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3 Japanese internet companies to launch mobile video ad network targeting females

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This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2015.See the original story in Japanese. Japan’s largest cosmetics portal company iStyle (TSE:3660), internet portal company Excite Japan (TSE:3754), and startup-focused VC firm Incubate Fund announced on Friday that they have jointly launched a company called Open8, focused on providing a women-targeted video ad network for smartphone users. iStyle COO Yuko Takamatsu was appointed as CEO of Open8. We could hear from him about details at the recent B Dash Camp event in Fukuoka. Open8 will be an ad network platform specifically focused on the F1 layer in Japan, women aged from 25 to 34, expecting to reach 15 million female users leveraging existing user bases from iStyle and Excite Japan. Takamatsu claimed that they will let other leading media involved to reach 30 million female users when start selling ad slots. This launched was supported by continuous descending price and performance of desktop PC advertising. It was told that the online advertising market was valued over $8.3 billion in Japan, but advertising rates kept descending. Takamatsu’s opinion is now a common understanding for all the people in the Japanese online media industry. Meanwhile, despite a rapid shift…

yuko-takamatsu-kei-sugawara
From the left: Open8 CEO-designate / iStyle COO Yuko Takamatsu, iStyle COO Kei Sugawara

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2015.
See the original story in Japanese.

Japan’s largest cosmetics portal company iStyle (TSE:3660), internet portal company Excite Japan (TSE:3754), and startup-focused VC firm Incubate Fund announced on Friday that they have jointly launched a company called Open8, focused on providing a women-targeted video ad network for smartphone users. iStyle COO Yuko Takamatsu was appointed as CEO of Open8. We could hear from him about details at the recent B Dash Camp event in Fukuoka.

Open8 will be an ad network platform specifically focused on the F1 layer in Japan, women aged from 25 to 34, expecting to reach 15 million female users leveraging existing user bases from iStyle and Excite Japan. Takamatsu claimed that they will let other leading media involved to reach 30 million female users when start selling ad slots.

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Japanese women-targeted media sites planned to participate in the Videotap mobile ad network.

This launched was supported by continuous descending price and performance of desktop PC advertising.

It was told that the online advertising market was valued over $8.3 billion in Japan, but advertising rates kept descending.

Takamatsu’s opinion is now a common understanding for all the people in the Japanese online media industry.

Meanwhile, despite a rapid shift to mobile from PC, there’s a huge space to explore and develop more in the mobile advertising industry. Takamatsu didn’t undisclosed exact numbers but told us there are more than a little mobile ad inventory remaining unsold. By targeting this space, Takamatsu wants to grab the chance of a once-in-ten-years paradigm shift in the marketing industry.

So they had their eyes on the mobile video space which is now stress-free for users thanks to recent advances in mobile networking and higher penetration of smart devices. They are aiming to shift the big advertising budget of Japanese national clients from TV and other broadcast advertising into the mobile advertising space.

Open8 is planning to launch a video ad network for smartphones called Videotap. To see how it works, check out the video below.

As can be seen, Videotap gives users no chance to skip a video ad clip while watching but shows it in an unscrolled frame in the upper side of the screen so that one doesn’t look away. When the 15-second clip is finished, it will be folded into a small banner frame. The service will be offered on an impression-guaranteed basis.

In addition to women-targeted mobile video advertising, we were told that Open8 plans to launch another advertising service focused on mobile game apps.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japan’s nail art startup MiCHi fundraises from leading cosmetics review portal @Cosme

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Tokyo-based iStyle (TSE:3360), the company behind Japan’s leading online cosmetics portal @Cosme, announced today that it has invested an undisclosed sum in MiCHi, a startup providing an e-commerce platform focused on handmade nail tips under the same name. See also: Nail art startup puts Cute Japan at your fingertips MiCHi was first made available to customers outside of Japan, instead of launching in its home market. The e-commerce site was launched in April 2013, and the Japanese version was unveiled in August of the same year. Leveraging crowdsourced Japanese designers, the company provides high-quality nail tips at affordable prices that are attracting women from around the world with its distinct Japanese “kawaii” style. MiCHi was one of five startups that graduated from the third batch of Movida Japan’s acceleration program in 2013.

michi_featuredimage

Tokyo-based iStyle (TSE:3360), the company behind Japan’s leading online cosmetics portal @Cosme, announced today that it has invested an undisclosed sum in MiCHi, a startup providing an e-commerce platform focused on handmade nail tips under the same name.

See also:

MiCHi was first made available to customers outside of Japan, instead of launching in its home market. The e-commerce site was launched in April 2013, and the Japanese version was unveiled in August of the same year. Leveraging crowdsourced Japanese designers, the company provides high-quality nail tips at affordable prices that are attracting women from around the world with its distinct Japanese “kawaii” style.

MiCHi was one of five startups that graduated from the third batch of Movida Japan’s acceleration program in 2013.

Beauty products portal @Cosme to diversify business with GlossyBox Japan acquisition

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Tokyo-based iStyle (TSE:3660), the company behind Japanese popular cosmetics review portals @Cosme, announced yesterday that it acquired Beauty Trend Japan, the operating company of GlossyBox Japan. GlossyBox was started by Germany-based investment company Rocket Internet, and has been providing subscription-based cosmetics delivery service to female consumers in several Asian countries. In a related story, Singapore-based subscription service startup VanityTrove acquired GlossyBox Taiwan last year in order to expand their operations in Southeast Asia. While GlossyBox Japan has 53,000 users, iStyle has 2.8 million users and has partnered with some 850 cosmetics manufacturers in Japan. via Shopping Tribe / TechCrunch Japan

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Tokyo-based iStyle (TSE:3660), the company behind Japanese popular cosmetics review portals @Cosme, announced yesterday that it acquired Beauty Trend Japan, the operating company of GlossyBox Japan.

GlossyBox was started by Germany-based investment company Rocket Internet, and has been providing subscription-based cosmetics delivery service to female consumers in several Asian countries. In a related story, Singapore-based subscription service startup VanityTrove acquired GlossyBox Taiwan last year in order to expand their operations in Southeast Asia.

While GlossyBox Japan has 53,000 users, iStyle has 2.8 million users and has partnered with some 850 cosmetics manufacturers in Japan.

via Shopping Tribe / TechCrunch Japan

Magic mirror on my phone, will today’s sun hurt my skin tone?

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Japanese Mobile carrier NTT Docomo has partnered with iStyle (the company behind giant cosmetics review site @Cosme) to provide a beauty app called Bihada UV Mirror 1. The app’s name roughly translates to ‘Beautiful Skin Ultraviolet Mirror’, and it makes use of your mobile’s front-facing camera to transform your phone into a compact mirror. The mirror function lets you make sure you look good, but it also detects harmful ultraviolet radiation information at the time, showing six levels, each as a different background color. Other functions of the app includes Bihada Tenki (meaning ‘beautiful skin weather’), letting users set a default region, and then displaying weather information like temperature and humidity. Partnering with @Cosme, Bihada UV Mirror provides beauty related information in a section called Beaty Navi. Beauty conscious users can enjoy information about skin care, depending on the ultraviolet level, as well as basic knowledge about ultraviolet radiation. @Cosme has over 10 million cosmetic product reviews and ultraviolet-proof product rankings that users can enjoy within the app. Bihada UV Mirror can be downloaded for free over on Google Play. @Cosme has over 2.2 million registered users, in case you’ve forgotten. ↩

Bihada-UV-Mirror

Japanese Mobile carrier NTT Docomo has partnered with iStyle (the company behind giant cosmetics review site @Cosme) to provide a beauty app called Bihada UV Mirror 1. The app’s name roughly translates to ‘Beautiful Skin Ultraviolet Mirror’, and it makes use of your mobile’s front-facing camera to transform your phone into a compact mirror.

The mirror function lets you make sure you look good, but it also detects harmful ultraviolet radiation information at the time, showing six levels, each as a different background color. Other functions of the app includes Bihada Tenki (meaning ‘beautiful skin weather’), letting users set a default region, and then displaying weather information like temperature and humidity.

Partnering with @Cosme, Bihada UV Mirror provides beauty related information in a section called Beaty Navi. Beauty conscious users can enjoy information about skin care, depending on the ultraviolet level, as well as basic knowledge about ultraviolet radiation. @Cosme has over 10 million cosmetic product reviews and ultraviolet-proof product rankings that users can enjoy within the app.

Bihada UV Mirror can be downloaded for free over on Google Play.

cosmetic-mirror-app cosmetic-mirror-app


  1. @Cosme has over 2.2 million registered users, in case you’ve forgotten.

Beauty products portal @Cosme is an internet mainstay among Japanese women

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There are a few major review portals in Japan that are loved by women — Cookpad (food recipes), Ozmall (beauty salons), and Tabelog (restaurants) come to mind. But when it comes to cosmetics and beauty products, @Cosme is the place to go. The review site opened way back in December of 1999 and since then it has accumulated over 10 million reviews [1]. According to Toyokeizai, the site is used by one in three women in their 20s and 30s, and over two million members write 10 million reviews monthly. Many Japanese women have an endless appetite for greater beauty, and to satisfy such women, many cosmetic brands launch new products more often than one would expect. Industry journal Syogyo announced that in the first half of year 2012, the number of newly released cosmetic products went up 3.3% compared to the same time previous year, with the number of items reaching 1849. The average price of new products was 4132 yen (or about $42). Product reviews at @Cosme are essential for these women to find best the suited products considering the number of products that are available. Users can check product reviews and rankings, ask questions about skincare and…

@cosme-top

There are a few major review portals in Japan that are loved by women — Cookpad (food recipes), Ozmall (beauty salons), and Tabelog (restaurants) come to mind. But when it comes to cosmetics and beauty products, @Cosme is the place to go. The review site opened way back in December of 1999 and since then it has accumulated over 10 million reviews [1]. According to Toyokeizai, the site is used by one in three women in their 20s and 30s, and over two million members write 10 million reviews monthly.

Many Japanese women have an endless appetite for greater beauty, and to satisfy such women, many cosmetic brands launch new products more often than one would expect. Industry journal Syogyo announced that in the first half of year 2012, the number of newly released cosmetic products went up 3.3% compared to the same time previous year, with the number of items reaching 1849. The average price of new products was 4132 yen (or about $42).

Product reviews at @Cosme are essential for these women to find best the suited products considering the number of products that are available. Users can check product reviews and rankings, ask questions about skincare and makeup, and even find out where products are available offline. The site is free to browse, but by registering as a user, you can clip or bookmark your favorite brands, reviews, or reviewers, and also send messages to other @Cosme users about products. The site’s premium users pay a monthly membership fee of 294 yen (or about $3) which entitles them to receive special coupons and or points to win promotional products.

iStyle, the company behind @Cosme, went public on the Mothers market in March of last year. The site was initially founded to accumulate purchasing data across all cosmetics makers, but the company’s co-founder explained in a Toyokeizai interview that there is a limit to CRM as it only allows brands to collect information about existing purchasers. What brands really want is data about those who did not buy their products, which is essentially unreachable since that information belongs to competitors. @Cosme have successfully built a solution for this problem.

The core business of @Cosme is advertising, which accounts for roughly 25% of its profit, with ecommerce and retail stores just behind. @Cosme have opened six retail stores in popular locations such as Shinjuku and Ikebukuro to further engage consumers offline and online purchasing behaviors. Women can see the latest popular products on @Cosme, and visit the retails store to try them out and hopefully purchase them. @Cosme is very powerful in influencing purchasing decisions of beauty conscious consumers — so much so, in fact, that it is not uncommon to find products with things like “Chosen No.1 at @Cosme” on its package.

@cosmestore-Shinjuku

I myself do check out reviews on @Cosme when I’m deciding to try a new product. But I might not have anything in common with the reviewer in regard to skin type or preferred products. The site would be more fun and convincing if they tagged with products like Beautecam, allowing users to get connected with people having similar skin and beauty concerns.


  1. As of August of last year.  ↩