行 (Travel)...............................................4 bits
Travel...........................................................6 bits
Data on the Internet consist of bits. It is the way data is stored. This is important to know if you want to run a successful business in Japan.
------------
Keywords:
blog, Social Media, Mixi, Google, Helga, SMM, Mike Rogers, Social Media Services, China, Croatia, England, Travel, bit, bit count, Japan, Japanese Kanji, Modern Marketing Japan, social media marketing, promo, Japanese Katakana, PR, Twitter, marketing plan, Facebook, Linkedin, airlines, YouTube, U-Stream, e-mail, Lew Rockwell, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, chat, Marketing Japan, web, web 1.0, Volkswagen, Ruby on Rails, Placement, Word Press, mass media, free information, direct marketing,
George Williams: The Music Revolution Starts Here
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
Yesterday, I had the chance to visit George Williams and check out his very cool studio in Tokyo where he records shows for his blog / video blog, "The Music Revolution Starts Here." What a fantastic and extremely cool set-up he has.
At The Music Revolution Starts Here, George introduces many of his extremely famous Japanese musician friends and the site is totally Indie and underground music. It's way cool and there's nothing like it anywhere else in Japan. You can see this completely new and ground-breaking way to promote music and do your very own TV right here.
The reason why I mention George and his web site is that I think he is setting records for unique users to his site. Get this: The site started on July 15th. Yesterday was not quite 2 weeks and The Music Revolution Starts here web page has been averaging just over 1,100 visitors a day! That's incredible!
Of course George Williams is on TV and radio all the time but he is also a whiz-kid at utilizing Social Media to promote his work which is updated daily.
You can follow George's Twitter here (great place to study up on Japanese!): http://twitter.com/kungfugeorge
Pick here: http://naver.jp/kungfugeorge
Facebook here:
He's got a bunch of other Social Media and things he does like Mixi and others (search on YouTube and U-Stream) but those URL's escape me now (I'm sure you can find them all on Facebook or on his web site).
At his web site he has tabs for Music, English, Cooking, Variety and Schedule (I don't know exactly what that last one is all about!) and he records new content every night. Last night's show featured Japanese rock star Ken Lloyd from Oblivion Dust (they sold millions of records in Japan); and more recently, "Fake."
See pirated version's of Oblivion Dust on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rnzuhCs9vE&feature=related (parental warning on this one!)
Fake? "Just Like Billy": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJfUyVByP4
(Check these out while you can cause they are not supposed to be there... The record label are real assholes!)
Ken Lloyd is very famous and popular with the girls and, of course, he - as well as all his friend's - are big fans of mine... Ken (bless his heart) constantly begs for my autograph.
George Williams' The Music Revolution Starts Here getting over 1,000 visitors a day (with many of the visits coming from Europe and Russia) has to be some kind of record for a new blog. Someone from Google confirm that for me, willya?
Anyhow, George Williams and The Music Revolution Starts Here are definitely happening!
--------
Keywords: Indie, Indie Music, George Williams, English, Cooking, Pick, Japan, Twitter, U-Stream, Variety, Schedule, Mixi, YouTube, The Music Revolution Starts Here, Oblivion Dust, Japanese, Ken Lloyd, Fake?, TV, Jingu, Yakult Swallows, underground music, Japanese rock star, Music, Social Media, Facebook, Record label, assholes, record label assholes
Yesterday, I had the chance to visit George Williams and check out his very cool studio in Tokyo where he records shows for his blog / video blog, "The Music Revolution Starts Here." What a fantastic and extremely cool set-up he has.
George Williams at the Yakult Swallows' Jingu Baseball stadium
At The Music Revolution Starts Here, George introduces many of his extremely famous Japanese musician friends and the site is totally Indie and underground music. It's way cool and there's nothing like it anywhere else in Japan. You can see this completely new and ground-breaking way to promote music and do your very own TV right here.
The reason why I mention George and his web site is that I think he is setting records for unique users to his site. Get this: The site started on July 15th. Yesterday was not quite 2 weeks and The Music Revolution Starts here web page has been averaging just over 1,100 visitors a day! That's incredible!
Of course George Williams is on TV and radio all the time but he is also a whiz-kid at utilizing Social Media to promote his work which is updated daily.
You can follow George's Twitter here (great place to study up on Japanese!): http://twitter.com/kungfugeorge
Pick here: http://naver.jp/kungfugeorge
Facebook here:
He's got a bunch of other Social Media and things he does like Mixi and others (search on YouTube and U-Stream) but those URL's escape me now (I'm sure you can find them all on Facebook or on his web site).
At his web site he has tabs for Music, English, Cooking, Variety and Schedule (I don't know exactly what that last one is all about!) and he records new content every night. Last night's show featured Japanese rock star Ken Lloyd from Oblivion Dust (they sold millions of records in Japan); and more recently, "Fake."
See pirated version's of Oblivion Dust on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rnzuhCs9vE&feature=related (parental warning on this one!)
Fake? "Just Like Billy": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJfUyVByP4
(Check these out while you can cause they are not supposed to be there... The record label are real assholes!)
Ken Lloyd is very famous and popular with the girls and, of course, he - as well as all his friend's - are big fans of mine... Ken (bless his heart) constantly begs for my autograph.
George Williams' The Music Revolution Starts Here getting over 1,000 visitors a day (with many of the visits coming from Europe and Russia) has to be some kind of record for a new blog. Someone from Google confirm that for me, willya?
Anyhow, George Williams and The Music Revolution Starts Here are definitely happening!
--------
Keywords: Indie, Indie Music, George Williams, English, Cooking, Pick, Japan, Twitter, U-Stream, Variety, Schedule, Mixi, YouTube, The Music Revolution Starts Here, Oblivion Dust, Japanese, Ken Lloyd, Fake?, TV, Jingu, Yakult Swallows, underground music, Japanese rock star, Music, Social Media, Facebook, Record label, assholes, record label assholes
Saturday, July 24, 2010
One More Phase in the Shattering of Mainstream Media
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
I rode the Tokyo subway today and saw a sign inside the car that notified the passengers that as of July 24, 2011, terrestrial television stations will no longer broadcast analogue signals in Japan and will finally make the switch to digital.
This signals the final nail in the coffin of many of the FM radio stations in this country and the collapse of TV Tokyo and TBS.
I predict that InterFM will either be bankrupt or sold to a new owner by 2014 and TV Tokyo will be in the same situation: insolvent or absorbed by another company by 2016.
I'd like to explain why in this post but first let me give you some important details involving the background of broadcast signals so that you may have a better understanding and why I think this way. Let's see if you come to the same conclusions that I have.
Let's start with AM and FM radio.
AM is called "Amplitude Modulation" and its signal is wavy. When an AM signal comes to an obstacle like a mountain or a tall building, it bounces off of it in many directions and continues going. This is why, in many areas of the United States, there are some AM stations whose broadcasts can be heard over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away. The AM signal is like an ocean wave so, if there are no mountains to make the signal deflect into the heavens, the signals will bounce along the earth's surface.
This makes AM radio great for talk and the friend of people who drive long-distance trucks.
FM is called "Frequency Modulation" and it goes in a straight line. When an FM signal hits a mountain, tall building or other obstacle, it stops. We've all had the experience that our favorite FM station drops off when we go through a tunnel or through a valley. That's the shortcoming of FM radio.
What many people do not know is that terrestrial TV uses the same FM frequency for its broadcasts too.
People who were brought up in Japan may remember from their childhood small portable transistor radio that had the AM / FM band on them but also played TV channels NHK and NHK Educational (1 & 3). If you understand that analogue TV uses FM frequency to broadcast, then you now understand why those old transistor radio's had TV channels on them.
This is important so keep this in mind.
On July 24, 2011, the TV channels will stop broadcasting analogue signals. What this really means is that they will stop using the FM band for transmitting their services and go to terrestrial digital.
FM, Frequency Modulation, is a broadcast wave. Digital broadcasting is not a wave at all. Digital broadcasting is a completely different technology. Digital broadcasting is not a wave, it is binary data.
I suppose that some of you have seen binary data before. It's a series of zero's and one's and looks something like this:
That is binary data. The reason why digital broadcasting is so clear and high quality is that, with binary data, it is either "on" or "off" unlike an AM or FM signal that can be blocked or deflected by tall buildings, mountains or even trees. Binary Data is crystal clear.
Now, how does this spell the end of FM radio? Bear with me here, cause now we're getting to the nitty gritty.
The future of FM radio doesn't lay in what they broadcast or how they up the ante of quality of content (but, of course, it will always be a competition between stations for dwindling audience and sponsorship dollars)...
The future of FM radio depends on what Toyota does.
That's right. Toyota is the one who decides what is going to happen. In my opinion, it is obvious that FM is is serious trouble and that we are now witnessing the end of an era; and it's happening, in slow motion, right in front of our eyes.
But, don't take my word for it, decide for yourself. Let me explain further...
Think about this: Where do most people listen to FM radio? In cars, right?
The Japanese government and all the big manufacturers in this country, Sony, Panasonic, etc. (who, by the way, all have an incestuous relationship with each other and Toyota in stock holdings) are pushing for the digital conversion big time. These manufacturers need their flagging fortunes to get an injection of sales and profits that new broadcasting and new equipment will generate. Digital equipment costs anywhere from $500 - $2,000 (USD) a set. The Japanese manufacturers want and need for the Japanese public to go whole-hog into digital broadcasting. They need the public to dispose of their analogue equipment and buy the new digital equipment... (By the way, a cursory check of analogue equipment at Bic Camera the other day - what little I could find - showed that all the analogue products were all manufactured outside of Japan).
If digital broadcasting is a failure in this country, then it's going to hurt Japanese manufacturing for a very long time... The analogue equipment I saw was all manufactured in Malaysia, Indonesia, and I found some from Taiwan (which was surprising).
Now, how does Toyota fit into this equation?
Imagine your car dashboard. It has a GPS, CD player, and television/radio set all built together. Most people have an analogue device (with terrible TV reception!) From July 2011 there will be no cars that come with that device. They will all be digital.
After July 2011, on your dashboard, you will have a digital GPS, Internet, digital TV and digital radio. Want to do Social Media, YouTube, Twitter, U-Stream, blog? Got you covered. Need to Google or Yahoo search? Sure. When you need traffic conditions, just a click on your GPS will give you up to the minute details on traffic and road conditions. All the TV channels? No problem. Throw on top of that 6 digital radio channels and, of course, a CD player and probably an iPod connection, and you have the next generation of car entertainment system. (In Japan, as of now, there are 6 digital radio channels that are shown on CS or BS television. These channels broadcast soft jazz and classical music).
Remember I wrote that digital signals are binary data and analogue is a broadcasting wave? This is important now.
I ask you, dear reader, to consider; Since Sony, Panasonic, etc. and companies like Toyota and Nissan all have an incestuous relationship as to stock holdings and company ownership, and they desperately need to have the Japanese public buy their digital devices that cost at least $500 each... And digital devices receive binary data and are not analogue compatible... Do you think that Toyota will cut a hole in your dashboard, just under your $500 digital GPS, TV, Internet, radio device in order to install a $1 dollar made in Indonesia FM tuner?
I don't, and I think it is insane to think otherwise. Actually, the notion is laughable, isn't it?
So, if people can no longer hear FM radio in their cars, then where are they going to listen to it? In the subways with their white earplugs through their iPods and iPhones?... Get serious. Nobody does that now!
If there are any folks reading this who remember how popular short wave was way back when compared to what it is today, then they have a good idea what I think the future of FM radio in Japan looks like....
No FM radio in the car spells doom for the FM stations because if no one can listen in their car, then FM will have no listeners at all... No listeners means no sponsors. No sponsors means no money. No money means no FM...
I cannot imagine how they will survive the next 5 ~ 10 years.
If I were a station like J-Wave - that still has good ratings and high listenership - I'd get into negotiations real soon for an open digital radio channel... And, no, the license and digital conversion are not cheap. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars. The smaller stations will never afford it, so they are dead.
And that's why July 2011 is the last nail in the coffin of FM radio in Japan.
But what about AM radio you say? Ah, that's the interesting contradiction. AM radio will probably survive. Because AM car radio is the bottom of the pit for basic car equipment (besides nothing at all)... Almost every Tokyo Taxi has an AM radio in it. Few have FM radios.
Tomorrow I will explain why this entire situation bodes ill for TV Tokyo and TBS TV.
----------
Keywords:
Nissan, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, FM, Toyota, FM radio, Yahoo, U-Stream, J-Wave, Social Media, TV, YouTube, AM, AM radio, blog, blogs, Internet, Japan, digital TV, Panasonic, digital radio, Japan, TV Tokyo, TBS TV, iPod, iPhone, Sony, Google, Tokyo subway
I rode the Tokyo subway today and saw a sign inside the car that notified the passengers that as of July 24, 2011, terrestrial television stations will no longer broadcast analogue signals in Japan and will finally make the switch to digital.
This signals the final nail in the coffin of many of the FM radio stations in this country and the collapse of TV Tokyo and TBS.
I predict that InterFM will either be bankrupt or sold to a new owner by 2014 and TV Tokyo will be in the same situation: insolvent or absorbed by another company by 2016.
I'd like to explain why in this post but first let me give you some important details involving the background of broadcast signals so that you may have a better understanding and why I think this way. Let's see if you come to the same conclusions that I have.
Let's start with AM and FM radio.
AM is called "Amplitude Modulation" and its signal is wavy. When an AM signal comes to an obstacle like a mountain or a tall building, it bounces off of it in many directions and continues going. This is why, in many areas of the United States, there are some AM stations whose broadcasts can be heard over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away. The AM signal is like an ocean wave so, if there are no mountains to make the signal deflect into the heavens, the signals will bounce along the earth's surface.
This makes AM radio great for talk and the friend of people who drive long-distance trucks.
FM is called "Frequency Modulation" and it goes in a straight line. When an FM signal hits a mountain, tall building or other obstacle, it stops. We've all had the experience that our favorite FM station drops off when we go through a tunnel or through a valley. That's the shortcoming of FM radio.
What many people do not know is that terrestrial TV uses the same FM frequency for its broadcasts too.
People who were brought up in Japan may remember from their childhood small portable transistor radio that had the AM / FM band on them but also played TV channels NHK and NHK Educational (1 & 3). If you understand that analogue TV uses FM frequency to broadcast, then you now understand why those old transistor radio's had TV channels on them.
This is important so keep this in mind.
On July 24, 2011, the TV channels will stop broadcasting analogue signals. What this really means is that they will stop using the FM band for transmitting their services and go to terrestrial digital.
FM, Frequency Modulation, is a broadcast wave. Digital broadcasting is not a wave at all. Digital broadcasting is a completely different technology. Digital broadcasting is not a wave, it is binary data.
I suppose that some of you have seen binary data before. It's a series of zero's and one's and looks something like this:
00110010111100101101001110100010000100001000001
00110001000011101110001010101001001000100111000
01011110111101111011011111110010001000001101010
That is binary data. The reason why digital broadcasting is so clear and high quality is that, with binary data, it is either "on" or "off" unlike an AM or FM signal that can be blocked or deflected by tall buildings, mountains or even trees. Binary Data is crystal clear.
Now, how does this spell the end of FM radio? Bear with me here, cause now we're getting to the nitty gritty.
The future of FM radio doesn't lay in what they broadcast or how they up the ante of quality of content (but, of course, it will always be a competition between stations for dwindling audience and sponsorship dollars)...
The future of FM radio depends on what Toyota does.
That's right. Toyota is the one who decides what is going to happen. In my opinion, it is obvious that FM is is serious trouble and that we are now witnessing the end of an era; and it's happening, in slow motion, right in front of our eyes.
But, don't take my word for it, decide for yourself. Let me explain further...
Think about this: Where do most people listen to FM radio? In cars, right?
The Japanese government and all the big manufacturers in this country, Sony, Panasonic, etc. (who, by the way, all have an incestuous relationship with each other and Toyota in stock holdings) are pushing for the digital conversion big time. These manufacturers need their flagging fortunes to get an injection of sales and profits that new broadcasting and new equipment will generate. Digital equipment costs anywhere from $500 - $2,000 (USD) a set. The Japanese manufacturers want and need for the Japanese public to go whole-hog into digital broadcasting. They need the public to dispose of their analogue equipment and buy the new digital equipment... (By the way, a cursory check of analogue equipment at Bic Camera the other day - what little I could find - showed that all the analogue products were all manufactured outside of Japan).
If digital broadcasting is a failure in this country, then it's going to hurt Japanese manufacturing for a very long time... The analogue equipment I saw was all manufactured in Malaysia, Indonesia, and I found some from Taiwan (which was surprising).
Now, how does Toyota fit into this equation?
Imagine your car dashboard. It has a GPS, CD player, and television/radio set all built together. Most people have an analogue device (with terrible TV reception!) From July 2011 there will be no cars that come with that device. They will all be digital.
After July 2011, on your dashboard, you will have a digital GPS, Internet, digital TV and digital radio. Want to do Social Media, YouTube, Twitter, U-Stream, blog? Got you covered. Need to Google or Yahoo search? Sure. When you need traffic conditions, just a click on your GPS will give you up to the minute details on traffic and road conditions. All the TV channels? No problem. Throw on top of that 6 digital radio channels and, of course, a CD player and probably an iPod connection, and you have the next generation of car entertainment system. (In Japan, as of now, there are 6 digital radio channels that are shown on CS or BS television. These channels broadcast soft jazz and classical music).
Toyota HD Digital Screen.
All sorts of fun things like iPod, digital TV and digital radio...
Do you see FM or AM radio? I don't
Remember I wrote that digital signals are binary data and analogue is a broadcasting wave? This is important now.
I ask you, dear reader, to consider; Since Sony, Panasonic, etc. and companies like Toyota and Nissan all have an incestuous relationship as to stock holdings and company ownership, and they desperately need to have the Japanese public buy their digital devices that cost at least $500 each... And digital devices receive binary data and are not analogue compatible... Do you think that Toyota will cut a hole in your dashboard, just under your $500 digital GPS, TV, Internet, radio device in order to install a $1 dollar made in Indonesia FM tuner?
I don't, and I think it is insane to think otherwise. Actually, the notion is laughable, isn't it?
So, if people can no longer hear FM radio in their cars, then where are they going to listen to it? In the subways with their white earplugs through their iPods and iPhones?... Get serious. Nobody does that now!
If there are any folks reading this who remember how popular short wave was way back when compared to what it is today, then they have a good idea what I think the future of FM radio in Japan looks like....
No FM radio in the car spells doom for the FM stations because if no one can listen in their car, then FM will have no listeners at all... No listeners means no sponsors. No sponsors means no money. No money means no FM...
I cannot imagine how they will survive the next 5 ~ 10 years.
If I were a station like J-Wave - that still has good ratings and high listenership - I'd get into negotiations real soon for an open digital radio channel... And, no, the license and digital conversion are not cheap. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars. The smaller stations will never afford it, so they are dead.
And that's why July 2011 is the last nail in the coffin of FM radio in Japan.
But what about AM radio you say? Ah, that's the interesting contradiction. AM radio will probably survive. Because AM car radio is the bottom of the pit for basic car equipment (besides nothing at all)... Almost every Tokyo Taxi has an AM radio in it. Few have FM radios.
Tomorrow I will explain why this entire situation bodes ill for TV Tokyo and TBS TV.
----------
Keywords:
Nissan, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, FM, Toyota, FM radio, Yahoo, U-Stream, J-Wave, Social Media, TV, YouTube, AM, AM radio, blog, blogs, Internet, Japan, digital TV, Panasonic, digital radio, Japan, TV Tokyo, TBS TV, iPod, iPhone, Sony, Google, Tokyo subway
Friday, July 23, 2010
Using U-Stream to Promote Real Time Concerts
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
The big summer concerts in Japan are having a hard time selling tickets... In fact, from what I hear (and I have excellent sources) ticket sales for Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic are dismal at best.
The word on the street is that ticket sales for any shows are bad but there is one ticket that is impossible to get as all four shows are completely sold out!
Four four days this week, Music On! TV and host George Williams have held the 9th annual "GG" concert series this year at Shibuya Ax and this is the hottest ticket in Tokyo.
GG10, as this year's shows are called, have a logical, well-planned lineup (see line up here) - along with a crowd pleasing ticket price of ¥4,200 (about $45 USD). This blows Summer Sonic out of the water! Summer Sonic has a artist lineup that probably pleases no one (Who in the hell wants to pay ¥29,800 (about $320!) to see Offspring open for Jay-Z?)
On the other hand... It might be better than going to the other side of Japan and spending over ¥82,000 ($900 USD) to go see Fuji Schlock where a bunch of geriatric old folks relive the crap music of the late 60's and early 70's...
Not only did the Music on! TV folks do a superb job of lining up a killer roster of artists, they promoted the shows well and they were sold out long ago.
Eat your hearts out Creative Man and Smash!
On top of this, I was extremely impressed as to how George Williams used his own Internet media page, "The Music Revolution Starts Here" to promote the shows real-time and give us updates using Social Media such as, Pick, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, and U-Stream. See George's The Music Revolution Starts Here, er, to go to that page click this entire sentence....
So, while all of Japan withers in this economic slump, George Williams and Music On TV sell out four shows in a row... They used a great mix of old media and Internet to sell the tickets and the great line-up gave them killer credibility. Sorry, Summer Sonic, but no one wants to pay to see Taylor Swift open for Stevie Wonder... Jeez! What a lame-o line up!..
I wonder why companies like Creative Man don't understand the simple concept of "Credibility is hard to get. It is even harder to buy"?
On top of this, George Williams uses the Internet and Social Media to give the concert goers - as well as the unlucky folks -who wanted to get tickets but couldn't - a chance to see what's going on back stage! Wow!
That's not just cool... That's intelligent business!
---------
Keywords: The Music Revolution Starts Here, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, U-Stream, Social Media, Summer Sonic, Music On! TV, Stevie Wonder, YouTube, blog, blogs, Internet, Japan, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Offspring, Fuji Rock
The big summer concerts in Japan are having a hard time selling tickets... In fact, from what I hear (and I have excellent sources) ticket sales for Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic are dismal at best.
The word on the street is that ticket sales for any shows are bad but there is one ticket that is impossible to get as all four shows are completely sold out!
George Williams at GG10 July 21, 2010 (photo by Yoji Kawada)
Four four days this week, Music On! TV and host George Williams have held the 9th annual "GG" concert series this year at Shibuya Ax and this is the hottest ticket in Tokyo.
GG10, as this year's shows are called, have a logical, well-planned lineup (see line up here) - along with a crowd pleasing ticket price of ¥4,200 (about $45 USD). This blows Summer Sonic out of the water! Summer Sonic has a artist lineup that probably pleases no one (Who in the hell wants to pay ¥29,800 (about $320!) to see Offspring open for Jay-Z?)
On the other hand... It might be better than going to the other side of Japan and spending over ¥82,000 ($900 USD) to go see Fuji Schlock where a bunch of geriatric old folks relive the crap music of the late 60's and early 70's...
Not only did the Music on! TV folks do a superb job of lining up a killer roster of artists, they promoted the shows well and they were sold out long ago.
Eat your hearts out Creative Man and Smash!
On top of this, I was extremely impressed as to how George Williams used his own Internet media page, "The Music Revolution Starts Here" to promote the shows real-time and give us updates using Social Media such as, Pick, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, and U-Stream. See George's The Music Revolution Starts Here, er, to go to that page click this entire sentence....
So, while all of Japan withers in this economic slump, George Williams and Music On TV sell out four shows in a row... They used a great mix of old media and Internet to sell the tickets and the great line-up gave them killer credibility. Sorry, Summer Sonic, but no one wants to pay to see Taylor Swift open for Stevie Wonder... Jeez! What a lame-o line up!..
I wonder why companies like Creative Man don't understand the simple concept of "Credibility is hard to get. It is even harder to buy"?
On top of this, George Williams uses the Internet and Social Media to give the concert goers - as well as the unlucky folks -who wanted to get tickets but couldn't - a chance to see what's going on back stage! Wow!
That's not just cool... That's intelligent business!
---------
Keywords: The Music Revolution Starts Here, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, U-Stream, Social Media, Summer Sonic, Music On! TV, Stevie Wonder, YouTube, blog, blogs, Internet, Japan, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Offspring, Fuji Rock
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Marketing Japan: Internet Versus FM Radio? A Cost Comparison....
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
Last night I had the "pleasure" of co-hosting a radio show called "Bam!" on 76.1 InterFM. InterFM is one of Tokyo's 5 major FM stations. It is the flagship of a network of FM stations in Japan called the "Mega-Net" (of which one of the big network stations went bankrupt about two months ago!).
Being on the show was a fairly pleasurable experience for the most part but the loss of "excitement" for working in FM radio was palpable in the air amongst the staff. The thrill of FM radio was lost on me long ago...(Actually, the station wants me to be on this particular show regularly and has had my photo on their web page for nearly a year, even though I haven't been there in a long time.)
Why haven't I been going to the radio station? Let me explain just one of the many reasons why....
Things in FM radio today in Japan are nothing like they were twenty-five, twenty, even ten years ago. I suspect the same is true everywhere. Even as recently as ten years ago being on the radio was exciting and there was the glam and glitz of "Hollywood" in the air.... Now? It seems like it is just a job to most people at the station.
I gather that the attitude of the radio station staff was just like that of a clerk at a government office or a manual laborer assembling nuts and bolts or attaching grommets at a factory. There was no passion. No buzz of excitement in the air. It seemed to me that everyone just consider this "another job."
People who think this way and have no passion for their work should find a job that they like or, most certainly, they should not be in any sort of creative endeavor.
I know how FM radio was over 30 years ago as I have hosted, produced, directed, cleaned toilets, served coffee and been a "go-fer" for radio shows and radio stations since I was a university student... In Japan, I am a very old-timer in this business.
During the program last night, I tried to pay attention to the commercials that they aired during the show and was surprised to hear that there were very few. Oh sure they had things that sounded like commercials, but, for the most part, they were "spots" about other programs.
Spots about other programs do not earn a station any money. Zero. Zip. Nada.
But I did hear, I think, two "real" commercials the entire two hour live show... One was for car insurance and the other one? Well, I can't really say that I understood what that was a commercial for... They were either selling milk or hiring drivers! I didn't catch it very well.
That's the problem with radio. If you missed it the first time, it's gone... you can't scroll back.
During the commercial for insurance, I wondered (again) why anyone would pay money for a 15 second commercial that runs at, say, exactly 10 pm and runs for exactly 15 seconds then disappears into oblivion? I mean, who hears these commercials? How much do they cost? How do they measure results?
InterFM broadcasts to an area of 35 million homes in Tokyo... Conservative estimates are 65 million people. So they have a huge potential pool of listeners. But how many are actually listening?
I suspect not many.
I have some anecdotal evidence that I can share concerning numbers of listeners....
In the past, I helped organized promotional campaigns for InterFM before whereby an airlines would, say, provide 3 pairs round-trip tickets to Macau with two nights free stay at a 5 star hotel... Basically the vacations were all expenses paid... The cash value for one pair of tickets with hotel was about (¥340,000) $3,600.
The commercials for the contest ran at least six times a day everyday for a week. That makes six 15 second commercials at 1.5 minutes a day multiplied by five days. That is a total of 7.5 minutes. (This 7.5 minutes will be an important point later in this article so keep this in mind!)
In a city of 65 million people, and only 5 FM stations, guess how many people signed up for the contest? 5,000? 50,000? 100,000? 200,000 people?
Nope. 82 people. Eighty two! Eight. Two. Oh! 8-2-oh as in "Oh my God! What a fricking disaster that campaign was!"
Of course there were more than 82 names who "signed up" for the contest. There were about 318 names in total (still lame!). But, I say 82 people (about) because everyone who signed up also signed up their spouses and their parents and in-laws... Some people even signed up their children. Heck, for all I know, some people could have signed up their dogs and cats. We could judge the fact that one person signed up their entire family by seeing on the sign up list the same family names of 4, 5, 6 people in a row.
So 82 is, pardon my French, "peis poor."
OK. Forget the poor results. Let's look at cost.
A campaign like this would normally cost about ¥5,000,000 (about $60,000) - heavily discounted it would cost about $17,000. And InterFM is one of the cheaper rated stations...
$17,000 dollars is a heck of a lot of money to pay for 7.5 minutes of airtime...
Now, think about it; why in the world would any sponsor pay ¥1,500,000 (about $17,000) for a week long campaign like this? I figure it is because the person who is in-charge of the money at a sponsor company is ancient and doesn't understand the Internet and still has some idea that FM radio is cool because "the kids like it." This person would have to be ancient because that would explain their poor eyesight. (As I know from experience, when you get older, your eyes get real bad!) I mean that these people would have to be ancient because ancient people are the only ones to have poor enough eyesight not to notice the white earplugs every second person on the subway is wearing.
(Hint: There is no FM reception in the subway and those white things in everyone's ears are earplugs for Apple iPods and iPhones!)
How much better that advertising money would be spent on creating a contest web page and using SNS and Social media like YouTube, Twitter, U-Stream, Pick, Facebook, Linkedin, blogs, Mixi, video blogs, vlogs, SEO that catches Google and Yahoo! to drive folks to your contest and company, product or service 24/7!
Heck, for what a sponsor spends on a week long campaign on the radio - where it is questionable if anyone hears it - they can get metrics and measure exactly the numbers of web page hits and what the effects of a Tweet or a YouTube has on their "bounce"....
Then they measure and tweak as they go along.
For $17,000, a sponsor could run a killer Internet campaign and probably run it for 3 ~ 6 months 24/7 before they run out of money....
Now, I ask you, how would you spend the $17,000? Would you opt for the 3 ~ 6 months 24/7 Internet campaign or the 7.5 minutes campaign on FM radio?
--------------
Keywords:
Apple, FM Radio, Social Media, Macau, Japan, Google, InterFM, Tweet, Linkedin, Blogs, video-blogs, Pick, Twitter, U-Stream, Tokyo, FM station, Barter, Mega-net, Facebook, YouTube, SEO, SNS, Yahoo!, Tokyo, Taro Furukawa
Last night I had the "pleasure" of co-hosting a radio show called "Bam!" on 76.1 InterFM. InterFM is one of Tokyo's 5 major FM stations. It is the flagship of a network of FM stations in Japan called the "Mega-Net" (of which one of the big network stations went bankrupt about two months ago!).
Being on the show was a fairly pleasurable experience for the most part but the loss of "excitement" for working in FM radio was palpable in the air amongst the staff. The thrill of FM radio was lost on me long ago...(Actually, the station wants me to be on this particular show regularly and has had my photo on their web page for nearly a year, even though I haven't been there in a long time.)
Why haven't I been going to the radio station? Let me explain just one of the many reasons why....
Things in FM radio today in Japan are nothing like they were twenty-five, twenty, even ten years ago. I suspect the same is true everywhere. Even as recently as ten years ago being on the radio was exciting and there was the glam and glitz of "Hollywood" in the air.... Now? It seems like it is just a job to most people at the station.
Things aren't what they used to be... Although they never were...
I gather that the attitude of the radio station staff was just like that of a clerk at a government office or a manual laborer assembling nuts and bolts or attaching grommets at a factory. There was no passion. No buzz of excitement in the air. It seemed to me that everyone just consider this "another job."
People who think this way and have no passion for their work should find a job that they like or, most certainly, they should not be in any sort of creative endeavor.
I know how FM radio was over 30 years ago as I have hosted, produced, directed, cleaned toilets, served coffee and been a "go-fer" for radio shows and radio stations since I was a university student... In Japan, I am a very old-timer in this business.
During the program last night, I tried to pay attention to the commercials that they aired during the show and was surprised to hear that there were very few. Oh sure they had things that sounded like commercials, but, for the most part, they were "spots" about other programs.
Spots about other programs do not earn a station any money. Zero. Zip. Nada.
But I did hear, I think, two "real" commercials the entire two hour live show... One was for car insurance and the other one? Well, I can't really say that I understood what that was a commercial for... They were either selling milk or hiring drivers! I didn't catch it very well.
That's the problem with radio. If you missed it the first time, it's gone... you can't scroll back.
During the commercial for insurance, I wondered (again) why anyone would pay money for a 15 second commercial that runs at, say, exactly 10 pm and runs for exactly 15 seconds then disappears into oblivion? I mean, who hears these commercials? How much do they cost? How do they measure results?
InterFM broadcasts to an area of 35 million homes in Tokyo... Conservative estimates are 65 million people. So they have a huge potential pool of listeners. But how many are actually listening?
I suspect not many.
I have some anecdotal evidence that I can share concerning numbers of listeners....
In the past, I helped organized promotional campaigns for InterFM before whereby an airlines would, say, provide 3 pairs round-trip tickets to Macau with two nights free stay at a 5 star hotel... Basically the vacations were all expenses paid... The cash value for one pair of tickets with hotel was about (¥340,000) $3,600.
The commercials for the contest ran at least six times a day everyday for a week. That makes six 15 second commercials at 1.5 minutes a day multiplied by five days. That is a total of 7.5 minutes. (This 7.5 minutes will be an important point later in this article so keep this in mind!)
In a city of 65 million people, and only 5 FM stations, guess how many people signed up for the contest? 5,000? 50,000? 100,000? 200,000 people?
Nope. 82 people. Eighty two! Eight. Two. Oh! 8-2-oh as in "Oh my God! What a fricking disaster that campaign was!"
Of course there were more than 82 names who "signed up" for the contest. There were about 318 names in total (still lame!). But, I say 82 people (about) because everyone who signed up also signed up their spouses and their parents and in-laws... Some people even signed up their children. Heck, for all I know, some people could have signed up their dogs and cats. We could judge the fact that one person signed up their entire family by seeing on the sign up list the same family names of 4, 5, 6 people in a row.
So 82 is, pardon my French, "peis poor."
OK. Forget the poor results. Let's look at cost.
A campaign like this would normally cost about ¥5,000,000 (about $60,000) - heavily discounted it would cost about $17,000. And InterFM is one of the cheaper rated stations...
$17,000 dollars is a heck of a lot of money to pay for 7.5 minutes of airtime...
Now, think about it; why in the world would any sponsor pay ¥1,500,000 (about $17,000) for a week long campaign like this? I figure it is because the person who is in-charge of the money at a sponsor company is ancient and doesn't understand the Internet and still has some idea that FM radio is cool because "the kids like it." This person would have to be ancient because that would explain their poor eyesight. (As I know from experience, when you get older, your eyes get real bad!) I mean that these people would have to be ancient because ancient people are the only ones to have poor enough eyesight not to notice the white earplugs every second person on the subway is wearing.
(Hint: There is no FM reception in the subway and those white things in everyone's ears are earplugs for Apple iPods and iPhones!)
How much better that advertising money would be spent on creating a contest web page and using SNS and Social media like YouTube, Twitter, U-Stream, Pick, Facebook, Linkedin, blogs, Mixi, video blogs, vlogs, SEO that catches Google and Yahoo! to drive folks to your contest and company, product or service 24/7!
Heck, for what a sponsor spends on a week long campaign on the radio - where it is questionable if anyone hears it - they can get metrics and measure exactly the numbers of web page hits and what the effects of a Tweet or a YouTube has on their "bounce"....
Then they measure and tweak as they go along.
For $17,000, a sponsor could run a killer Internet campaign and probably run it for 3 ~ 6 months 24/7 before they run out of money....
Now, I ask you, how would you spend the $17,000? Would you opt for the 3 ~ 6 months 24/7 Internet campaign or the 7.5 minutes campaign on FM radio?
--------------
Keywords:
Apple, FM Radio, Social Media, Macau, Japan, Google, InterFM, Tweet, Linkedin, Blogs, video-blogs, Pick, Twitter, U-Stream, Tokyo, FM station, Barter, Mega-net, Facebook, YouTube, SEO, SNS, Yahoo!, Tokyo, Taro Furukawa
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Marketing Japan: George Williams Launches "The Music Revolution Starts Here"
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
Besides being on of the hardest working and hottest media stars in Japan today, George Williams is a ground-breaking leader in new media in Japan. He blows away the others by simply getting off his rear, getting to it, and just plain "getting it!"
Today we have blogs, video blogs like U-Stream and Youtube; we also have tons of SNS and Social Media tools like Twitter, Pick, Facebook, Mixi (in Japan), Linkedin, etc. On top of this, Yahoo and Google keep coming out with new and fascinating ways to "wow!" us... (Not to mention Apple and their iPads and iPhones!) On top of all this... Just when you were thinking, "What are they going to do next to top this?" Along comes a guy out of nowhere and "wows!" the Internet with his own original and expressive ideas.
George Williams has single handedly raised the bar on Internet blogging, vlogging and internet multi- media with his new site called "The Music Revolution Starts Here" at wwwgeorgewilliams.jp.
You have just got to check this out! "The Music Revolution Starts Here" and features George with many of his super star Japanese musician friends (like regular guest Koji Kurumatani or Yuhi from Hof Dylan, to name but a few) talking (and playing) music... Music that you cannot hear anywhere else in Japan.
Not only that, George's web site also has something for everybody! You want to learn how to cook? Sure! The site has that too (George's fans will know that George co-hosts a wildly popular cooking show with famous cookery writer Kurihara Harumi). George gives us a cooking lesson once a week.
How about free English lessons? Yep. Got that! George makes a weekly English lesson for you too! And, of course, there's tons of music videos to watch too!
But even if you miss the live broadcast of the music, cooking or English you can easily watch back issues with the mere click of a button! No need to record your favorite show! They record it for you!
The Music Revolution Starts Here was launched last night, July 19th, 2010 at 12 midnight, so it is still a work in progress, but looking at the site, you wouldn't know it. It looks like it's been running for a long time.
This sort of multi-media solution to Internet marketing, PR and promotion is being experimented with (on the fly) in the west, but, from my knowledge, George Williams is the very first person in Japan to delve head first into this exciting new media form...
I'm expecting even bigger and even more "Wow!" products and services from George Williams and his team in the future. But today, we George Williams and his The Music Revolution Starts Here and it is a gas!
...Of course, it's all FREE!
------
For More on George Williams:
Go to George's: The Music Revolution Starts Here
Go to George's: Music On! TV "George's Garage"
Go to George's: NHK Your Japanese Kitchen
Go to George's: Tokyo FM "Docomo Love Family"
Go to George's: InterFM Bam!
George Williams on Wikipedia (Japanese / 日本語)
See George Williams' bio and contact here.
------------
Keywords:
Google, Tokyo FM, cooking, promotion, Harumi Kurihara, video blogs, music, InterFM, Internet, PR, Internet marketing, Youtube, Linkedin, blogs, SNS, George Williams, Bam!, The Music Revolution Starts Here, Hof Dylan, NHK Your Japanese Kitchen, Mixi, Social Media, Pick, iPhone, U-Stream, Japan, Music On! TV, Yahoo, Mike Rogers, Twitter, Apple, iPad, Docomo Love Family, English, Koji Kurumatani, Facebook, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, George's Garage, Yuhi, services, products
Besides being on of the hardest working and hottest media stars in Japan today, George Williams is a ground-breaking leader in new media in Japan. He blows away the others by simply getting off his rear, getting to it, and just plain "getting it!"
Today we have blogs, video blogs like U-Stream and Youtube; we also have tons of SNS and Social Media tools like Twitter, Pick, Facebook, Mixi (in Japan), Linkedin, etc. On top of this, Yahoo and Google keep coming out with new and fascinating ways to "wow!" us... (Not to mention Apple and their iPads and iPhones!) On top of all this... Just when you were thinking, "What are they going to do next to top this?" Along comes a guy out of nowhere and "wows!" the Internet with his own original and expressive ideas.
George Williams has single handedly raised the bar on Internet blogging, vlogging and internet multi- media with his new site called "The Music Revolution Starts Here" at wwwgeorgewilliams.jp.
You have just got to check this out! "The Music Revolution Starts Here" and features George with many of his super star Japanese musician friends (like regular guest Koji Kurumatani or Yuhi from Hof Dylan, to name but a few) talking (and playing) music... Music that you cannot hear anywhere else in Japan.
Not only that, George's web site also has something for everybody! You want to learn how to cook? Sure! The site has that too (George's fans will know that George co-hosts a wildly popular cooking show with famous cookery writer Kurihara Harumi). George gives us a cooking lesson once a week.
How about free English lessons? Yep. Got that! George makes a weekly English lesson for you too! And, of course, there's tons of music videos to watch too!
But even if you miss the live broadcast of the music, cooking or English you can easily watch back issues with the mere click of a button! No need to record your favorite show! They record it for you!
The Music Revolution Starts Here was launched last night, July 19th, 2010 at 12 midnight, so it is still a work in progress, but looking at the site, you wouldn't know it. It looks like it's been running for a long time.
This sort of multi-media solution to Internet marketing, PR and promotion is being experimented with (on the fly) in the west, but, from my knowledge, George Williams is the very first person in Japan to delve head first into this exciting new media form...
I'm expecting even bigger and even more "Wow!" products and services from George Williams and his team in the future. But today, we George Williams and his The Music Revolution Starts Here and it is a gas!
...Of course, it's all FREE!
------
For More on George Williams:
Go to George's: The Music Revolution Starts Here
Go to George's: Music On! TV "George's Garage"
Go to George's: NHK Your Japanese Kitchen
Go to George's: Tokyo FM "Docomo Love Family"
Go to George's: InterFM Bam!
George Williams on Wikipedia (Japanese / 日本語)
See George Williams' bio and contact here.
------------
Keywords:
Google, Tokyo FM, cooking, promotion, Harumi Kurihara, video blogs, music, InterFM, Internet, PR, Internet marketing, Youtube, Linkedin, blogs, SNS, George Williams, Bam!, The Music Revolution Starts Here, Hof Dylan, NHK Your Japanese Kitchen, Mixi, Social Media, Pick, iPhone, U-Stream, Japan, Music On! TV, Yahoo, Mike Rogers, Twitter, Apple, iPad, Docomo Love Family, English, Koji Kurumatani, Facebook, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, George's Garage, Yuhi, services, products
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Google Announces Google Caffeine! Amazing Search Speed and Results!
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
Keywords: Google, Twitter, Yahoo Japan, Linkedin, iPad, Mixi, Yahoo, video bloggers, bloggers, Social Media, Google Caffeine, Google's new Caffeine, Youtube, Mixi, Twitter, U-Stream, Facebook, Business, Sony, Apple, Pick, Google, SNS, blog
Last month Google announced their newest web search index and it's called Caffeine and it is just fantastic! If you write or blog as often as you should, then you are always looking for ways to brush up what you do to give your readers information that they want as quickly as you can...
After all that's what the Internet is good at and what Google is excellent at!
Whether you are using any sort of Social Media for marketing, business or pleasure, Google's new Caffeine is just like what it is called, "A wake up jolt!"
Take heed all bloggers, video bloggers, U-Stream or Youtube users, Facebook, Mixi, Linkedin, Pick or Twitter users because when you upload any sort for information to your SNS site or on the Internet in general, Google Caffeine is tracking you and allowing the people who are looking for your information to find you quickly and easily.
Recently, I had been wondering how it was possible when I had an article published on, say www.lewrockwell.com, that a Google search who show my article in the results within 2 hours of publishing, but that's exactly the super-high speed performance that Google Caffeine offers. It is simply incredible.
From Google's press release about Google Caffeine:
Caffeine lets us index web pages on an enormous scale. In fact, every second Caffeine processes hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel. If this were a pile of paper it would grow three miles taller every second. Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day. You would need 625,000 of the largest iPods to store that much information; if these were stacked end-to-end they would go for more than 40 miles.
Wow! That's a fair share of information processing in the blink of an eye, I'd say.
This makes it critical for those of you who are blogging to effectively use your keywords and tags so that a search on Google using Google Caffeine can find you. It also makes it even more important for folks who are video blogging or using Youtube or U-stream to make sure that they input the correct information on the description of their videos and tag them as much as possible...
Of course, then, it also stands to reason that when you do upload a new blog or vlog, then you will announce it on you SNS network (Facebook, Mixi, Twitter, or Pick) and those, too, will be analyzed by Google Caffeine and get you even better results for your efforts.
Hats off to Google for Google Caffeine. Just how does Google keep this torrid pace of great ideas and products up?
I think Yahoo is in trouble even though Yahoo Japan is doing pretty well.
By the way, just as a side note, I spoke to George Williams on the telephone this morning and he mentioned something to me that I thought was very interesting and a sign of the times. He said, "You know, it used to be that young people were interested in working at companies like Sony or a big record label. Not anymore. Young people today are only interested in two companies; Apple or Google."
Absolutely. And with products coming out like iPad and Google Caffeine who can blame them?
-------Keywords: Google, Twitter, Yahoo Japan, Linkedin, iPad, Mixi, Yahoo, video bloggers, bloggers, Social Media, Google Caffeine, Google's new Caffeine, Youtube, Mixi, Twitter, U-Stream, Facebook, Business, Sony, Apple, Pick, Google, SNS, blog
Friday, July 9, 2010
Watch Out for a New Scam on Twitter....
By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
Probably not so many people in Japan have the same trouble with Twitter that I do because, in Japan, Twitter is a new thing and still not that many people are using it (though it is doing well). Most Japanese follow Japanese people (of course) and, since Twitter is relatively new here, it isn't filled with so much noise like I've been noticing coming across Twitter from English speakers recently. I hope that today's short blog makes you consider and think about your own experiences.
I think that, if what is going on now with Twitter in the west continues to grow at the pace it seems to be growing, then Twitter will not be doing well in 3 years. If what is happening with Twitter in the west, starts happening here in Japan, then Twitter will have a very bad future very quickly.
I don't like what I am seeing from many Twitter users in the west.
I don't like what I am seeing from many Twitter users in the west.
I mentioned in a previous post how 60% of new Twitter users drop off in the first month and how that spells bad news for the future of the business. But today I'd just like to write a short blog about two things on Twitter that I really don't like and that I've been noticing more and more of in these last few weeks.
I'd like to think this information can be useful to anyone in marketing, bloggers, advertising, PR, Social Media, people who U-Stream, Pick, YouTube, video blog (vlog) and business in general people in Japan. Anyone who thinks or plans on using Twitter for any sort of promotion in Japan should think about this.
What's the problem? There seems to be a huge surge in what is being called "Twitter Junk Mail." "Twitter Junk Mail and "Twitter Spam" seem to be different animals all together. Whereas Twitter Spam is malicious, Twitter Junk Mail is automated Twitter posts that are generated by computer and ask us to buy something or direct us to some sort of sales gimmick. Sometimes I will get 10 Tweets in a row, all within a few seconds of each other, all from the same person (no one can tweet that fast) and all asking me to buy something.
I always stop following those accounts immediately... Frankly speaking, I've been spending most of my time on Twitter recently canceling accounts that I followed.
These things - from the west - seem to be exploding on my Twitter account. How about yours?
Most of these Tweets ask me to go see some new and exciting way to make money on Twitter. One recent one - that really motivated me to write this - was a sales method that guaranteed that I could get my Twitter followers up to 20,000 ~ 40,000 people by paying money. There have been several others that claimed that I could make $30,000 a month doing Twitter from my desk! They often ask me to watch a video or short presentation as to how I can make money convincing people to sign up for these pay-as-you-go membership drives.
One of the pages that I clicked showed that if I wanted 1,000 new Twitter followers then it cost $400... If it were 2,000 new followers, it would be $500... The prices kept going up, with guaranteed results, to 50,000 followers.
When I would check the Twitter page of the person who joined my group (why they joined my Twitter group is as much a mystery to me as it is to you) and told me about these wonderfully fantastic ways of making money with Twitter, I could see that they had, say, 8,000 followers and were following 8,000 other people. This, seems to me to be a sort of scam and defeating the purpose of Twitter.
Why anyone would want to pay for a bunch of uninterested followers that have no connection or interest in them is beyond my comprehension. Also, what good is following someone on Twitter when you are also following 20,000 other people?
Junk Mail in your mailbox or Junk Mail on Twitter, what's the difference?
Is having 20,000 followers a sort of bragging right? Perhaps you could make money on this for a short time conning people who are unfamiliar with how this all works (yes, there's LOTS of those still) but this scam will not last long.
It's like getting high rankings on an Internet chart or something by sitting at a desk and clicking on your choice a few million times. Sure, the ranking is good, but it really means nothing.
The purpose of Twitter is to keep up on the latest news of your close friends and family and other topics that interest you. Following 20,000 other people and having 20,000 people following you seems like having a post box outside your home crammed and ready-to-explode with 20,000 pieces of crap direct mail that no one is ever going to look at.
Why would the postman keep delivering to a mailbox like that?
This reminds me of the early days of Myspace. I remember an artist named Cary Brothers coming to the studio a few years ago. Cary was a very nice guy and his music was contemporary.
Before he came to visit me at the studio his company record promoters (I think it was Warner Records) had told me that, "Cary Brothers was a sensation on the Internet and he had a million fans on Myspace!"
That was his claim to fame and why they signed him.
When I met Cary he told me that he had spent 8 hours every night, night after night, for over 5 years contacting people on Myspace and asking them to join his fans group on Myspace.
Now, not to detract from Cary Brothers at all as he was one of the earlier musicians to recognize what Myspace can do for an artist, and he is a very talented, intelligent guy (for at least recognizing that these record company executives still haven't a clue about the Internet), but I do want to trash the record company for being so dim about how Myspace works.
On Myspace, generally speaking, unless you are very famous, then you have to go looking for fans; they rarely come to you. What I mean to say is that Bono is not sitting at his computer trying to get people to listen to the new U2 record... But an unheard of artist like Cary Brothers at the time had to ask people to join him in order to get people to sit up and listen. Myspace is a reciprocal SNS service so it is generally as sort of, "You join my Myspace and I'll join yours."
That was in the early days of Myspace when everyone wanted tons of "friends." At that time, pretty much everyone accepted anyone as a friend.
So, I do not want to detract from Cary Brothers as he put in the time and made the effort to create a buzz... I hope that, if you are a good artist, and have great tunes, and you are willing to dedicate yourself fully to thousands of hours in front of a computer then you can get results... If you do, you vindicate the Long Tail.
But to think that someone on Twitter who has, say 10,000 followers, and is following 10,000 themselves is some sort of measure of popularity is, I think, nonsense.
In my opinion "Popular on Twitter" would be someone who has a huge number of followers and very few people they follow.
Lew Rockwell has 3,625 followers and yet he follows only 22 people. These are the kinds of numbers that make sense. These other people who have several thousand followers and several thousand that they follow are here today, gone tomorrow. Trust me.
This scam on Twitter, plus poor retention, is going to spoil Twitter's future. Can they do something about it? Or will they wind up another "Also-ran"?
I predict "Also-ran" like Myspace.
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Keywords: marketing, Pick, Social Media, business, Twitter Junk Mail, Myspace, PR, advertising, Japan, Twitter, Japanese, Lew Rockwell, followers, bloggers, U-Stream, video blog, vlog, Youtube, Twitter Spam,
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