Comments on: How Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan (After Failing In the U.S.)

By: Youth Global Swarming 19 March 09 | mobileYouth - youth marketing mobile culture research

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:54:11 +0000

[...] * Mapping a New, Mobile Internet (businessweek) * How Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan (techcrunch) * Don’t Think Traffic – Think Demographics (Social Media Trader) * Cellphones tap wisdom [...]

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 07:51:55 +0000

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

By: Ichiro

Ichiro — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:52:43 +0000

Not surprising that this is a success, given Japanese women’s love of all things “kawaii”.

By: NGT News: Facecard, Here We Go TV and Musical Phones

NGT News: Facecard, Here We Go TV and Musical Phones — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:16:06 +0000

[...] VoIPTargeting youth on mobile: adidas, Nickelodeon, SonyHow to explain Twitter to Your GrandmaHow Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan (After Failing In the U.S.)How to Fake Texts From ObamaRalph Lauren is first luxury retailer to launch mobile commerce | [...]

By: Disney Mobile not dead in Japan — not even close | Prepaid Reviews

Disney Mobile not dead in Japan — not even close | Prepaid Reviews — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:01:39 +0000

[...] Toto of Tech Crunch brings up an interesting point: In Japan, Disney strategically about-faced by pursuing an OEM-like [...]

By: Kid Toys » Blog Archive » Disney Search Engine Results

Kid Toys » Blog Archive » Disney Search Engine Results — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:20:09 +0000

[...] Comment on How Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan (After Failing … [...]

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:52:00 +0000

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://disneymo...tml?mid=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.

By: coward anonymous

coward anonymous — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:14:42 +0000

Less than 100K subs in 100M market is a success???

By: spundot

spundot — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:00:04 +0000

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.

By: Andy Freeman

Andy Freeman — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:40:08 +0000

> 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”.

By: Grazalema

Grazalema — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:51:14 +0000

We it seems that the disney brand is strobger in Japan than Amercia…

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:50:45 +0000

Interesting post, given that rumors around town are that they are not too far from folding.

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:57:14 +0000

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).

By: Michael Camilleri

Michael Camilleri — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:29:16 +0000

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?

By: Stimpy

Stimpy — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:47:48 +0000

If only Japan were interesting or comparable to any other market as to be an interesting exampl. Yawn.

By: japannewsjunkie.com

japannewsjunkie.com — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:03:11 +0000

How Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan (After Failing In the U.S.)…

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 sit…

By: Raj

Raj — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:27:54 +0000

They should rather launch in China. Japan is a dead market!

By: How Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan « Weblibraryjpn’s Weblog

How Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan « Weblibraryjpn’s Weblog — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:56:03 +0000

[...] How Disney Mobile Is Succeeding In Japan (After Failing In the U.S.) (August 22, 2008 TechCrunch) [...]

By: TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » ディズニー・モバイルが日本で好調な理由（アメリカで失敗後）

TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » ディズニー・モバイルが日本で好調な理由（アメリカで失敗後） — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:40:50 +0000

[...] [原文へ] [...]

By: mike ashworth

mike ashworth — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:32:47 +0000

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

By: Stephane Delbecque

Stephane Delbecque — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:31:39 +0000

Brand awareness, incredible mobile content consumption, different target audience, mobile browsing during commutes, everything Disney is “kawai” in Japan… Looks like a great strategu.

By: rei

rei — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:29:17 +0000

seems they have softbank with them, sound like a solid plan

http://www.bloggerunited.com

By: RahulC

RahulC — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:12:15 +0000

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

http://mydating...e.blogspot.com/

By: rei

rei — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:10:00 +0000

a strike for disney..good positioning