mobagetown was the first and still is the leading mobile service in Japan to provide free games through a social networking platform with avatar features. However, mobagetown has evolved far beyond this initial concept: Although free Flash and Java games on a social networking platform with avatars still constitute the core of the service, a variety of additional elements like mobile commerce, user-generated content (mobile novels, music), information and entertainment content (news, weather, celebrities, horoscopes, etc.) and utilities like maps, transport information and mobile search have been successfully incorporated.
mobagetown has developed a diversified and highly sophisticated business model combining revenues from mobile advertising, avatar-related revenues, in-game content purchases and affiliate revenues from its portfolio of mobile commerce partner sites.
In the past two years, the service has grown from 4.4 to more than 14 million members, from 9.4 billion page views per month to almost twice that, and quarterly revenues have close to quadrupled to reach ¥5.4 billion (US$ 56.8 million) currently. Parent company DeNA Co., Ltd. has relentlessly added innovation after innovation in its quest to make mobagetown the Number 1 mobile portal in Japan.
The company's success story has been an inspiration for individuals and companies from all corners of the mobile industry across the globe, not a few of whom have turned to Infinita to learn more. We published the original version of our mobagetown research report in March 2007, and it has been flying off the shelves ever since.
This completely revised, expanded and updated report on mobagetown provides detailed analysis of the company's history and strategy from its beginnings until today, contains a step-by-step walkthrough of every single important feature of the service itself, deep analysis of the games portfolio and provides detailed information on mobagetown's business model and financials, usage patterns and demographics. It covers the factors that have made the service a runaway success and provides insight into the inner workings into one of the world's most successful mobile services to an unprecedented degree.
Download your copy today to find out all about mobagetown, including:
- How does mobagetown work?
Step-by-step descriptions and walkthroughs for all major features: games lineup, social networking functions, avatars and shopping for virtual goods, maps, user-generated novels and music, and information and entertainment content (news, weather, horoscopes, etc.). - How does the service make money?
Business model and revenue stream analysis, including fiscal year 2008 financial data on parent company DeNA Co., Ltd. and mobagetown. - How does it leverage its virtual currency system to generate revenues?
See how the virtual currency model results in substantial revenues from mobile commerce partner sites and purchases of in-game items for DeNA. - How has the service evolved, and where is it headed strategically?
Check the detailed timeline of major feature and content innovations, as well as the company's strategic vision. - What mobile advertising formats does the site offer, how are they priced, and what do successful campaigns look like?
Learn how mobagetown ties up with brands like NIKE, Coca Cola and UNIQLO for branded entertainment content and avatars - 6 case studies. - How do they promote it?
Comprehensive information on marketing strategy and promotional activities building on celebrity endorsements and cross-media tie-ups. - What does the games portfolio look like, and how do the games work?
Detailed description of the top-ranking casual titles and in-depth analysis of complex games with in-game paid items. - Who uses it, and how much?
Read about how demographics and usage are shifting from teenage segment-driven hype to mainstream. - How does it all tie together?
An in-depth analysis of mobagetown and DeNA strategy: From free games site to No. 1 mobile portal.
Current version 2.0 published August 24, 2009. 206 pages, 21 charts, graphs and tables, more than 200 screenshots. Author: Christopher Billich, SVP, Research & Strategy, Infinita Inc.
Get your copy now at just US$ 1,500 for a company-wide license (not for resale, PDF format).
Please have a look at the table of contents and sample pages, including about a quarter of the full report. You can also contact the author directly by email.
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