On Friday, September 21st, in collaboration with BIOHAZARD CAFE & GRILLS.T.A.R.S., [J] Information Services International-Dentsu, Ltd. [J] Open Innovation Lab (Inolab) [J] are hosting the experimental event King and Coba-U’s Gozouroppaazu Recapture Epic Battle, [J] where smartphones will be used to search the town of Shibuya.

This will be a townwide hunting style real game event, where participants will use their smartphones with location based services to search out the place of hidden items all over Shibuya.  Participation is free, and anyone in Shibuya may participate.  The game story is that Tyrant, enshrined within Shibuya “BIOHAZARD CAFE&GRILL S.T.A.R.S.,” has suddenly come back to life and taken off with the princess’ “gozouroppu” (internal organs) and brain.  The newcomer girl’s group team “S.T.A.R.S. ANGELIQUE” of the special military force S.T.A.R.S. will cordon off an area of Shibuya, lock up Tyrant in that area and engage in battle.  Participants, at the request of the king, will search for the current location of S.T.A.R.S. ANGELIQUE, based on hints from a special application or information from Ustream broadcasts or Twitter.  The king and princess will be disguised, as the well known Oh Sama [J] (King) who does rock style Japanese direct translations of western music, and Coba-U, [J] a female artist who calls out topics in her individual performance.  The first participant who finds 5 S.T.A.R.S. ANGELIQUE members within the limited time period and collects 5 different items (Gozouroppu) will be presented with an event grab bag (limited quantity).

The release of the exclusive event app “Search for King and Coba-U’s Gouzouroppaazu” is being spearheaded by ISID.  Participants use the app’s GPS radar system, check real time video and tweets, and guess the location of the S.T.A.R.S. ANGELIQUE from those contents.

Event outline is as follows.
“King and Coba-U’s Gozouroppaazu Recapture Epic Battle”
Date:  Friday September 21st, 2012
Ustream advance broadcast: 4:00-5:00 PM (explanation of rules and presents)
Recapture Game: 6:00-8:30 PM
After party (Prize Live): 8:30-11:00 PM
Ustream broadcast time: 4:00-11:00 PM
* All event appearances will be show live on the specially installed site.
Event location: Shibuya center street (please refer to the special site)
Present exchange and prize live place: Shibuya J-POP CAFE
Tokyo-to Shibuya-ku Utagawa-Cho 31-2 Shibuya Beam 7F
(http://www.j-popcafe.com/access/index.html)
Event participation fee: free
Target device: iPhone/Android
Host: Information Services International-Dentsu, Ltd. Open Innovation Lab
BIOHAZARD CAFE & GRILL S.T.A.R.S.
Production: 53RS Planning
Collaboration: CELEBO Inc. / Tokyo Nylon Girls

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mixi, Inc. [J] and Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. [J] have jointly released mixi Park, [J] a 3D virtual space for smartphones which operates together with the SNS mixi. [J]  It has been opened as a native application for iOS and Android, and both are free to download.

“mixi Park” is a service which allows you to create your own avatar and make communication.  You can enjoy various forms of communication, such as avatar actions depending on tweet contents, or greeting a my mixi face by touch.  As well as easily being able to make your own avatar by taking a picture of your face with the smartphone camera, it’s possible to freely customize 26 parts in all such as face, body, and clothing, and they are planning in time to add virtual items such as clothing and accessories.  In the center of “mixi Park” is the “plaza,” where you can engage in communication beyond text-based style, such as by poking avatars with the smartphone’s touch panel, and it’s also possible to get a reaction by tweeting through “mixi Park.”

Konami Digital Entertainment, from Japan, will offer “Yuru Veggie Farm” and “Just Like a Museum,” mixi games that can be played straight from “mixi Park” with a user avatar.  Also they are planning in time to offer more “mixi Games” which operate together with mixi Park.

Android version here [J]

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Tags: Social game, VSMedia by Chiho Komoriya
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KOBE, September 16, 2012. After successfully holding the 2011 Marketing Competition Japan (MCJ), in which 24 teams from 12 different universities participated, the MCJ committee officially launched MCJ 2012. The organizers of the event expect more than 150 teams from 30 different universities (mostly from Global COE institutions) to compete in MCJ 2012.The competition will also hold workshops to train college students on how to prepare a marketing plan in English.

This year’s theme is increasing human traffic to Kobe Harborland. The participants first have to understand why people travel to Kobe and then come up with effective advertising messages to attract more visitors to Kobe Harborland. To complete their business plan, the participants also need to create simple advertisements and explain how they will incorporate social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, mixi, Google+, etc. into their plans to promote the famous tourist location.

The competition consists of 3 rounds. First, students create a summary plan and submit it online. In the second round, the top 40 teams present their plans in regional preliminaries, which are held in two major universities on the same weekend. In the final round, the top 8 teams are invited to Kobe University of Foreign Studies to make a 12-minute presentation before local and international judges in a large auditorium. The best team wins the grand prize. One difference from the previous competition is that this year’s teams are asked to make a short commercial in English and upload it to YouTube (the most watched video will win a special prize).

Starting this year, MCJ will also accept international applications online. The case for the international students is a little bit different than the case for Japanese students, and international students do not have to travel to Japan to present their plans. All of the applications will be submitted online and evaluated by the organizing committee. International students will also focus on the people in their own country (e.g. if they live in Singapore they will target the people in Singapore, if they are from Thailand they will target the people in Thailand).The award for the best international plan is a $500 cash prize.
Marketing Competition Japan is a task-based learning activity that allows participants to improve their English skills, critical thinking skills, and presentation skills by providing an opportunity to work on a real life business case. All plans must include social media and should strategically utilize Twitter, YouTube, mixi, or Facebook etc. to be qualified. It is the first competition that combines English, business, and social media elements in order to raise globally competent leaders who are equipped with the knowledge of modern communication technologies and business skills.

MCJ is organized by the Marketing Competition Japan Committee at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies with support from several widely known corporations and organizations, including Nestle, P&G, NHK, mixi, Dentsu, The Japan Times, Cambridge University Press, and BBC World News.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marketing-Competition-Japan/193621717375325
http://marketingjp.com/

Tags: Announcement, Japan, Marketing by Adam Acar
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Colopl, Inc. [J] has initiated a tie-up with the three companies Watarase Keikoku Railway, Keihan Denki Railway, and Tosa Kuroshio Railway, through their location based game “Colony Life.”  This brings the total number of transportation companies connected with Colopula up to 28.

With this link-up, they will be offering “Norimono Coloka” (Vehicle Coloka) which let “Colony Life” users participate in stamp library events from these 3 companies within the game.  Also, this will be the first time that “Norimono Coloka” from Gunma prefecture and Shiga prefecture will be offered.

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Tags: Social game, VSMedia by Chiho Komoriya
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CyberAgent, Inc. [J] has submitted a questionnaire related to “smartphone usage” towards users of “Candy,” [J] their home page application for smartphone, and they have announced the results of this.

“Candy” is a smartphone application which allows users to create their own original home page and customize their profile, photos, and blog design.  From its release [J] on April 4th, its membership has been focused on female Jr. high and high school students; 95% of members are girls, and over 50% of members fall between the ages of 13 and 19 years old.  This survey has been directed towards “Candy” users between 13 and 19 under the theme of “smartphone usage.”

To begin, the result of the question about hours of smartphone use per day revealed that 80% answered over 3 hours, and 23% answered over 10 hours, which basically means that 1 in 5 Jr. high or high school girls surveyed use a smartphone for over 10 hours in a day.  From the moment they wake up until they go to bed, almost all of their hours are spent using their smartphones.  As for the question regarding gaming, those who answered that they play games (every day or sometimes) rose to about 70%.  Regarding the smartphone model used, iPhone takes up about half with 49%, and the white iPhone was most popular.  After this is the Android, with many users of Xperia and AQUOS, followed by MEDIAS, GALAXY, INFOBAR, and REGZA.

Detailed results are here:
http://www.cyberagent.co.jp/news/press/2012/0830_1.html [J]

“Candy” Jr. high and high school girl student smartphone use survey summary

* Daily hours of smartphone use        (Total responses: 1,372)
* About smartphone game use        (Total responses: 1,165)
* About smartphone model used        (Total responses: 1,691)
* About address exchange with friends    (Total responses: 1,596)
* About means of contacting with friends    (Total responses: 2,380)
* About addictive apps            (Total responses: 2,139)

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