Electronic flyer site Shufoo! to launch a flyer and shop related television show called gTokudane! Shufoo!h with cable television company J:COM
Promoting visits to stores through the provision of useful community based informationToppan Printing Co., Ltd. (Toppan Printing) and Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd. will launch a television program aiming to promote visits to stores entitled "Flyer entertainment linking you to shops - Tokudane! Shufoo!". The program will be related to flyers and the stores of distribution companies. As a practical test, broadcasting will begin for 3 months from April in the Shonan area in Kanagawa Prefecture and the Sakai area in Osaka Prefecture.
"Tokudane! Shufoo!" is a tie-up between the Shufoo! (*1) electronic flyer site run by Toppan Printing, which is one of the largest of its type in Japan, and the J:COM (*2) television company run by Jupiter telecom. The program will be broadcast on J:COM's community channel, "J:COM Channel"(*3), and will provide useful information on retailers and distribution companies that handle items such as food, everyday goods, clothes and electrical appliances. This will be a jointly produced television program that makes use of the strengths of the J:COM Channel, which provides detailed information for local communities, and Toppan Printing, which is aiming to establish a new media for attracting customers based on electronic flyers.
Making use of flyers, the program's presenters will introduce featured information and related recipes, and the program will include a "useful flyer check corner" where information is written onto flyers and a "useful discovery corner" where reporters visit stores, negotiate as a representative of the viewers and uncover useful information. The program will broadcast information on local areas which is usually difficult to communicate to targets through a country-wide network, and attract viewers to stores with selected offers and a sense of value.
For distribution companies "Tokudane! Shufoo!" is "a program for attracting customers more effectively", for manufacturers it is "a program that enables direct communication at a point in time closer to the point of purchase", and for customers it is "a program whereby bargains are available if you watch before going shopping". The program will provide information on local areas as a brand new type of media.
Toppan Printing and Jupiter Telecom aim to expand the program to other J:COM areas during fiscal 2009 based on the results of the practical test.
*1 The Shufoo! electronic flyer site
http://www.shufoo.net
This is one of the largest electronic flyer sites in Japan. It was launched in August 2001 and is used mostly by women in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Around 350 large distribution companies and major local supermarkets and 16000 stores participate. The site is accessed over 60 million times per monthias of February 2009j. Flyers from throughout Japan can be searched for by postal code, and users can browse information on food, everyday items, leisure, living, and health and beauty among other things. Using the special features of the Internet, stores can send in real time the latest information that is different for each store, provide flyers that include video and sound, and also compile and analyze data on the number of times flyers have been viewed and which parts have been viewed. Members can make use of features including recipes using items that are current bargains, searching for recipes that use items left over in the refrigerator, the creation of shopping lists, and calendar functions.
*2@J:COM
J:COM is the brand name of cable television business that is run by Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd. Jupiter Telecom was established in 1995 and is the largest company managing cable television and program supply businesses in Japan. It provides 4 services - cable television, high-speed internet connection, fixed telephone lines, and mobile communications - to around 3.18 million households (as of February 28, 2009) in Japan through 24 companies and 48 stations in the Sapporo, Sendai, Kanto, Kansai and Kyushu areas. There are around 12.34 million (as of February 28, 2009) "home pass" households (households where preparation work is complete and the subscription can begin at any time). @
*3 "J:COM Channel" community channel
A community channel is a channel broadcast free of charge which is limited to a certain area and can be viewed in households where television is viewed via a cable line. The J:COM Channel can be viewed free of charge in residences (including apartments) with a J:COM line regardless of whether the household has concluded a contract for the service or not. The J:COM Channel provides useful information on topics such as local events and recommended places, and also community-based information covering government notices and crime prevention. It can be viewed in around 7.56 million households in J:COM areas.
Toppan Printing Company, Ltd.: Head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Naoki Adachi
Jupiter Telecom; Head office: Minato Ward, Tokyo; President: Tomoyuki Moriizumi
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