The battle for new customers amongst the mobile carriers is rather intense, with the three main players running lots of prime-time television advertising. To see what effect they are having on the average Japanese consumer, NEPRO Japan recently looked at mobile phone television advertisements.
Research results
From 10 am on the 7th to 3 am on the 8th of March 2008 4,498 users of the mobile phone menuing systems from the three main providers, namely iMode, Yahoo! Keitai and EZweb self-selected themselves to complete an open survey. 56% of the sample was female, 3% in their teens, 35% in their twenties, 42% in their thirties, and 20% aged forty or older.
Sadly, if the result in Q4 had been the other way round I could have got the much more enticing title of “Yukie Nakama gets licked by dog”, but it was not to be. Anyway, here is the lovely Yukie Nakama, and some other not-so-lovely people:
Although I can’t stand dogs in real life, I really do like the SoftBank commercials! Yukie Namaka’s au “Anybody!” appearances are rather entertaining too, although the latest ones are a bit naff. I can’t remember recent DoCoMo adverts, although a few months ago they had celebrity-infested ones. Just to round out, eMobile has monkeys, with this one featuring the SoftBank dog’s twin brother being amazed at the cheap deals.
Research results
Q1: Do you like the television advertisements from all of the mobile phone service providers? (Sample size=4,498)
Love them
21%
Like them
16%
Like some of them
16%
Perhaps like them
13%
So-so
31%
Perhaps dislike them
1%
Dislike some of them
2%
Dislike them
0%
Hate them
0%
Q2: Do you think the television advertisements from all of the mobile phone service providers are easy to understand? (Sample size=4,498)
Very easy to understand
16%
Easy to understand
12%
Perhaps easy to understand
17%
So-so
32%
Perhaps hard to understand
17%
Difficult to understand
4%
Very difficult to understand
2%
Q3: After seeing television advertisements from mobile phone service providers what have you done? (Sample size=4,498, multiple answer)
Got a leaflet from a shop
32%
Went to look at phones in a shop
24%
Bought, upgraded a phone
16%
Searched on the internet
16%
Talked to shop staff
5%
Searched blogs, bulletin boards
3%
Telephoned for more information
2%
Emailed for more information
1%
Other
3%
Nothing in particular
44%
Q4: What sort of thing in television advertisements from the mobile phone service providers leaves the most memories? (Sample size=4,498)
Ones with favourite celebrities, famous people
25%
Ones with animals
23%
Funny ones
15%
None in particular
12%
Ones with a story
8%
Ones with easy-to-understand fee, service information
5%
One with good design
4%
Ones with lovely pictures
4%
Quirky ones
2%
Other
2%
Q5: Can you match the main characters in advertisements with the mobile phone service provider behind it? (Sample size=4,498)
Subscribe to feed