NEWS & EVENTS

Hisami Ohshiba will speak again at the Nikkei Net Marketing Forum + MMC 2010 on July 13th at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo.

Following last year’s keynote, this year’s main theme is “Marketing’s Big Transition — A Shift from Brands to Consumers.” Hisami will participate as one of the four speakers in the Special Seminar “Capturing the Digital Generation — 4 New Trends in Relationship Marketing.” This session from 1:30 - 5:30pm will also include Ogilvy & Mather Japan’s President, Kent Wertime, AdMob Japan’s President John Lagerling, and Cyber Agent’s General Manager Kounosuke Takeishi. Details are below.

4:30-5:30pm Hisami Ohshiba Presentation “How Facebook is Breaking New Ground in Marketing — The Forefront of US Social Media.”

Presentation: With over 400 million active global users, and 50% of them logged on at any given time, Facebook is the world’s largest social network. With that level of activity, the speed and power of information shared between users can be a huge advantage for marketers. How are leading US companies utilizing social networks like Facebook to engage with users? How companies can best use social media will be explained citing the latest case studies.

You can register for this seminar here.

The May 10th Nikkei BP Online column (in Japanese) “US NetMarketing Chawa,” titled “Twitter’s New Ad Play ‘Promoted Tweets’” talks about the April 14th announcement that Twitter will donate all (US) public tweets to the Library of Congress for their archives. The Library of Congress recognized tweets as a valuable record of people’s lives and thoughts, and plans to archive the data beginning with the very first tweet on March 21, 2006, and going forward.

In the meantime came the “Promoted Tweets,” Twitter’s 140 character-style ads based on keyword searches. Currently companies who have a strong presence on Twitter for customer relations and branding such as Best Buy, Virgin America Airlines, and Starbucks, have started advertising via promoted tweets on a test basis.

Research found 34% of Twitter users dislike targeted ads, and if users don’t respond to the ads, they stop appearing, so it is still unknown how companies will understand the Twitter ecosystem in engaging with users. The column (in Japanese) can be found here.

We tweeted from the 3-day ad:tech san francisco (Japanese #atsj, English #adtechsf) and finally here are some photos.

This session introduced some of the latest Japanese mobile marketing case studies to the US audience. Hisami began the session by explaining the cultural differences between US and Japan using sushi as a reference. It looked like a cooking session (!) but invited some laughter as the ice breaker. Following that were presentations by Coca Cola Japan’s Hiroto Ebata and D2C’s CEO Akihisa Fujita. Details are chronicled (in Japanese) and more photos found in Hisami’s blog.

Following ad:tech tokyo last fall, Hisami Ohshiba will be a panelist at ad:tech san francisco (4/19-4/21) Future Technology: Advanced Mobile Marketing Insight from Japan session. Speakers are D2C’s CEO Akihisa Fujita and Coca Cola’s Digital Marketing Director Hiroto Ebata and moderated by dmg world media’s Marketing SVP Susan MacDermid. The session will uncover Japan’s unique mobile marketing world along with case studies. More details (in Japanese) on Hisami’s blog. Hisami will speak from the users’ perspective and knowing both countries. Many Japanese visitors are coming to this ad:tech and there will be a special Japanese Twitter hashtag (#atsj) for those following Japanese tweets.

Facebook, now in its 6th year with 400 million global users, ranking third in terms of population after China and India, and Twitter, with close to 60 million worldwide users, shows how social media plays a major role in generating consumers’ call-to-action. Companies’ social marketing activities are developing through trial-and-error, and in this Session, we’d like to take a moment to really observe what is happening in this rapidly changing landscape of communications and marketing. “Conversation is king. Content is just something to talk about” (Cory Doctorow) is a key concept, and we’d like to invite a deeper discussion with everyone on this theme. The last Session was very interactive with lively discussions by attendees, and we look forward to seeing everyone again at this next Session. Seminar info: 5th JaM Media Session in Tokyo, Latest US Marketing Trends: Now that social media has become an online utility for consumers, what are marketers’ strategies for social media marketing (SMM)?

• When: March 11, 2010 (Thurs) 6:30pm registration opens, 7:00~8:30pm session
• Where: Tokyu Agency 2nd floor Large Conference Room （map）
• Limited to 40 attendees
• Cost: 7000 yen (payment & receipts at sign-in)
• Copy of Hisami’s book, “The Presidential Elections in the YouTube Era” will be given to first time attendees
• Register: by March 5 (Fri) by email to jaminquiry@jamjapan.com

Hisami was invited to speak at Social Media Marketing Seminar on Feb. 24th in Tokyo, hosted by advertising industry publication “Sendenkaigi.” The seminar, held from 1:00 to 6:15pm, included the following four presenters:

• Naoki Ito, Executive Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo
• Noriyuki Ikeda, President/CEO, Tribal Media House, Inc.
• Hisami Ohshiba, Managing Member, JaM Japan Marketing LLC
• Takao Chitose, Consumer Marketing/Marketing Communications Manager, Dell Japan

Topics ranged from how companies can examine and better integrate social media into their marketing, and for agencies, how to better incorporate social media into their clients’ marketing plans, through learnings from both domestic and overseas case studies. More information (in Japanese) at Sendenkaigi.

The Feb. 1 Nikkei BP Column in NetMarketing Online (in Japanese) “US NetMarketing Chawa” titled Giving, the Social Marketing Keyword” covers how social media helped disseminate information and spur giving to Haiti’s earthquake victims, through cell phone text messaging, Twitter and Facebook. It also analyzes Pepsi’s move to skip its 23-year history of Super Bowl ads in favor of a $20 million social media campaign, Pepsi Refresh Program as its new marketing strategy.

The latest monthly Nikkei BP Column, NetMarketing Online (in Japanese) “US NetMarketing Chawa” Jan. 12th column titled “Social Media - Ringing Out the Old Year, Ringing In the New Year” reviews how social media changed how people communicated this past year. Facebook, with 350 million active users worldwide, now ranks third in the world in terms of population after China and India. It was big news on Dec. 8 when Dell announced that Twitter alone brought in $6.5 million in sales over the past 2-1/2 years. You could say during the last year, social media’s use for business marketing became firmly established, and social media’s importance will continue to rise this year.

The Dec. 7th column titled “How much can companies commit to social media strategy?” of monthly Nikkei BP Column, NetMarketing Online (in Japanese) “US NetMarketing Chawa” covers the heavy use of social media by companies for the U.S. holiday shopping season and is analyzed from both the corporate and consumer standpoints. According to Deloitte’s 24th Annual Holiday Survey of 10,000 US adults issued on Nov. 11th, almost 1 in 5 people (17%) said they would use social media tools for holiday shopping for the following reasons: ・60% to get coupons and sale info ・53% to get gift ideas ・52% to check what gifts friends and family want

The 3rd annual “Fujitsu North America Technology Forum 2009″ hosted by Fujitsu Laboratories of America in Sunnyvale, has been posted in the latest blog (in Japanese). This year’s theme was “Innovation for Sustainability” which struck a chord even with a non-techies like myself, with notable products and technology based on “Human-Centric Computing” being of particular interest.

The Nov. 2nd column titled “Analyzing Facebook as an Advertising Platform” of monthly Nikkei BP Column, NetMarketing Online (in Japanese) “US NetMarketing Chawa” covers the power of Facebook, which accounts for 25% of total page views among all US Internet users. The notion of “Owned Platforms” or “Private-Label Media” has captured the attention recently in US marketing circles, where advertisers can directly communicate with users and manage the platform, with Facebook being the ideal space used by companies. Latest trends in engagement ads for product samples to metrics such as the new affiliation with “Nielsen BrandLift” on Facebook is analyzed in detail.

The Oct. 5th column titled “Twitter Boom Reality Check 3: Marketing Strategy’s Essential Media” in the monthly Nikkei BP Column, NetMarketing Online (in Japanese) “US NetMarketing Chawa” analyzes the growing importance of the role of social media. The column includes Twitter users’ high receptivity to ads, behavioral comparisons with non-Twitter users, T.G.I. Friday’s promotion that acquired one million Facebook fans, as well as latest data and case studies.

The 4th JaM Media Session in Tokyo on Sept. 11th proved to be another valuable event with pointed questions and opinions by the attendees. The 1-1/2 hour presentation involved 58 slides with abundant videos and data along with speed talking. Like last time, tweets were being sent live during the session, with the hashtag “#JMS” for those interested (in Japanese). The latest data on Facebook and Twitter, I continued to explain the issues of social media from my own point of view as a consumer or user, and talked about how as marketers, we need to avoid activities that betray the trust of this ecosystem. I’d like to give my heartfelt thanks to all the participants for their valuable feedback and opinions from this session. This is what I believe defines Social Media that I had in the last slide of my deck: Social Media = a new media fueled by people sharing their emotions and thoughts

A bit late in reporting, but ad:tech tokyo on Sept. 3rd ended with great success. As the first ad:tech conference held in Japan, there were more than 3,000 early registrations, and was THE event for the Japanese advertising and marketing industry, causing a massive slowdown in regular business during the two days of Sept. 2 – 3. It took tremendous effort to put together by the all-volunteer Japanese staff, including dealing in English for foreign visitors, to whom I would like to give much thanks again. I participated in the panel “Adding Mobile to the Mix,” moderated by D2C’s president, Akihisa Fujita, who had the difficult task of managing a panel discussion for the less-than-one-hour session. I found out later there was a tweet saying the Obama campaign was an unexpected topic for a mobile panel discussion, so I guess I was an unusual panelist. The PPT (in Japanese & English) should be up on the ad:tech website for those who are interested, and I’ve also written about it in my blog (in Japanese).

The rise of Twitter in the U.S. shows how social media is becoming more entrenched in consumers’ lives and is clearly changing their purchasing and other online behavior. Consumers are content creators, distributors, critics, observers and marketers, yet also don’t like “being marketed to.” This Session explores how US marketers continue to test the market through trial and error with risk taking as part of the process. Attendees are limited to 40 people, and the last session proved to be an interactive and stimulating session. All are welcome. When: Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, 6:30pm registration, 7:00-8:30pm Seminar Where: Tokyu Agency Headquarters 2nd Floor, Large Conference Room (map) Cost: 5000 yen (payment & receipts at registration) Register by Sept. 8th at: http://bit.ly/15fY2h *Limited to 40 attendees, first come first served *Attendees will receive Hisami’s book, “The Presidential Elections in the YouTube Era - Documenting 700 Days of the Obama Campaign.”

The clip of Hisami Ohshiba’s cable TV interview (in Japanese) that aired Aug. 5th in Japan introducing her book, “The Presidential Elections in the YouTube Era” is now on YouTube. Never mind Hisami’s expression on the screen shot, it was a pleasant interview. The clip is also found on Tokyu Agency’s official site for the book. We still need to reach a wider audience, so we ask those who read the book to please support Hisami by spreading the word (WOM)!

The JaM Report Vol. 5 “Latest US Marketing Trends” (in Japanese) is finally available, after many inquiries about “is it ready yet?” Since 2007, JaM has issued a series of bi-annual reports which our repeat customers say are “invaluable for keeping current on the latest trends and issues in the constant, ever-changing US marketing industry.” Topics include the continued growth of social media such as Facebook’s changing user base and how Twitter is being used. The report includes numerous examples of case studies and up-to-date data, analyzing the on- and offline life of consumers and the role of marketing. To order this 83-page report (in Japanese), contact jaminquiry@jamjapan.com.

Global interactive and digital marketing conference ad:tech will be held in Japan for the first time this year. ad:tech Tokyo, to be held at the Prince Park Tower in Shiba Koen (Shiba Park) Tokyo September 2 – 3 with attendees from Japan and worldwide, is a marketing conference providing high value and vital information to keep abreast of the latest marketing trends and issues. Hisami will be a panelist in the session, Adding Mobile to the Mix at 1:30 – 2:25pm on Sept. 3. Details of the session and discussions will be updated later. Hisami will be in Japan again for this event and will stay until Sept. 16, so please contact us for requests for F2F meetings with her during this time.

Wanting to get a feel for the sales of my book “The Presidential Elections of the YouTube Era,” I visited various bookstores around Tokyo. In the States, authors will typically do “book tours” where the public is invited to bookstores, and the author may read excerpts, autograph books and meet their readers. In Japan, only well-known authors may do that, so I focused on meeting the store managers and getting feedback. We went from Shibuya, Shinjuku, Marunouchi, to Yaesu on the subway, and visited Kinokuniya Bookstore, Junku-Do, BookFirst, Maruzen, and Yaesu Book Center. I was thrilled to see the books flat-stacked and prominently displayed. Photos of the bookstore visits can be seen in my blog entry.

Hisami Ohshiba was interviewed live on Japanese radio J-WAVE’s (appropriately named) “JAM THE WORLD” on July 2nd, talking about social networking based on Hisami’s book “The Presidential Elections in the YouTube Era” in the “15 Minutes” segment of the show. Broadcast time (Japan): July 2nd 8:00 - 9:55pm (”15 Minutes” aired from 8:55pm).

The 3rd JaM Media Session in Tokyo was held on Wednesday, July 1st in collaboration with Tokyu Agency. This session commemorated the publishing of Hisami’s book, “The Presidential Elections in the YouTube Era,” and was attended by advertising/marketing industry people as well as corporate marketers. Blog entries by those who attended (as of July 2nd) Using Twitter may become illegal in Japan’s Public Election Act, and other issues I attended the 3rd JaM Media Session in Tokyo 3rd JaM Media Session in Tokyo – how communication changed in the US after the Obama phenomenon Obama as seen by a marketer – “The Presidential Elections of the YouTube Era” book launch event President Obama “really does things on his own” (on social media)

Thanks to those who attended Nikkei’s NetMarketing Forum 2009 held on June 30th. The Nikkei BP ITPro article and Nikkei Business Online article (in Japanese) covered Hisami Ohshiba’s keynote presentation.

Agile Media Network’s president Motohiko Tokuriki, who wrote the forward on the “The Presidential Elections for the YouTube Era” book’s “obi” (wraparound sleeve on the book exterior). Thank you, Tokuriki san! He also introduced the book in his June 26th blog entry.

Hisami’s new book (in Japanese),”The Presidential Elections in the YouTube Era - Documenting 700 Days of the Obama Campaign” (Publisher: Tokyu Agency, 1,680 Yen) will be available in Japan on June 27th in bookstores and on Amazon.jp. Her “Obama Watch” blog that chronicled Obama’s campaign from a marketing perspective has been compiled into a book. To purchase (in Japan), visit a local bookstore or order from Amazon Japan.

Nikkei BP hosted a special seminar - NETMarketing Forum 2009 - on June 30th in Tokyo. Hisami Ohshiba was keynote speaker: “How Social Media Brought Success to the Obama Campaign.” When: June 30 (Tues.) 12:30-1:30pm (seminar ends 4:50pm) Where: Shinagawa Prince Hotel Main Tower 10th Floor Registration fees: Nikkei NETMarketing Subscribers 20,000 Yen, All others 25,000 Yen Register here

Website：otogaku.com Price： Download： 990 yen (tax incl.) Audio CD：1,980 yen (tax incl.) Click here to purchase

Latest online trends and marketing topics, as alternative approaches become increasingly important in the “era of change.”

“Insights from Silicon Valley - Global Perspectives in Management” presented by JaM’s Hisami Ohshiba. more info

Includes latest info on social networks (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn), blogs, search, WOM and case studies, Web 3.0/Semantic Web, etc.

- a look at online ads and marketing methodologies using YouTube and blogs during the 2008 U.S. Presidental Election campaigns.

“Real Watch 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections” (now Obama Watch).

as keynote speaker. Other companies presenting were DeNA, mixi, MySpace and Google executives.

for an enthusiasic audience at the Japan Marketing Association’s (JMA) mobile marketing group. Topics included CGM, UGC, SNS and online video.