Dentsu Asia won regional Apple account.

This will be a good springboard for us to further advance our digital innovation capabilities. On a separate but relevant note...

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Apple & The Dentsu Group Bring iAds to Japan

TOKYO and CUPERTINO, California—November 9, 2010—Apple® and The Dentsu Group today announced a partnership to expand Apple’s iAd℠ mobile advertising network to Japan in early 2011. Dentsu will be responsible for the selling and creative execution of iAds in Japan, and Apple will host, target and deliver the iAds to its iPhone® and iPod touch® users. iAd was launched in the US in July and has emerged as a powerful new way for leading brands to reach the tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch users, while providing a significant new revenue stream for developers.

“After an incredibly successful launch in the US where we’ve already doubled the number of brands on the network, we’re excited to bring iAd to Japan,” said Andy Miller, Apple’s vice president of iAd. “Dentsu is one of the world’s most prestigious advertising agencies, making them an ideal partner for iAds in Japan.”

“We’re thrilled to be joining with Apple to introduce such a powerful new ad platform in Japan,” said Ryuichi Mori, Senior Executive Vice President, Dentsu Inc. “Mobile advertising is Japan’s fastest-growing platform and iAd’s rich media experience and engaged audience of iPhone and iPod touch users make it uniquely positioned to capture mobile’s full potential for advertisers and developers.”

Dentsu subsidiary cyber communications, inc. (cci) will provide one-stop services for iAd in Japan including creative production and media planning.

iAd, which is built into iOS 4, lets users stay within their current app while engaging with an ad, even while watching a video, playing a game or using in-ad purchase to download an app or buy iTunes® content.

Developers who join the iAd Network can easily incorporate a variety of advertising formats into their apps. Developers will receive an industry-standard 60 percent of the iAd Network revenue, which is paid via iTunes Connect. Developers can visit developer.apple.com/iad to join the iAd Network, or to learn more about the iAd platform.

Founded in 1901, Dentsu Inc. has held the position of world’s top brand agency for almost 40 years. Based in Tokyo, Dentsu offers national, multinational and global clients the most comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services through its unique “Integrated Communication Design” approach. Active worldwide in sports marketing and the production of movies, anime and other entertainment content, the Dentsu Group has more than 6,000 clients and close to 20,000 employees worldwide.

cci, established in 1996 as a subsidiary of Dentsu Inc., has led the growth of Japan’s online advertising market as a total interactive, one-stop marketing service company that provides internet advertising services including media planning, ad serving technology, ad creative service and market analysis.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Press Contacts:
Tom Neumayr
Apple
tneumayr@apple.com
(408) 974-1972

Shunsaku Kannan
The Dentsu Group
s.kannan@dentsu.co.jp
+81 3 6216 8041

Why bother with touchscreen?

Seriously ;)

The iPod Wall from welikesmall on Vimeo.

Meeting the pop of iPhone, Bob Borchers :)

Great great great inspiring presentation by Bob Borchers on 'Innovation' yesterday at the MMC 10 organised by ADOI.

His advice from conception to delivery: Just remember to etch this four very important rules onto your everyday work habit (but Italic mine):

1) First is overated (first, so what? It's about who scores with the hottie after that!)
2) Change the rules (if you identify the wrong rules, you change the wrong stuff. Still can't get myself to do it right...)
3) Show the obvious benefit (if there are many benefits, then show them all in a single breath!)
4) On going innovation (yea, once isn't enough, keep it going and going and going till it becomes your entire existence is to innovate)

There was a short Q&A session after the presentation which had to be cut short because believe me, it could go on and on and on. I mean Bob was so popular! Like Rihanna! I had a burning question in me but wasn't lucky (or tall) enough to get noticed. So he ended the talk, the crowd poured out of the hall, some went to get his superstar signature and eBay-type photos ;) and I went back in because it was still burning. I had to put it off. So here's my question to Bob.

***

Sparks: Hi Bob, I have a burning question back there but you didn't see my hand.

Bob: Hi, I'm sorry about that. You should have just jumped up! So what was it?

Sparks: Well, my question is purely from a consumer point of view so... am not gonna ask you for any marketing tricks ;) You talked about innovation at the very source which is the conceptualisation of a product and finally creating it. You also mentioned about innovation in communication, to ensure the message gets right through to the consumer before they finally open their little 'Christmas in Spring' shopping bag to reveal their new iPhone.

And if I understand your marketing strategy correctly, since the first iPhone launch, every 1 and a half years or so, there's a new version. Understandable because that's innovation. But as you launch newer and newer versions, your customers are continuously upgrading. And considering our 'over consumed' state of the world, which lead to an inevitable crisis on sustainability issue, what is Apple's stance of innovation in this? So there's innovation in creation and delivery. What about disposal? What happens to all the hardware that we have purchased but are no longer in use? What is Apple's innovation in the last mile of the consumer cycle?

Bob: Well, that's a very good question which I forgot to mention during the presentation. We acknowledge our strong and loyal fan base and that's why our software upgrade is every 3 months. Which means, in order to enjoy the latest features, all they have to do is upgrade their existing softwares. We never tell them they have to purchase the latest version. But we too want them to enjoy the latest from Apple.

Sparks: Yea but what about the hardware? The ones that are no longer in use because there are now spanking newer versions?

Bob: Well, that's a really tricky one because hardwares are important to our business. But we're just saying that, the option of upgrading to the latest version is available to our customers.

Stranger: Hi Bob! Great presentation (squeezed in)

Sparks: Uh, oh, okay, thanks! Yea GREAT presentation :)

***

Well, I think he answered my question: SOFTWARES can play a huge role in sustainable consumption in electronics. But he didn't answer my other question. What innovation is Apple putting in place as part of its responsibility as a global citizen and important economic figure?

Hmm, something to really think about, isn't it?

And to leave you with something entertaining, a hip hop remix of Bob's original presentation of the iPhone :)

New iPhone 4 - bigger better thinner.

Those who recently bought an iPhone will probably get cheesed off. But I guess, we should have expected that 'improvisation' is Apple's innate culture. Nothing stays the way it is for long. Well, now you know. When you buy the iPhone 4, you should be prepared that 5 is underway ;)

Recharged.

Just got back from Greece, the land of the Intelligent and once upon a time. a great empire. It strikes me as odd that many countries which once were great empires seem to dwindle in the area of modernization. But then again, it really depends on how we define modernity. Is it the development of skyscrapers with hundreds of floors, our modern version of Babel? Or the number of people who can afford to live 'unlived' lives in the virtual world? Athens lack what major metropolis consist of, monolithic metallic structures of all sorts but not its charm. It may seem like a poorer cousin of Italy but its picturesque countryside and islands are bountiful. I would never exchange that kind of natural attraction with any modern architecture - tallest or no. From my short two-week experience, Greeks tend to oscillate between two extremes. On one hand, they're the friendliest, nicest, warmest, sweet as honey type of people you'll ever meet. And on the other hand, they could be the ones ripping apart your holiday mood; arms folded, eyebrow raised with an 'I-hate-Asians' kind of look. I was partly amused and partly confused. Thank goodness I met more amusing Greeks than I did with the latter type. For a moment I somewhat recalled what a friend told me shortly before I left: There's no reason why anyone should be racist. Maybe there are. Maybe because we conversed too loud? Laughed too loud? Belched too loud? I don't know. Maybe we were just plain LOUD? :)

Anyway, it's time to tune myself back to work mode. It's been a good two weeks, a great start to a great year and I'm already thinking about my next adventure. But before that, you need to see this:

Message: To all of you who once told me that I can't change the world, or to the person in the mirror or to anyone else for that matter, simply because you were sceptical about the power of one to a world of 6 billion. Think again. Because Apple now says I (we) can :)

*Thanks Rae