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MAGASTORE will launch first on the iPhone

One of Japan’s most powerful companies, Dentsu, is trying to extend its control of traditional media to the mobile arena with a new application that will force users to pay for online magazines and maintain its dominance over their ad space.

For years the advertising behemoth has been sitting pretty, thanks to its near-monoploy over media buying and the commissions that go with it. Last week, Dentsu announced the launch of MAGASTORE, a downloadable app that will sell access to magazines on mobile phones.

In fiscal 2008, the digital publishing market was estimated at ¥46.4 billion (US$500 million), up ¥10.9 billion from the previous year. Of that, mobile publishing accounted for more than ¥40 billion, according to research by Impress Holdings. Digital comic books are selling especially well, thanks to improvements in cell phones, with larger screens, faster Web access and simpler billing systems.

MAGASTORE, a collaboration with mobile software provider YAPPA Corp., will begin as an application for the iPhone on the Softbank network this summer, and later be made available to other handsets and carriers. After downloading the application, users can purchase magazines and store them to read anytime. Users will pay ¥115 to for the application and then ¥115 to ¥600 per magazine.

YAPPA has made one-off solutions for magazines in the past, such as Shufuntomo’s éf magazine. But Dentsu’s bundled app will be cost-effective for publishers. They will get access to viewer data as well as an online settlement system and, according to the company, “a new advertising solution combining the characteristics of magazine contents and the technology of mobile advertising.”

Among the publishing houses that have signed up for MAGASTORE are Asahi Shimbun, Fusosha (Numero, Spa!), Condé Nast Japan (Vogue, GQ) and a host of niche publishers of titles about everything from skateboarding and kimono to salt-water fishing.

The control of content by powerful corporations remains solid in Japan, even in mobile, where providers like DoCoMo and KDDI strictly control who gets access to users’ menus. (The App Store model developed by Apple for the iPhone fits nicely with this strategy.) When it comes to the question of whether online content should be free or paid, Japan clearly veers toward the latter. Consumers don’t expect mobile content to be free, and by the same token are more willing to pay for it.

Although the list of participating publishers in MAGASTORE is by no means comprehensive at this stage, Dentsu’s intention seems clear: to control the mobile publishing market by controling the delivery system, its model in print and television for decades, and one that has served the company well, if not the consumer.

Japanese office workers in their 20s prefer communicating on the sports field.

Mori Building, a Tokyo-based property developer, manages offices occupied by several leading Japanese and international companies such as Rakuten, TV Asahi, Yahoo! Japan and Goldman Sachs. Participants in the survey were readers of Office Life News, a free magazine distributed to people working in Mori offices.

The survey found that 85% workers in their 20s see such “informal communication” as important. By comparison, only 24% of workers over the age of 50 responded that it is “important”, with 47% seeing it as “somewhat important.”

New recruits at an admission ceremony for Toyota. Casual Friday is still a dream for most corporate employees.

Workers in their 20s stated they value communicating with coworkers outside of the office because they can “get new information” (59%), and because it can “improve the work atmosphere in the office” (34%). 70% of workers in their 20s said they would like to increase opportunities to informal communication with coworkers.

Mori Building has begun organizing activities to give workers a chance to meet up outside of the office, such as the “Mori Cup” a soccer tournament for teams of people working in Mori Offices.

But with the growing demand for functional foods by Japanese consumers, the first products that turn the benefit into a brand name are appearing the beverage sector.

Asahi Soft Drinks has released a soft drink that contains the caffeine of two cups of coffee and energy from glucose. The purpose, obviously, is waking people up. No one is likely to miss this, as the name of the product translates as “Emergency Rations for Waking Up,” printed in bold on a bright yellow background.

Other recent example is fuyu no kenko taisaku sui (“winter health care water”) from Akaho Kasei, which claims to boost the immune system, and prevents or helps recover from cold. It contains vitamin C and magnesium, potassium, ginger and yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit).

Yet another example is Suntory’s gokaku energy (“energy for passing exams”), which contains 6 types of vitamins, glucose sugar, and caffeine. The product claims to provide stamina to students cramming for exams in marathon study sessions, and was launched just in time for the university entrance exams in February.

Learn more:
Other Asahi Products
Asahi Official Site (Japanese)

Learn more:
Other Asahi Products
Asahi Official Site (Japanese)

Asahi has released a new green tea chu-hai drink, made with gyokuro and matcha, two types of fine green tea, and containing 5% alcohol by volume.

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Other Asahi Products
Asahi Official Site (Japanese)

Asahi has released “Jet Cafe,” a new addition to its Wonda line of canned coffee, made from espresso brewed with high speed jets of steam, and with 73% less sugar.

Learn more:
Other Asahi Products
Wonda Official Site (Japanese)

A few of the numerous zero drinks released in 2008.

Mandatory health checks to combat metabolic syndrome for full-time employees were implemented in April of this year, leaving many people counting calories and carbs. As consumers make decisions based on heightened concerns over health, “zero” products, boasting “zero carbohydrates,” “zero calories,” “zero sugar,” were a hit in 2008.

Zero-sugar ham, bacon, and candies were released, but the busiest sector was the canned drink industry, with a number of “zero sugar” canned coffees and “zero carbohydrate” beers going on the market. Kirin started the trend in February, releasing Kirin Zero, a zero carbohydrate happoshu, and Suntory released Zero Nama (“Zero Draft”) in March. Summer saw the release of a number of zero sugar chu-hai drinks from Kirin and Suntory.

According to a recent Nikkei report, “zero” alcoholic beverages first appeared on the Japanese market in 2006, garnering sales of 1.8 billion yen ($18 million). Sales jumped in 2007 to 36.1 billion yen, boostered by Asahi’s Style Free carb free happoshu, the first hit product in the zero drink market, and sales more than doubled in 2008, to a projected 94.7 billion yen.