We want to achieve “total optimization” rather than “partial optimization” of marketing.

What are Docomo's strengths in a fiercely competitive environment?

Q. Please tell me your responsibilities.

The Smart Life Business Headquarters operates services other than telecommunications businesses, such as content services including video distribution and e-books, as well as financial and payment services, which are growing sectors.

As the person in charge of marketing promotion, we plan and formulate marketing and promotion strategies for the entire service. We take a holistic view of the whole, identify where issues lie and where growth is possible, and optimize investments that will lead to business growth.

Q. Please tell us about the characteristics of the market related to the smart life business and the current situation of your company.

One of the characteristics of the market is the presence of many major competitors. Because there are so many competitors, the market is growing fast, so it is necessary to establish a position by making solid investments and differentiating yourself.

We believe that DOCOMO has three strengths that differentiate us from our competitors. The first is the "customer base" that we have built up to date. We would like to further strengthen our marketing activities by focusing on customers who use DOCOMO's lines and our membership base such as d Point Club.

The second is the "assets of each group company" that operates various businesses. By utilizing these assets, we can expect to create synergies between groups, not just within Docomo.

And the third is the "vast amount of data" we have accumulated. DOCOMO has accumulated a huge amount of data on how our customers behave when using our services. We are still in the early stages of developing how to utilize this data, but we believe that by utilizing it effectively in the future, it will become a major strength.

Each role was assigned to a different department, making it difficult to achieve overall optimization.

Q. What challenges have you faced in marketing so far?

We felt that it was difficult to optimize the whole system because the departments in charge were divided by service and by role, such as operations and ordering. In the pursuit of immediate goals, strategies and measures were often closed to each service and role. Our department's role is to look at each department horizontally and lead them to maximize the overall results, but we were also looking for the optimal indicators to use in making such decisions.

Q. Why did you decide to use MAGELLAN?

There were two main reasons for introducing MAGELLAN. The first is that it allows us to visualize the effects of each medium, not just on and off. In particular, we felt that there was a problem with visualizing the effects of offline advertising, which is often used in awareness measures. For example, in the case of television commercials, it is possible to estimate the effects based on the advertisement period and air time of the TV commercial. However, since we also advertise online at the same time, it is difficult to see the pure effects of television commercials alone, and we felt that an integrated on and off analysis was necessary.

The second benefit is that it makes it possible to calculate optimal budget allocations. Up until now, budgets have almost always been allocated preferentially to initiatives whose effects are known. As a result, initiatives whose effects are hard to visualize, such as TV commercials, tend to be the first to be nominated for budget cuts in the trend toward cost efficiency, even if they seem to be effective intuitively. We thought that if MAGELLAN could visualize the true effects of each medium, it would be possible to make numerically based decisions about how much to invest in each medium.

MAGELLAN's analysis indicators are now common indicators within the company

Q. Please tell us your impressions about the analysis results of MAGELLAN.

I got the impression that the reports let you check the effects of each measure in detail. In addition to visualizing the effects of each medium, including on and off, you can also compare CPAs for results and understand which medium was the most efficient.

Also, I feel that MAGELLAN's analysis indicators are starting to become a common indicator for aligning awareness with each department. Of course, MAGELLAN is not the only correct answer, and we view it as just one indicator, but we are having more opportunities to talk with each department using MAGELLAN's analysis indicators.

Q. How do you plan to use MAGELLAN in the future?

We would like to take concrete action based on the analysis results. Furthermore, we would like to make plans that take into account not only the MAGELLAN analysis results, but also other decision-making factors.

Also, to avoid it being operated solely by a single person, I would like to make it possible for other staff members to use MAGELLAN as well.

Realize marketing that leverages Docomo's unique strengths

Q. Lastly, please tell us about your goal in marketing.

I would like to further accelerate the PDCA cycle. Rather than leaving measures in place, I want to value the speed at which we review them and move on to the next action.

We are still searching for more efficient marketing methods. For example, we would like to aim for business growth through marketing that leverages DOCOMO's strengths, such as promoting data marketing that utilizes data owned by DOCOMO.