DoCoMo 2.0

It's a good season for mobile phone carriers in Japan. Well, at least ad-wise.

Here's another mobile phone campaign that has been taking Japan by storm. This time it's from NTT DoCoMo, by far the industry leaders for years (despite SoftBank's successes detailed in previous posts, their huge growth in subscribers makes them only 1/3 the size of DoCoMo's empire).

Below is the campaign photo that kicked off the "DoCoMo 2.0" campaign which began at the beginning for summer this year.

No phone in hand, just eight men and women lined up, dressed in flashy garb. If one didn't know the DoCoMo name, this could easily be a random ad for clothing, toothpaste, or flashlights, take your pick.

DoCoMo has traditionally advertised with wholesome, family-oriented ads to appeal to customers of all ages, especially older ones. But with the 2.0 ads, they've rounded up eight talented "it" actors and actresses to front the campaign, obviously attempting to now tap into the younger market.

Subsequently, the entire presentation of the campaign is very hip. For example, their print ads always resemble fashion ads more than phone ads. Here's the "fall/winter 07-08 collection."


Very chic. Very un-phone commercial-y.

The campaign's premise is based on the eight friends who meet at a gokon, or a group-based blind date. The eight are naturally paired off into possible couples, whose roads to happily-ever-after are chronicled in later ads. This gokon was shown in the debut commercial, which was a seven-minute clip shown on the Internet. Below is the shortened version for TV:

DoCoMo didn't air the seven-minute version on TV for obvious cost reasons, but it did cause lots of buzz with Internet users. And they definitely did splash out the big bucks by covering billboards, posters, and even wrapping around entire train compartments with the now iconic DoCoMo 2.0 red star.

To show the scale of the campaign, here's a teaser ad shown simultaneously across multiple TV screens at one of the world's most famous street crossings in Shibuya (perhaps familiar to those who've watched Lost in Translation).


There's a certain arrogance to DoCoMo's campaign, maybe due to the company's position as industry leader, or the fact that they have such a strong cast line up. But as I sit here staring at my DoCoMo 2.0 wallpaper and screensaver (which by the way, looks great and can be personalized with messages and photos, free at the superbly designed docomo2.jp), I suppose they're doing something right to attract young consumers. Needless to say, I personally love the campaign.

DoCoMo 2.0 and previous SoftBank's commercials highlight the current trend in Japanese advertisements to employ the "mega-campaign" method. I.e., well known celebrities + quirky, funny material + multiple commercials with a sense of continuation = a winning combo.

More examples of the "mega-campaign" to come.
Hope you'll try to stay awake....or not.