Dentsu Inc. Smart Plus Established! Applying Communication Expertise to the Smartphone Business.

Smartphone penetration among individuals has exceeded 50% (Note 1), and the number of users is expected to continue growing steadily. As this device—the most personal and multifunctional tool in consumers' lives—becomes more widespread, its role in purchasing behavior will grow significantly, creating business opportunities across all industries.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to discuss future marketing without understanding consumer behavior on smartphones. This is why "Dentsu Smart Planning" was born. Amidst the notion that "marketing is the business itself," this planning unit aims to delve into consumer behavior on smartphones from a perspective focused on monetization and consumption, contributing to business from its inception through growth and expansion.

Nice to meet you. I'm Satoshi Yamamoto from Dentsu Inc. Smart Plan. The advent and proliferation of smartphones thrust mobile into the spotlight. For this first installment, I'd like to introduce Dentsu Inc. Smart Plan and explain our founding background from three perspectives.

1. Smartphone-based business growing as part of daily life

Since smartphones began to spread, the mobile market has clearly undergone significant change. Smartphones, once called high-functionality mobile phones, quickly achieved a penetration rate exceeding 50% and continue to grow in users. Consumers who acquired smartphones didn't just extend their use of basic mobile phones; they began using services they wouldn't have used on PCs, engaging in online shopping and paid services, and spending money there.

Today, diverse smartphone-oriented services like games and online shopping are emerging and growing everywhere. Market forecast reports across industries also analyze that positive growth will continue for the foreseeable future. Observing the changes smartphones have brought and consumers' actual usage patterns, it's clear the market will undoubtedly grow. And this is not a fleeting trend. As evident from ordinary people using them routinely, most smartphone-based businesses will become an integral part of daily life.

2. Smartphone-Centric

The convenience of smartphones extends far beyond what was previously valued in mobile phones. Intuitive touch-based operation and service providers' optimized user interfaces have opened up markets that were inaccessible to keyboard-based mobile phones and PCs. Another key point is that smartphones allow internet access in the same form as PCs, liberating users' mindsets and behaviors.

Currently, smartphone access to the internet is the most frequent, and users increasingly complete tasks entirely on their smartphones whenever possible. Beyond this, consumer behavior has shifted toward using smartphones as the entry point for device utilization: using PCs for tasks smartphones cannot handle, or using tablets because they offer better visibility than smartphones. Smartphones are at the center of digital services and internet usage, and it is expected that their use will expand further through integration with PCs, tablets, and other devices.

3. Emotion Device

At Dentsu Inc. Smart Platform, we perceive smartphones as devices that directly receive finger movements linked to emotions, naming them "Emotion Devices." Mobile devices have been called "emotional devices" since the days of general mobile phones, seen as devices reflecting the user's feelings (incidentally, PCs were considered "rational devices"). This is because heavy mobile users tend to have their hands and mobile devices become integrated, responding instantly. Smartphones, operated directly by finger touch, are devices where the emotions of not only heavy users but many users are directly reflected. This situation gave rise to the hypothesis that understanding consumers' smartphone behaviors could reveal their underlying emotions.

Today, consumers initiate purchasing actions based on information obtained via smartphones. Furthermore, cases where the entire process—from information gathering to purchase—is completed on smartphones are increasing. Consumer actions on smartphones are invariably driven by their underlying sentiments.

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Against this backdrop, Dentsu Smartpla was born as a planning unit specializing in smartphone-based business. We decipher consumer sentiment from their smartphone behavior to develop strategies and planning for marketing communications. While many companies expanding their business on smartphones focus on data analysis and PDCA cycles tailored to their own users to drive business growth, Dentsu Inc. Smapla's motto is "Communication expertise is essential for smartphone business." In smartphone marketing, we aim to visualize consumer needs that cannot be captured by numbers alone, create new desires in society, and contribute to business growth.

Starting with the second installment of this series, we will share information in a relay format by Dentsu Smartpla members, focusing primarily on analysis from our proprietary survey "Smartphone Purchase Insights." Stay tuned.

Note 1: Source: Dentsu Inc. proprietary survey, 10,000 respondents aged 15-59 nationwide