Disney embarked on a cellular phone business in the US as early as June 2006 but pulled the plug at the end of last year, citing delays in the spread of 3G networks as the major reason.
In March this year, Disney carried out another attempt, but this time in Japan, where the brand has been super-popular for decades now. Disney Japan teamed up with local telecom conglomerate SoftBank to become the country’s first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) offering both voice and data services.
In Japan, Disney strategically about-faced by pursuing an OEM-like strategy: They leave back-end operations (distribution, price planning, sales, billing, etc.) to their partner and focus on bringing content, design know-how and brand value into the partnership.
Japanese customers can sign up for Disney Mobile at over 2,000 SoftBank stores and buy jointly designed handsets featuring various Disney characters. Subscribers are able to download Disney cartoons, games or ringtones, jump to exclusive Disney web sites by pressing a dedicated button on their phones and use @disney.ne.jp as their mobile mail address. Another accommodation to local peculiarities: The main target customers in Japan aren’t kids but women in their 20s and 30s.
So far, the change in strategy seems to have worked out well. For example, Disney Mobile just recently reached agreements with mobile giants Mobage-town and Mixi Mobile (the cell phone version of Japan’s biggest social network), which now feature Disney characters on their sites.
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a strike for disney..good positioning
Don’t know much behind the scene complexities but with my limited knowledge a mobile market like Japan which is years ahead in terms of technology, services how they intend to succeed after failing in US.
They should learn from google vs. baidu or for instance EBay vs. Taobao … on top mobile is not even Disneys turf
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Brand awareness, incredible mobile content consumption, different target audience, mobile browsing during commutes, everything Disney is “kawai” in Japan… Looks like a great strategu.
seems they have softbank with them, sound like a solid plan
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This doesn’t surprise me as the expectations of users of mobiles in Japan are very different to that in the U.S.
Recently there was an article in Fast Company or Wired about how users in Japan are much more savvy regarding shopping from their mobiles too, and expect the mobiles to deliver the right features on that front.
All these things prove that a one size fits all approach rarely works as the customers vary differently
Mike Ashworth
Marketing Coach and Consultant
Brighton and Hove, Sussex, UK
They should rather launch in China. Japan is a dead market!
If only Japan were interesting or comparable to any other market as to be an interesting exampl. Yawn.
Any proof they are actually succeeding? I’m in Osaka and I don’t know anyone that has a Disney Mobile-branded phone nor do they have much of an advertising presence around the place. I might just not know the right people but is there any information about the number of subscribers they’ve managed to snag, for instance?
I have to second Michael Camilleri’s comment above. With new phones being released all the time here, I’d be surprised if the line had any staying power. I haven’t seen Disney phones actually owned by anyone either. Good numbers would be how many people continue with the line when they upgrade their phones. It could be one of those things that’s a moneymaker even with a small group of users (cheaply produced Disney content, cheaply produced Softbank phone, high profit margin).
Interesting post, given that rumors around town are that they are not too far from folding.
We it seems that the disney brand is strobger in Japan than Amercia…
> The main target customers in Japan aren’t kids but women in their 20s and 30s.
Disney’s target demographics in the US are a lot older than you might think. Don’t be confused by the hole in the late teens.
A large fraction of the disney cruisers have no kids. Look at the folks in the parks - about half don’t have kids.
It’s possible that the disney kid sales actually overstate the kids’ brand preferences because Disney does a much better job making things available and marketing to adults “for the children”.
i agree with ken/michael/jay, i am in tokyo and have met zero people with disney mobile.
just because the service exists here doesn’t mean it’s successful. some data would be nice.
Less than 100K subs in 100M market is a success???
Frankly, I am doubtful about the “success” you are reporting about. What are the numbers? Users, Profitability, ARPU… The fact that they are on the shelves in Softbank stores is definitely not a guarantee for success. I looked at the handsets (even touched them) and they are fairly low-end Sharp stuff (a decent phone by Japanese standard, but not very exciting - see http://disneymobile.jp/product.....id=d_mo_pr).
The agreements you mention with Mobile Game Town and Mixi sound like usual marketing fluff from telcos. They are providing their service on a Softbank MVNO? Did they need really need an agreement for that?
Overall, the Disney MVNO sounds more like a good deal for Softbank than for Disney.
Not surprising that this is a success, given Japanese women’s love of all things “kawaii”.
I want a japanese disney mobile! theyre beautiful! i really want the bronze topaz one. disney targeted kids but there are some people who wont mind being reminded of their childhood and its cute
i would just want the phone, i dunno about the service tho
i might not want it as much if america came out with pretty phones to be honest