Why Not Specialize?

It never ceases to amaze me how people in this day and age still don't get it when it comes to branding and image; especially in this country. In Japan, image is critical to success. And the way to create an image is by focusing on one thing; what is it that you or your company do that you are the best at?

The keyword is focus.


Look around you. What companies are doing well? The ones with a strong brand and image; Coca-Cola (can you picture the red & white logo in your head?); Apple Computers (you can visualize an iPod or iPhone in your head); McDonald's (Golden Arches)... 


So why isn't your company doing the same? Why aren't you doing the same?


There's an ancient Zen saying that goes, "The hunter who chases two rabbits catches neither one." 


Don't get stuck in the idea that, since sales are down, the company and product must try to broaden appeal. That's a recipe for death.


And I will prove it to you.


Imagine that you live in a small town. In this small town there are 5 restaurants. They are all "family restaurants" (you know, like Denny's)... In fact, one restaurant is a Denny's... There's also a Bob's Big Boy, a Chili's, and a Jonathan's.... Anyway, like all family restaurants, you can go to any of these establishments and get just about anything that you want... They have everything.... But just like any Jack-of-all-trades, they can do anything, but they are experts at nothing... While the food is potable... It is still merely "okay." It is far from delicious....


Then, one day, in this town, five small specialty restaurants open up. One is an Italian restaurant; one is sushi; one is Chinese food; one is Mexican food; and the last one is a steak house.


Now, where do you go for lunch? The family restaurant that has everything - excepting nothing is especially delicious; or the specialty restaurant that has a limited menu but everything is fantastic?


It's an obvious choice.


Here's another example: Think about professional baseball players. They have "utility men" who can play several positions. Quick! Name one famous utility man? Can't? Neither can I. That's because they don't specialize and, as such, they are usually gone within a few years...


But on the other hand, you get a guy who can only pitch to, say, three batters, yet can strike them all out and has an ERA of something like 0.80 and you have a guy who makes millions of dollars a year and is a super-star.


Why? He specializes. That's all he can do is one thing.


But he is the best at it.


You and your business should become specialists too.


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Keywords: 

Tokyo's Top Morning FM Radio Show Returns For One Day: Jan. 3, 2012

Win a state-of-the art Dyson dc36 vacuum cleaner! Or an Antelope Zodiac DAC converter that converts MP3 to mighty digital audio! How about romantic helicopter tours for two around Tokyo! 2 people will win iPod iTouch! Over 40 pairs of ski lift tickets to Japan's top ski resorts and much more! All for free! All you have to do is listen! InterFM Special: 

Tuesday January 3, 2012 from 7:00 am ~ 11:00 am on 76.1 InterFM. 

"InterFM New Year's Holiday Special 2012 - Bam!" 


新春初笑い 2012年1月3日奴等が朝に帰って来る！76.1mhzインターＦＭ朝7時～　GMTの3人が沢山のお年玉をプレゼント！！日本においでの方、関東においでの方は是非お聞きくださいませ。

From April of 2006 to October of 2009, the highest rated and most popular radio show at the time was "Good Morning Garage." "GMG" as it was called was the flagship morning show of 76.1 InterFM and was the first time in that station's history to be #1 in ratings in the extremely competitive Tokyo Morning FM radio drive time competitive slot.

L to R: George, Taro, Mike

GMG was the first time that 76.1 InterFM beat the dominant Tokyo FM radio station, J-Wave, in ratings. It was the last time also.


On Tuesday January 3, 2012 the GMG gang with Wakana san will be back for a four hour special that will also feature Feng Shui trainer Shiuma san. It's going to be a blast.


Not only that, there's tons of presents too!


One lucky winner will get a chance to win an Antelope Zodiac DAC converter. This fantastic device converts your crappy sounding MP3 sound files into awesome sounding digital music the way it's supposed to sound.

Another lucky winner will also win the world's best vacuum cleaner, a Dyson DC36!

A lucky pair will win a romantic helicopter tour around Tokyo (just like Tom Cruise had) courtesy of Excel Airport!

Two lucky people will win an iPod Touch!

Three people will win ¥5000 coupons for flower arrangements from "Hana Boukujyo"

And five people will win "Boardsmart face masks" and forty lucky couples will win free ski-lift tickets for Japan's top ski and snow board resorts courtesy of Boardsmart.

And there's much more!


The show is entitled "InterFM New Year's Holiday Special 2012 - Bam!" (featuring George Williams, Taro Furukawa, Wakana san, Feng shui trainer  Shiuma san and finally, me, Mike Rogers)

Left: Wakana san Right: Shiuma san

That's Tuesday January 3, 2012 from 7:00 am ~ 11:00 am on 76.1 InterFM.


Click here to see all the great prizes lined up.


*some images above are not exact 

Six-Dollar iPod? Yes. It's Real and It's Here!

Remember a while back when I showed you a team of Tokyo University student's who had invented an iPad clone for $7! They sold them out within hours. See that story here with photo's: The $7 dollar iPad Look-a-Like Made in Japan.

 $7 dollar iPad Look-a-Like

This morning, I stumbled upon this extremely interesting video about a guy who has come up with an idea that he calls, "The Poor Man's iPod." Regular iPods cost anywhere between ¥4,200 ~ ¥20,900 (about $54.00 USD ~ $270.00 USD)... This Poor Man's iPod (the smallest ones) can hold about 15 songs for $5... 


His idea uses a Thumb Drive to store songs to play on your car stereo. Since Thumb Drives have gotten so cheap these days (and are getting even more  inexpensive soon) this seems to have potential... Perhaps back to the old days when we had cassettes with our fave artists in a box? One Thumb Drive for your favorite Rock artist, one for dance, one for ?

The Poor Man's iPod

Interesting, no?


Many have said that Apple could be in trouble because Steve Jobs is gone and Steve's replacement is a clone (meaning no new ideas or initiative). Maybe so.


Perhaps this isn't a earth-shaking new idea or even profitable, but it is a new idea and it shows that this guy is thinking... 


See more at: http://johnu78.blogspot.com

Japan's Newest Nanny State Laws are a Hidden Tax

The Japanese government keeps enacting new laws to "protect the public" but they are actually new taxes to help municipal governments cover their fast growing red-ink. Here is another story about a new law that was just enacted about two months ago..


In yesterday's news report, Japan took a huge jump towards the victor in the title of Nanny State of 2011 by ticketing a cyclist for viewing photos on a cell phone! She wasn't talking on a cell phone, she was viewing photos!!!???... This is really getting ridiculous. But the devil is even worse in the details. Read on!

Japan Today reports

KANAGAWA —

Police have charged a teenager for using a cell phone while cycling, in the first such case of its kind in Japan, Nikkan Gendai reported on Wednesday.

Around 9:30 p.m. last Sunday, a patrolman in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, cited a 15-year-old female high school student for a traffic offense. The girl had been riding her bicycle while viewing images on a cell phone and repeatedly disregarded warnings to desist viewing the phone.

The cop was yelling at this girl to stop looking at her cell phone? Hell yes, she'd ignore the cop. Who wouldn't? I'd think he was nuts.

"Don't look at me! Don't you F*cking look at me!"

The incident marked the first time for Kanagawa police to invoke the revised traffic ordinance, aimed at discouraging so-called “nagara unten” by cyclists who talk on cell phones or listen to music players while in motion. It went into effect on May 1.

“She apparently thought cyclists were not subject to traffic regulations,” the source was quoted as saying, adding that violators may be fined up to 50,000 yen.

Catch that part: "...listen to music players while in motion...." This means drivers of cars, bikes, whatever. Next obvious step is to make it a fine to wear headphones while jogging or walking on crowded public sidewalks. But wait a minute!!! What law did this girl violate? She wasn't listening to music and she wasn't talking on a cell phone. She was allegedly looking at photos!!! 


Any competent lawyer should be able to throw this crap out in a second... But it won't go to that. This girl will pay the fine and the cop will go on his merry way interpreting the law anyway he sees fit. Is this arbitrary or what?


And, get serious, ¥50,000 yen (about $600 USD) for looking at a cellphone or listening to an ipod while driving or riding a bike? Really? This is "protecting the public"? Doubtful. 


This is beginning to sound a lot like the stupid arbitrary laws in the USA. Like the new law that, if enacted, will make it illegal to upload a song to Youtube that has you lip-syncing to a track sung by a famous artist... That would include your eight-year-old girl who does a great Lady Gaga impression too. 

Still, Japan only fines people for dumb laws. The penalty for uploading a lip sync video to Youtube in the USA would be a maximum five years in prison. Japan may be f'ed up with these idiotic laws too, but we're still way behind - and a much freer nation - than the USA is.

But being a freer nation than the USA is not much to brag about these days. This cell phone while cycling law is ridiculous. 

These kinds of stupid laws are supposedly enacted by the government to "protect" the public but they are defacto another tax and a new way for the government to collect monies from us.

It is the same with seat belt laws, motorcycle helmet laws, smoking laws, and a whole litany of other ridiculous laws that the government creates ostensibly to protect us (From who? ourselves, of course).

In the case of seat belt laws or helmet laws, it should be obvious to anyone who is still awake that we don't need these types of laws to "protect us" as there is such a thing as "insurance" in case something happens to us... And if some guy wants to drive his car without a seat belt, is he hurting you or me? Why are we being taxed to stop a guy like that? It's absurd. 

Everyone knows that not waring a seat belt or a helmet might be dangerous. Everyone knows that using a cell phone while riding a bike might be risky, but - with or without these laws - people will still do it. And why not? It is their life. Putting a fine on this girl, for example, certainly will not stop her from riding her bike and using her cellphone, she'll just be more careful to make sure the gestapo doesn't see her doing it next time. 

"Papers please!"

If we really want to prevent accidents, then let's take this type of nanny state mentality to its logical conclusion and outlaw all behavior that is even a tiny bit risky as that way we can alleviate all accidents and abolish accident, car, boat and fire insurance forever.

Of course, that is an impossibility.... But it is an excellent way to raise revenues!

People who do not see the absurdity of these taxes disguised as laws to protect society shouldn't be surprised when the new taxes come in on other ridiculous stuff, like, say, using a headphone or iPod like device in a public place.

Say, great idea! In order to "protect" us the government institutes a new tax on little white earbud headphones and uses the money for research to prevent hearing loss!

Laugh now, if you will, but you "heard" it here first. 

Another Wide Spread Cause of Illness that Affects Everyone - Probably You Too!

This blog started out as a blog about Marketing, Media and Japan. But as time went on, and due to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster and the foaming-at-the-mouth rantings of people who were claiming that we all were going to die, I switched the focus of this blog to blasting those clowns out of the water. Now, I see where I have to refocus on writing about just how messed up people are and how f'ed up their priorities are.


The year is 2011. People all over the world are complaining about nuclear power. No one says anything about coal and oil even though, for every unit of power produced, those industries kill more than 5,000 times more people than those who die from nuclear power. 


People in the west are talking about their health, safety and the environment. They are "getting back to nature", "natural", "eating healthy", "living right" and "exercising", etc., etc. People complain and moan about things like nuclear power and killing dolphins and the environment, etc. all the while they stuff their faces with processed foods, drive their cars like idiots, and do all sorts of things to their bodies that will kill them years before their time and way before any nuclear radiation will.


But I continue to flog a dead horse.


Actually, I am on vacation in Hawaii now and have come to observe another very curious behavior of people these days. This behavior cannot be good for you but you see people doing it all the time. This behavior has been proven to cause high blood pressure, heart disease and even birth defects, yet people still do it regularly.


Hawaii has scenic beauty, natural forests, beautiful unspoiled beaches. Clean. Cleanliness. Unpolluted. Healthy. Natural.


Yes. Healthy and natural... Excepting for the 65% of all people over 30 years old who are overweight here. 80% of the people over 40 are obese. 


Very healthy, except for the people.... But those are the unhealthy.. There are some healthy ones. At least they look that way. Those are the the young and beautiful people who are keeping their bodies fit with exercise....


I walk along an empty beach. There's no sound except nature; the wind, the waves, the birds. Silence. It is heaven to a person who has spent over three decades in Rock music as a musician and at a Rock music radio station. On the beach here I have only the sounds of nature; it is heavenly silence and extremely calming and very healthy. My stress levels drop to zero.


Also, on these quiet beaches, runners go by every morning on their daily jog. While doing something great for their bodies, they do something terrible for their minds. They all do the same thing: They wear headphones.

One guy wore headphones in a thunderstorm...

He's lost half his hearing... Ewww!

Everyone knows the benefit of natural sounds. Everyone knows the benefit of silence. Everyone knows that sound pollution is a cause of many physical and mental disorders. Yet these people, surely surrounded by man-made industrial noise all day, choose to spend their quiet time alone blasting loud music into their ears.


Go figure.


Here's what Wikipedia says about Health Effects from Noise Pollution:

Noise health effects are the health consequences of elevated sound levels. Elevated workplace or other noise can cause hearing impairment, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, annoyance and sleep disturbance. Changes in the immune system and birth defects have been attributed to noise exposure, but evidence is limited. Although some presbycusis may occur naturally with age, in many developed nations the cumulative impact of noise is sufficient to impair the hearing of a large fraction of the population over the course of a lifetime. Noise exposure has also been known to induce tinnitus, hypertension, vasoconstriction and other cardiovascular impacts. Beyond these effects, elevated noise levels can create stress, increase workplace accident rates, and stimulate aggression and other anti-social behaviors. The most significant causes are vehicle and aircraft noise, prolonged exposure to loud music, and industrial noise.

Why do people do good things for their body while doing such bad to their physiology and mind? Why do people appreciate the beauty of nature, yet they seem to not be able to appreciate the sound of nature?


It is quite odd the damage that people will voluntarily do to themselves. I'm not saying that listening to headphones is always bad. I think it might be fine to relax in contrast to, say, a ride on a packed commuter train. But when you have the rare chance to listen to nature, you'd be wise to take it.


Of course, in this article, once again, I will be attacked as some sort of "non-expert" but, like I said, over three decades in music as a paid professional makes me an expert and one of the few people who have made a good living in music. 


When music is your business and it is how you live, trust that you come to appreciate the health benefits of silence and natural sound.


I have no TV or stereo at my home and I certainly don't carry a stereo in my pocket. 


There's enough man-made noise pollution as it is. If I can hear nature and silence, I will choose that whenever and wherever possible. For your health, you should too.  

One More Phase in the Shattering of Mainstream Media

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I rode the Tokyo subway today and saw a sign inside the car that notified the passengers that as of July 24, 2011, terrestrial television stations will no longer broadcast analogue signals in Japan and will finally make the switch to digital.

This signals what could be the final nail in the coffin of many of the FM radio stations in this country and the collapse of TV Tokyo and TBS.

I predict that InterFM will either be bankrupt or sold to a new owner by 2014 and TV Tokyo will be in the same situation: insolvent or absorbed by another company by 2016.

I'd like to explain why in this post but first let me give you some important details involving the background of broadcast signals so that you may have a better understanding and why I think this way. Let's see if you come to the same conclusions that I have.

Let's start with AM and FM radio.

AM is called "Amplitude Modulation" and its signal is wavy. When an AM signal comes to an obstacle like a mountain or a tall building, it bounces off of it in many directions and continues going. This is why, in many areas of the United States, there are some AM stations whose broadcasts can be heard over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away. The AM signal is like an ocean wave so, if there are no mountains to make the signal deflect into the heavens, the signals will bounce along the earth's surface.

This makes AM radio great for talk and the friend of people who drive long-distance trucks.

FM is called "Frequency Modulation" and it goes in a straight line. When an FM signal hits a mountain, tall building or other obstacle, it stops. We've all had the experience that our favorite FM station drops off when we go through a tunnel or through a valley. That's the shortcoming of FM radio.

What many people do not know is that terrestrial TV uses the same FM frequency for its broadcasts too.

People who were brought up in Japan may remember from their childhood small portable transistor radio that had the AM / FM band on them but also played TV channels NHK and NHK Educational (1 & 3).  If you understand that analogue TV uses FM frequency to broadcast, then you now understand why those old transistor radio's had TV channels on them.

This is important so keep this in mind.

On July 24, 2011, the TV channels will stop broadcasting analogue signals. What this really means is that they will stop using the FM band for transmitting their services and go to terrestrial digital.

FM, Frequency Modulation, is a broadcast wave. Digital broadcasting is not a wave at all. Digital broadcasting is a completely different technology. Digital broadcasting is not a wave, it is binary data.

I suppose that some of you have seen binary data before. It's a series of zero's and one's and looks something like this:

00110010111100101101001110100010000100001000001

00110001000011101110001010101001001000100111000

01011110111101111011011111110010001000001101010

That is binary data. The reason why digital broadcasting is so clear and high quality is that, with binary data, it is either "on" or "off" unlike an AM or FM signal that can be blocked or deflected by tall buildings, mountains or even trees. Binary Data is crystal clear.

Now, how does this spell the end of FM radio? Bear with me here, cause now we're getting to the nitty gritty.

The future of FM radio doesn't lay in what they broadcast or how they up the ante of quality of content (but, of course, it will always be a competition between stations for dwindling audience and sponsorship dollars)...

The future of FM radio depends on what Toyota does.

That's right. Toyota is the one who decides what is going to happen. In my opinion, it is obvious that FM  is is serious trouble and that we are now witnessing the end of an era; and it's happening, in slow motion, right in front of our eyes.

But, don't take my word for it, decide for yourself. Let me explain further...

Think about this: Where do most people listen to FM radio? In cars, right?

The Japanese government and all the big manufacturers in this country, Sony, Panasonic, etc. (who, by the way, all have an incestuous relationship with each other and Toyota in stock holdings) are pushing for the digital conversion big time. These manufacturers need their flagging fortunes to get an injection of sales and profits that new broadcasting and new equipment will generate. Digital equipment costs anywhere from $500 - $2,000 (USD) a set. The Japanese manufacturers want and need for the Japanese public to go whole-hog into digital broadcasting. They need the public to dispose of their analogue equipment and buy the new digital equipment... (By the way, a cursory check of analogue equipment at Bic Camera the other day - what little I could find - showed that all the analogue products were all manufactured outside of Japan).

If digital broadcasting is a failure in this country, then it's going to hurt Japanese manufacturing for a very long time... The analogue equipment I saw was all manufactured in Malaysia, Indonesia, and I found some from Taiwan (which was surprising).

Now, how does Toyota fit into this equation?

Imagine your car dashboard. It has a GPS, CD player, and television/radio set all built together. Most people have an analogue device (with terrible TV reception!) From July 2011 there will be no cars that come with that device. They will all be digital.

After July 2011, on your dashboard, you will have a digital GPS, Internet, digital TV and digital radio. Want to do Social Media, YouTube, Twitter, U-Stream, blog? Got you covered. Need to Google or Yahoo search? Sure. When you need traffic conditions, just a click on your GPS will give you up to the minute details on traffic and road conditions. All the TV channels? No problem. Throw on top of that 6 digital radio channels and, of course, a CD player and probably an iPod connection, and you have the next generation of car entertainment system. (In Japan, as of now, there are 6 digital radio channels that are shown on CS or BS television. These channels broadcast soft jazz and classical music).

Toyota HD Digital Screen. 

All sorts of fun things like iPod, digital TV and digital radio... 

Do you see FM or AM radio? I don't

Remember I wrote that digital signals are binary data and analogue is a broadcasting wave? This is important now.

I ask you, dear reader, to consider; Since Sony, Panasonic, etc. and companies like Toyota and Nissan all have an incestuous relationship as to stock holdings and company ownership, and they desperately need to have the Japanese public buy their digital devices that cost at least $500 each... And digital devices receive binary data and are not analogue compatible... Do you think that Toyota will cut a hole in your dashboard, just under your $500 digital GPS, TV, Internet, radio device in order to install a $1 dollar made in Indonesia FM tuner?

I don't, and I think it is insane to think otherwise. Actually, the notion is laughable, isn't it?

So, if people can no longer hear FM radio in their cars, then where are they going to listen to it? In the subways with their white earplugs through their iPods and iPhones?... Get serious. Nobody does that now!

If there are any folks reading this who remember how popular short wave was way back when compared to what it is today, then they have a good idea what I think the future of FM radio in Japan looks like....

No FM radio in the car spells doom for the FM stations because if no one can listen in their car, then FM will have no listeners at all... No listeners means no sponsors. No sponsors means no money. No money means no FM...

I cannot imagine how they will survive the next 5 ~ 10 years.

If I were a station like J-Wave - that still has good ratings and high listenership - I'd get into negotiations real soon for an open digital radio channel... And, no, the license and digital conversion are not cheap. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars. The smaller stations will never afford it, so they are dead.

And that's why July 2011 is the last nail in the coffin of FM radio in Japan.

But what about AM radio you say? Ah, that's the interesting contradiction. AM radio will probably survive. Because AM car radio is the bottom of the pit for basic car equipment (besides nothing at all)... Almost every Tokyo Taxi has an AM radio in it. Few have FM radios.

Tomorrow I will explain why this entire situation bodes ill for TV Tokyo and TBS TV.

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Keywords:
Nissan, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, FM, Toyota, FM radio, Yahoo, U-Stream, J-Wave, Social Media, TV, YouTube, AM, AM radio, blog, blogs, Internet, Japan, digital TV, Panasonic, digital radio, Japan, TV Tokyo, TBS TV, iPod, iPhone, Sony, Google, Tokyo subway