All posts in “english language video”

Ninja Slayer Animation Begins April 16th at 11 pm on Niconico

2015年3月6日 / 2 Comments

The good news is finally out! The new Ninja Slayer animation begins April 16th, 2015 at 11 pm on Niconico! (What’s Niconico? Please refer to “Japan’s YouTube? It’s Niconico!” (http://robot55.jp/blog/what-is-nico-nico-douga-its-japans-youtube/))

All Ninja Heads unite! The Ninja Slayer comic that has been a boom all over the world, including Japan, will be released as an animation and delivered to you at your home PC, or your smart phone on Niconico! (Nico Nico Douga!)

As a matter of fact, the humans at ROBOT55 have been involved in the production of this cult program, and I think they can deliver an interesting and smashingly funny program for you.

Screen Capture of Ninja Slayer Trailer video (below)

Screen Capture of Ninja Slayer Trailer video (below)

What? You haven’t heard of Ninja Slayer? Well, here’s a quick rundown:

In the distant future at Neo Saitama, some evil ninjas were brought back to life through the use of  cybernetic technology and, in a turf war, they killed the wife and children of a Japanese Salaryman, Fujikido Kenji, who escaped death and then his soul melded with that of another enigmatic good ninja. He cheats death and becomes Ninja Slayer a Grim Reaper destined to kill evil Ninja in a personal war of vengeance.

“What?!” Yeah. That’s what I first said. This Ninja Slayer is deliciously ridiculous. I love it!

So don’t forget! Ninja Slayer animation begins April 16th, 2015 at 11 pm on Niconico!

There’s some more very exciting news coming out about the involvement of Robot55 (and the sister company, Universal Vision Ltd. – http://universal-vision.jp/) with the video production about this smash hit adventure.

Get all the inside information here! Stay tuned!

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ビデオ制作、格安ビデオ制作、ROBOT55, ロボット・ゴー・ゴー,

Japan’s Youtube? It’s Niconico! 〜ニコニコ動画を英語で紹介するよ

2015年3月4日 / 1 Comment

Many friends in the west ask me about YouTube in Japan. Well, YouTube is popular in Japan, but when it comes to junior and high school students and the youth market in this country, YouTube has stiff competition and may even be lagging. Arguably the biggest and most popular video sharing platform in this country is Niconico. So this short article is a primer on Niconico, which used to be called  Nico Nico Douga. But, even today, just about everyone still calls it “Nico Nico Douga” – even people I know who work there!

“Niko Niko” in Japanese means “Smile.” So, I guess the creators of Niconico wanted to make a play off that word and hence, “Nico Nico”…. Smile!

Alexa lists Niconico as the 8th most visited site in Japan. And here is a list of The Top 10 Most Visited Sites in Japan:

#1 Yahoo.co.jp (Japanese version of portal site) Yes, Yahoo is huge in Japan!

#2 Google.co.jp  (Japanese version of portal site) 

#3 Amazon.co.jp (Japanese version of portal site) 

#4 Fc2.com (a free blog service)

#5 Google.com

#6 YouTube.com

#7 Rakuten.co.jp (Online retail shopping)

#8 Nicovideo.jp

#9 Facebook.com

#10 Twitter.com

Did I just hear your jaw drop to the table? Yeah, that’s right; Niconico is more popular here than Facebook or Twitter!

Niconico started out as Nico Nico Douga; a sort of hi-bred mix of YouTube and Japan’s Denpa 2 Channel. Denpa 2 Channel is a bulletin board system (BBS) that is hugely popular in Japan; especially amongst young people.

While YouTube allows viewers to add comments below the videos, Niconico allows viewers to chat and comment on the video they are watching while they are watching it! It’s pretty neat and definitely a “Japanese Thing.” The comments appear on the screen as viewers watch and they can chat back and forth while watching.

For me, I find the comments on the screen as an interference, but the Japanese kids like to watch and chat at the same time…. It’s somewhat similar to today’s games like Minecraft where one can play while chatting with friends at the same time.

The curious thing, I reckon, about Niconico is that you must sign up to view it, yet it is still hugely popular. I hate signing up for anything! At Niconico , there are two types of registered accounts at Niconico ; Free membership (that’s me!) and Premium-membership. The Premium-membership fee is ¥540 yen a month.

You’d think, though, that few would actually pay to watch videos. Think about it; would you pay about $5 (USD) a month to watch YouTube or use Facebook? Nope? Neither would I. But, in Japan it is different! As of January 2012, Niconico had surpassed 1,500,000 premium members! As of October 31, 2011, Niconico had over 23,690,000 registered users, 6,870,000 mobile users!

Another interesting thing about Niconico is that almost everything on it is User Generated Content whereas YouTube has tons of content that are old TV shows, etc. In fact, due to very strict copyright laws in Japan, it is forbidden to upload TV shows on Niconico.

Niconico users are often making music or remixing existing items with their friends and uploading the finished songs to the website.

Have you ever heard of Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid? Well, she, uh, her, uh…it? Hatsune Miku became big in Japan through Nico Nico Douga. She is still huge on the site.

Niconico has a huge fan base of “Nico Chuus” (Nico Nico Douga junkies). Kids who watch a huge volume of content on Niconico everyday.

The service is now available in Japanese, English and Chinese so it might seem the company has its expansion plans set up for Asia where BBS is much more popular than in the west. Anyway, next year will be Niconico’s 10th year and she is still going strong. When it comes to a user generated video sharing platform, then I doubt that Niconico is going to be crushed by the competition anytime soon; especially since Niconico has a tight grip on the Japanese youth market.

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Here is a Hatsune Miku video that I captured from Nico Nico Douga for you a while back (it is on YouTube because I figure if you are reading this (in English) then you don’t have access to Niconico!)

ビデオ制作、格安ビデオ制作、ROBOT55, ロボット・ゴー・ゴー, , , , , , , , ,

ROBOT55格安動画講座 – 上手な動画撮影のコツ 其の四 – 上手な構成台本の書き方

2015年3月2日 / No Comments

人間の皆様、ご機嫌麗しゅう！ROBOT55（ロボット・ゴー・ゴー）です〜♬

皆様のご好評に支えられてこのシリーズも既に第４弾！

今日はちょっとしたポイントを押さえた構成台本を用意するだけで観る人を飽きさせず、大事な事が伝わる動画が作れるようになるというところをお教えします。よ！ Continue Reading…

More Data Proving That You Need an Online Video For Your Business – 動画をビジネスに活用しよう！

2015年2月26日 / No Comments

Online Video Marketing isn’t the future of business advertising, it is now! Today! Online Video Marketing is critical to your success right now! If you haven’t taken a seat on the bus on the video marketing train in the year 2015, then you are a tad bit late to the game; but not too late to get in the action.

What are we waiting for? I hope we are not waiting for our competition to do beat us to the punch! Because, if we keep waiting, trust that they will….. Yikes!

If you are running any kind of business, service, product sales, organization or event, then there’s an undeniable mountain of research data and evidence showing that online video marketing needs to be a major consideration in your advertising budget in this day of Smart Phones and tablet devices.

Some people will say, “But we are a small organization and can’t afford video.” But, you can afford video in this day and age! Costs are crashing. Robot55 can make you a professional quality marketing video for less than the price of making 500 professionally designed flyers.

No kidding.

Coca Cola online video

Coca Cola online video

And, think about this; take a big company like Coca Cola. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on Research and Development and advertising budget, they figured out that a video was critical. They even have one on their top page. Think about that: Gee, Coca-Cola spent millions and came to this decision (actually, they’ve been doing it for a few years now). Your organization doesn’t need to spend a penny to do the same: You can capitalize on the research money they spent by coming to the same conclusions they did. How? Just copy what they do.

Toyota Motors webpage has lots of videos on it for end-users. http://toyota.jp/alphard/

Toyota Motors webpage has lots of videos on it for end-users. http://toyota.jp/alphard/

Need more convincing?

Market surveys show that over 100 million people per day watch videos online. In a recent survey of shoppers at a major retailer, 90% of all shoppers aid a video was helpful in making further investigation into a shopping and buying decision. The retailer reports that products with videos greatly outsell products without videos.

Recently 75% of company executives told Forbes magazine that they watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week.

The breakdown is as follows:

*50% of all corporate executives say they watch business-related videos on YouTube

*65% of all corporate executives say they visit the marketer’s website after viewing a video

* According to ComScore the average user spends 16 minutes and 40 seconds watching online video ads every month.

The bottom line here? If you’re not using video for your marketing, then you are missing out on a huge market opportunity and chance to engage with your audience. It’s not just the massive number of people who watch online  videos that’s is critically important – it’s the reasons why they watch it; and if a user views your video it’s because they were searching for you or one of your competitors!

When your company, service, product or organization has an online video, not only can you engage with people who do standard Google searches, with video; you can also access hundreds of millions of Youtube viewers (and in Japan, Nico Nico Douga users) as well as Linked in and Facebook users (Facebook now has an “Auotplay” function for video. I wrote about that here: New Facebook Video Function Great For Businesses! And It’s Free! (www.robot55.jp/blog/new-facebook-video-function-great-for-small-businesses-and-its-free/).

When you place a video for your business online, data shows that you have a higher chance of reaching business executives and people who make decisions specifically concerning your business. Everyone knows that a person to person sales pitch is the best way to land the sale, but, when people are scattered all over the country, that’s virtually impossible to do without going bankrupt.

The next best thing to a face to face meeting is video marketing.

Here’s some more jaw dropping data:

According to the Online Publishers Association, 80% of all people shopping were able to recall which company had video on their webpage that they visited in the last month.

*46% of those people took some action after viewing the ad! 26% of them looked for more information; 22% visited the website; 15% visited the company page in the video ad and a whopping 12% purchased the specific product featured in the ad!

With numbers like these, how could anyone not see that a video – in this day and age of short attention spans and advertising clutter – is the best advertising for the buck? And this data shows that with targeted advertising the most desired results are online video.

There is one more thing that is critical that the data shows. When there is an online video on a site, the average viewer will stay on that site an 2 minutes longer than they will on sites that do not have a video.

Sure the numbers above come from surveys. But how about the real world? I’ll have more on that soon, but here is one that is shocking in its implications: The number is 403%. An Australian real estate group reports that real estate listings with videos receive 403% more inquiries than those without videos. In other words, real estate ads with videos generate quadruple the leads of those without videos.

What are we waiting for my friends?

Get started on making your video for your business, service, product or organization. There is a bunch of free advice on how to make yours for free on this site. Just search for: Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)

Or, if you want a little more professionalism in your video than you have confidence in making yourself,  please contact us and let’s get started on discussion on making the video for your business that makes everyone who sees it say, “This looks really good! I’m interested.”

Need free advice on making your own business video or just want to discuss with us? Email the humans who work at Robot55, Mike or Ken: contact@robot55.jp

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NOTE: Data and marketing statistics and numbers from: 18 Big Video Marketing Statistics and What They Mean for Your Business (www.videobrewery.com/blog/18-video-marketing-statistics)

 

Key Hunter – Classic Japanese Sixties TV Show〜懐かしの60年代テレビ番組 キーハンター

2015年2月20日 / No Comments

In searching for a type of music for a video production we are currently making, I turned to get inspiration from a 1960’s Japanese television detective series entitled “Key Hunter.” Key Hunter was a smash hit on Japanese TV between 1968 to 1973. I got lucky because I found a version with English subtitles!

Wikipedia says:

Key Hunter (キイハンター) was a prime-time Japanese television detective series. It aired on Saturday nights in the 9:00–9:56 p.m. time slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) network from April 6, 1968 to April 7, 1973. There were a total of 262 episodes, and it was one of the most popular action dramas in Japan at the time. The story involved “Key Hunter”, a special clandestine unit of the International Police, which endeavored to solve various crimes. “Key Hunter” was a unique TV show, which started out as a grand scale spy thriller never before seen in Japan. The episodes were individually themed on global crimes and political strife. The initial hardboiled theme later evolved to include intellectual elements involving action, and occasionally with comical elements as well. Tetsuro Tamba starred in the 1967 film “You Only Live Twic”e as Japanese Secret Service agent Tiger Tanaka, an ally of James Bond. This role greatly influenced his image in “Key Hunter”.

I really like the images and production in Key Hunter. I laughed out loud at the video at the very beginning where the guy is in bed kissing the girl and suddenly pulls out a gun and points it at someone; I love that style of Hollywood “Camp.”

This program is an inspiration to me because I really like how, in spite of a low budget (like all Japanese shows of the sixties) – and excepting the car crashing over the side of the mountain and exploding into flames – the director and production crew use good ideas and creativity to make a compelling story and an interesting image to watch. This is brilliant work!

The music is also fabulous.

I am especially interested in the sixties in Japan because that was when the first Tokyo Olympics was held and we have the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming up. The sixties throughout the eighties in Japan were a Golden Time. I look to those days to bring art and inspiration to all our video productions in Tokyo.

Often times, when companies make promotion videos for their products or services, video production companies use library music or stock footage. This has a few problems as there can often be a rights issue and sometimes, even with a contract, the creator has an issue with use of their music or images. Trust me. I’ve seen it happen many times.

You don’t have that problem with a video production done at Robot55; and you never will. Why? We always create our own original music and images for use in all our videos so you never have to worry about getting a letter from a lawyer representing Getty Images or some company that represents an artist’s musical rights telling you to pay several thousand dollars.

And I’ve seen that happen, more than once to other companies, so we don’t do that at all. Everything we use; images, music, sound effects, narrations are original and done specifically for you. There’s never a worry about rights or a time limit on a production we make for you.

With a video production made by Robot55, you won’t have anyone like the folks in Key Hunter chasing you down for use of music or images; we create quality and we are always 100% original. Everything we create for you, becomes yours. It’s yours forever.

Let me repeat that: 100% yours to use. Forever.

Contact us and let’s get started making your company, service or product video: contact@robot55.jp

Very Best Cameras Japan

2015年2月19日 / No Comments

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming up, the eyes of the entire world will be on Tokyo and Japan. Along with that, of course, there will be a massive influx of foreigners coming to Japan’s shores and they will be bringing with them their friends and families and that gives us in Japan an incredible business opportunity.

There is, and always will be, another opportunity for smart business people to share their businesses, products, services and ideas with folks outside of Japan through online shopping or auction sites like E-Bay. Did you know that E-Bay annual sales in 2014 were $17.9 billion dollars? And now there is a boom in Japanese online retailers taking advantage of this exploding market.

Last week, we met an extremely smart and charming woman who is the president of an online store called “Very Best Cameras Japan.” Very Best Cameras Japan sells new and used cameras equipment on E-Bay…. And their business is growing by leaps and bounds.  The president was proud of her work and of the company, so she wants to expand and increase her sales so she asked us to help her make a video. We did! Here it is:

This video is effective because it is short and to the point. It gives Very Best Cameras Japan a “human face” and allows us, the potential customer, to see the people we are dealing with when making an important purchase. I think she did a fine job and she comes off as, kind, extremely polite, honest and sincere. As a customer, I have no problem with dealing with her for my business.

When thinking about making a video like this, remember the data I shared with you yesterday in “90% of All People Say a Video Helps To Decide a Purchase!”

Important numbers and words:

1) “90%.”

90% is the percentage of online shoppers at a major retailer’s website who said they find online video helpful in making shopping and buying decisions. Retailers who provide online video to show off their products report that the products with a video sell a lot more than products with no video.

2) “10 seconds.”

That’s how long you have to grab the attention of viewers in a video marketing clip. According to research by Visible Measures, 20% of your viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer. And it doesn’t get a lot better than that. You’ll lose about 1/3 of your viewers by 30 seconds, 45% of them by 1 minute and almost 60% by 2 minutes. And those numbers remain the same no matter how long the video is. (Read more: www.robot55.jp/blog/90-of-all-people-say-a-video-helps-to-decide-a-purchase/)

At Robot55, we specialize in this sort of English language video for businesses in Japan. All of our staff are seasoned professionals and our narrators have thousands of FM radio shows, How to Video narrations, game narrations, animation narrations and even real TV commercials under our belt. We are proud that we have a stable of true professionals who have lived and worked in TV and radio in Japan.

Not only that, but we help the business owner to write their script in a professional manner… And we are doing that part at no charge!

The business owner merely needs to jot down what they want to say, and we will make it up to be a short and effective business promotion video, in English or Japanese… Of course, we also do subtitles in other languages. I will post the Japanese subtitled version of the above video in another post coming soon.

No one can beat our discount price for this level of quality.

Contact us and let’s get started on making a video for Youtube, Facebook or your homepage that will increase your business and sales.

Email: contact@robot55.jp

Very Best Cameras Japan URL:  http://stores.ebay.com/Very-Best-Cameras-Japan

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NOTES: Here is the script for the video above. Use this as a model for your own script!

Looking for the best in new and used camera equipment from Japan?
Welcome to Very Best Cameras Japan. My name is Naomi and I’m the president and owner of Very Best Cameras Japan.
Very Best Cameras Japan sells new and used photographic equipment. Our inventory is wide, versatile and constantly changing.
The Japanese are famous for care of technology and equipment we can assure you of the best quality products at Very Best Cameras Japan.
We always take special care to wrap and pack our items safely and securely and to ship them as promptly as possible.
We personally respond to each and every customer’s questions and inquiries.
Very Best Cameras Japan promises to give you a shopping experience that is easy, reliable, and saves you money!
Oh, and we also speak English.
Very Best Cameras Japan! 

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 *For more help on writing your script, see Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script! (www.robot55.jp/blog/make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-3-you-need-a-map-how-to-write-a-script/) 

90% of All People Say a Video Helps To Decide a Purchase!〜購入の決め手はビデオ広告！

2015年2月17日 / 1 Comment

A video for your business, service, bar or restaurant placed on Youtube, your webpage and Facebook will help increase your business, sales and bring in more customers!

If you’ve been thinking about making a video for your business then smart move! Here’s some eye-opening statistics about web video for your business that you need to know:

Please refer to: 4 Big Numbers About User Engagement with Video Content (If link doesn’t work, copy and paste this: http://www.videobrewery.com/blog/18-video-marketing-statistics) Here are highlights from that article:

Video Content! Important numbers and words:

1) “90%.”

90% is the percentage of online shoppers at a major retailer’s website who said they find online video helpful in making shopping and buying decisions. Retailers who provide online video to show off their products report that the products with a video sell a lot more than products with no video.

2) “10 seconds.”

That’s how long you have to grab the attention of viewers in a video marketing clip. According to research by Visible Measures, 20% of your viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer. And it doesn’t get a lot better than that. You’ll lose about 1/3 of your viewers by 30 seconds, 45% of them by 1 minute and almost 60% by 2 minutes. And those numbers remain the same no matter how long the video is.

3) “15 seconds.”

According to research conducted by Jun Group (2011), videos that are 15 seconds or shorter are shared 37 percent more often than those that last between 30 seconds and 1 minute. If you make your video longer, that stat goes down. Those shorties are only shared 18% more often than videos of longer than 1 minute.

So, you see? Video can help your business to, sell more, reach more people, grow and make you more money!

man at computer

But, perhaps you are not so sure yet and are not willing to spend money on a professionally made video just yet? We totally understand. That why we at Robot55 offer discount professional quality 30 second and 60 second videos for your business at a super reasonable cost. Prices starting from ¥70,000 each!

Won’t you contact us and let’s get started on increasing your business! Email: contact@robot55.jp

Want to see some videos we have made for happy customers in the last few weeks at a reasonable price?

See our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCRBSdzh-E4_bRM_akdRAAQ

 

 

Choosing a business partner is so very important!〜ビジネスパートナー選びは大切です

2015年2月16日 / No Comments

When you choose a business partner, it is the same as choosing a marriage partner; you have to choose carefully. And, once you do decide,  you must accept that partner as is, good parts and bad, warts and all.

It takes much dedication to make marriage work, whether it is between a man and a woman or between business partners. Dedication requires respect. That means respect for yourself and respect for your partner; as well as respect for what you are doing.

To paraphrase what a friend once told me: “To find and make a partnership (or marriage) is good. Getting a divorce is okay. Having an affair is a mistake, but, polygamy is an absolute ‘No!'”

If you expect that your partner is going to stick with you through thick and thin, then you must realize that they will desire and expect the same from you. This takes complete and total dedication.

In today’s market, with jobs getting tougher and tougher to come by, your company and your partners deserve your total dedication. If you won’t dedicate yourself, there are plenty of others who will gladly take your place. Why should your partner accept a half a loaf of bread from you when someone else will provide a full loaf?

Respect your partner. Respect yourself. There is no substitute for total dedication.

We at Robot55 take our partners very seriously and strive to give them 100% satisfaction and dedication. We will not accept a “90%” satisfaction rate; 100% or bust! We aim to do every project with the goal of making something special and something that we all can be proud of no matter what.

Just like our company mission statement says:

“We make wonderful video productions; at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must. But, no matter what, we make wonderful video productions.”

I think it is this dedication to quality for video productions, whether they are in English, Japanese or other languages is, besides price, what sets us apart from the competition.

Please contact us and let’s discuss making your video production in Tokyo. Email: contact@robot55.jp

Time Travel! Video of Life in Japan in 1966

2015年2月14日 / No Comments

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. And we all agree with that, right?

Well, if a mere photo speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks millions. Here is a video that I found while searching for images for a client. Actually, I cried at about 1:40 of the video where the mom is serving food to the two kids and the song, Shojyoji no Tanuki Bayashi 「証城寺の狸囃子」（しょうじょうじのたぬきばやし) , is played. My mother used to sing that song for me at bedtime when I was a little boy.

1966 Japanese kids

This video shows the life of a typical Japanese family in 1966. It was filmed by a German TV crew. This is quite enjoyable as it shows the family and their daily life; waking in the morning; going to work and school; the day’s events and coming home at night.

Please pay attention because there are many very cool shots of Tokyo intersections, the train stations, an old TV and much more. But one thing really struck me about life in Japan: Basically, things haven’t changed all that much since 1966 to today: kids still wear uniforms, the family unit is still strong, the train stations look the same. It’s wonderful. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here is the video:

1966 Japanese Family Life (if the video doesn’t play, click here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvoZjbp9R1w)

I watched the entire film and enjoyed it immensely so I thought we should share it with you.

Having a film like this immortalizes this family and this slice of time.

Having videos of the family is great and it is wonderful to see everyone prosperous and healthy.

When it comes to family videos, the cameras nowadays make great videos for the family. But for the business, and those special occasions, you want to show customers and potential customers your dedication to quality and care, then a professionally made video from the Tokyo production team of Robot55 could be the answer you are looking for.

The video above is 45 years old and is still very cool and cost several tens of thousands of dollars to create. But, a top-quality professional 60-second video showing people your shop, restaurant or business done by Robot55 can be made as low as ¥70,000!

Let’s do the math, the Tokyo Olympics is coming in 5 years, so your video can help your business greatly in that time and beyond. 5 years x 365 days a year = 1,825. ¥70,000 / ¥1,825 is ¥38 yen a day. (¥4 a day if we are looking at it from a 45-year calculation!)

Could there be any better, cheaper, more effective way to drive customers using a smart phone or other device to find your business than a video on Youtube or your webpage? Contact us at Robot55! email:contact@robot55.jp

Discount Video Production Services Have Arrived!〜格安動画制作サービスが始めました〜

2015年2月13日 / No Comments

Everyone is thinking everyday about the state of the economy and where the business opportunities lay. The Tokyo Olympics is coming to Japan in 2020 and that means there’s a massive opportunity for Japanese businesses, large and small, to capitalize of the media focus on Japan as well as the large influx of foreigners who will be heading here over the next 5 years. 

On that note, I came upon a small news article buried in the very back of a publication. It dropped my jaw. Read on.

Robot55 has been doing video production in Tokyo for Japanese companies that want to target the domestic market, as well as the influx of foreigners heading to Japan’s shores. Long ago, I did promotion, marketing and PR for mostly airlines and travel related industries. I have worked with Delta Airlines, Austrian Air, ANA, Lufthansa, helicopter companies as well as many major hotels and restaurants. Heck I have even made many videos for companies like Domino Pizza and did the voice over narrations on national TV commercials for Smirnoff Vodka, Success, Roomba Vacuum cleaners and many others so I think we at Robot55, have a pretty good grasp of the state of that business.

helicopterExcel Air Service offers helicopter rides around Tokyo for a very reasonable price. Highly recommended!

When it comes to airlines, many airlines are cutting routes, services and amenities to passengers. The so-called “premium carriers” seem to be the hardest hit and the mid-class carriers want to change their image to “premium carrier.”

I think there is a big difference between wanting to be a premium class carrier and actually being one. Changing a middle class carrier into a premium one takes much more than a note handed down from corporate; it takes a fundamental shift in corporate culture. Some, of which, by the way, will be impossible for most carriers to accomplish.

On that note, I also am puzzled at how people perceive the term “Kakuyasu” in Japan. “Kakuyasu” means “super discount.” Most people seem to have a bad image in their head about this word, but I think this is nonsense and I also think that perceptions are quickly changing.

While many may gruff and snort at the term Kakuyasu, the public is eating it up. One good example is the discount liquor store that even put the term “Kakuyasu” in its name: Kakuyasu. Kakuyasu is a discount liquor store that originally started out as a family shop in 1921 and was derided as low class when it first incorporated as a chain discount liquor store in 1982. Now they have 140 stores all over Japan and are #1 in liquor store sales… Kakuyasu even outsells 7-11 in liquor sales in Japan!

So, while, still to this day, some people will hold their noses at the term “Kakuyasu,” the public loves it and has turned this particular store into a smash success that has over $860 million dollars (USD) in annual sales. 

We at Robot55 are targeting companies that want to make videos for the domestic audience as well as the flood of foreigners coming to Japan in the next 5 years and we aim to do that at a price that blows away the competition. The internet search engines give more weight to webpages that are updated often and that includes videos. Why spend ¥300,000 for one video when we can make your entire annual video campaign, including 3 videos for that price? This video below was made for the incredibly reasonable price of ¥80,000. That includes the entire video production team, editing, music and 100% customer satisfaction.

Albatross: http://youtu.be/E5B41Jio1MI

Won’t you contact us and let us give you a quote? We will not be outsold! Send us an email and let’s get started! Email us at: contact@robot55.jp

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NOTE: So, while the economy tanks and the old school belittles discount services and products, those services continue to make serious in-roads into to public consciousness and then increase their profitability.   

This brings me back to the point of this article and what I set out to write about in the first place. It is an interesting little topic that seems to have slipped between the cracks of the major news outlets. Now, a Chinese Low Cost carrier (LCC) is offering flights from Japan to Chinese for ¥4000. That’s less than  the taxi fare is from my home to downtown Tokyo (and that is only about 20 minutes!)  

Chinese discount carrier Spring Airlines will offer a 4,000 yen one-way ticket between Shanghai and Ibaraki Airport, about 80 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, from September 15 to 29 on a total of 14 flights, it said Wednesday. The discount fare will apply to around 10 percent of the total 180 seats per flight, while fares for other seats are set at between 8,000 yen and 26,000 yen.

Spring Airlines launched chartered flights between the two destinations in July, and has recently received approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to offer the 4,000 yen ticket.

So, like I said, while some will look down upon and thumb their noses at discount services and products, the public seems to want all it can get…. It reminds me of the old quote about giving the public what they want; 

When massive crowds attended the 1957 funeral of L.B. Mayer, the head of MGM, a writer was quoted as saying: “Well, it only proves what they always say, ‘Give the people what they want, and they’ll come out for it.'”

The smart businessman will recognize this for what it is.