Is Disney's Japanese MVNO too Goofy to succeed?

Both Google and The Walt Disney Co. made significant inroads into the Japanese mobile market this week, but just because the two American media giants are moving into the Far East doesn't mean they're traveling in the same direction. Google announced a partnership with Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo to deliver search services and search-related advertisements to the carrier's i-mode subscribers; the web services giant also will collaborate with DoCoMo to enhance the user-friendliness of i-mode services, as well as introduce keyword-based advertisements employing the Google AdWords platform. A joint mobile marketing effort is also under discussion, and chances are good DoCoMo will eventually bring to market handsets based on Google's fledgling Android mobile OS.

The DoCoMo deal follows on a similar 2006 partnership with rival Japanese operator KDDI. Together, the two carriers account for about 80 percent of Japan's 100 million-subscriber wireless market, giving Google a huge boost in its effort to dominate the mobile search category and, by extension, reap the majority of revenues from associated advertisements. According to DoCoMo executive vice president Kiyoyuki Tsujimura, the operator is expecting the Google deal to boost their shared search-related ad revenues to $94 million "as soon as possible." But a recent Information Week feature reports Google is treading carefully in its efforts to monetize its mobile services; some, like mobile Gmail, will remain commercial-free for the foreseeable future. "There are no ads for [mobile] Gmail because it deteriorates the user experience," said Google product manager Takeshi Kishimoto. "If this screen gets bigger and we find that ads actually improve the user experience--for instance, showing the related data or ads to help people find a restaurant--we will introduce the ads as part of the service." Added John Lagerling, who heads Google's strategic partner development in Tokyo, "The value of being in Japan is the depth of available content that is formatted for mobile phones. That means we can study how users traverse the different types of content with a very good sample size."  

While Google is looking to apply what it learns in Japan to its U.S. mobile efforts, Disney is looking to make sure it doesn't repeat the mistakes it made over here as it launches a new MVNO over there…or at least that's the plan. The company announced this week it will launch Disney Mobile on March 1 in conjunction with Japanese operator Softbank Mobile. The Japanese MVNO's scheduled debut follows roughly six months after Disney pulled the plug on its U.S. Disney Mobile effort and more than a year after it benched its Mobile ESPN venture, but both the operational structure and the demographic focus are far different this time around. For one thing, Softbank Mobile will assume responsibility over all the back-end operations, including customer service and sales; Disney Mobile also will be available via major electronics retailers as well as its own website.

That all makes sense. Far less certain is Disney Mobile's target audience: adult women, not children. Disney Mobile will tailor ringtones, videos and games to women in their 20s and 30s, said to represent a huge segment of Disney's overall Japanese fanbase: Females older than 20 reportedly constitute 75 percent of the 3.5 million subscribers to Disney's myriad Japanese mobile websites. Disney Mobile will also court subscribers with designer handsets--the first, produced by Sharp, will come in pink, gold and silver, complete with subtle Disney-themed graphics. Let's see: Narrowly-defined consumer demographic, specialized content, designer devices…isn't this pretty much how Disney's MVNO efforts went awry in the past? If nothing else, the failures of the first Disney Mobile and Mobile ESPN proved that even the most iconic multimedia brands are far less potent in wireless, where content still falls behind network coverage, voice quality and pricing on the list of consumer priorities. Looks like The Mouse is falling into the same trap all over again. - Jason