Critical Voices Flare Up on Coeds’ Blogs After Report by NHK

   One of the ways to advertise in Japan today is the “word-of-mouth marketing” in which firms ask individual bloggers to post comments about their products. Critical opinions flared on the internet against blogs operated by coeds after NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) reported their involvement in such advertising activities in its “News Watch 9” programming on Nov. 3, 2006. The coed bloggers were criticized for being paid by business firms to write something good for the products of the firms. Some of the firms involved put out comments on their own home pages in order to “avoid misunderstanding.”

   The “word-of-mouth marketing” is a type of advertising called in the United States “viral marketing” in which firms ask the users of their products and services to introduce them to friends. Viral means to be contagious and derived from virus.

Bloggers Were Given Instructions on “How to Write Good Blogs”

“Word-of-mouth marketing” brought criticisms to bloggers.

   Introduced in the “News Watch 9” were those including Sayaka Bounou, who operates a blog that is visited by 10,000 visitors a day and who also work as model of magazine subscriber. She was televised while she was easting a free dinner at a restaurant and attending a preview of a movie film. In a separate blog, the coeds who were receiving a lesson on “how to write good blogs” were televised while they were given cosmetics and soft drinks by the makers of those products. The bloggers were reportedly paid several thousands yen each every time they wrote about the products on their blogs.

   The viewers who believed they were watching individuals’ blogs apparently had the feeling of being deceived when they found that some blogs were under the control of business firms. Critical postings rushed to internet forums and other sites targeting at Bounou’s blog and the firms which were making use of the “word-of-mouth marketing.” Some of the critical postings were: “I was taken aback by seeing the program. To be honest, I was disappointed,” “Is that a word-of-mouth. It’s more like they were taken advantage of!” and “I saw the program. Wasn’t it like a new type of pyramid sales?”

   Some of the sites began deleting the critical posting over and over, and others limited the postings. Bounou explained by writing on her own blog on Nov. 6 as follows:

“I was surprised the contents of the program were so different from what we were interviewed about… It exaggerated the part that said, ‘we used products offered by the business firms’. It may have been better to do so for the programming, but I felt sad.”

   The television program had an impact also on Miho Kuroda (alias Kuromiho), President of Principal Agent, Inc. who writes “Diaries of Coed Showbiz Professional,” said in her blog on Nov. 4, 2006:

“As I understand some of our readers pointed out that ‘we are advertising (particular products) behind our blog postings, I would like to make clear that there were no monetary payments involved for most of the cases.” She added, “It’s the fact that our company offers blog-related promotion services. We will make efforts to make the distinction more clear in the future between the introduction of products and other ordinary articles.”

“Manuscript Fees” Paid to Bloggers Soaring

   Another “word-of-mouth marketing” reported by the NHK news, “Knowledge Park Inc.” also wrote to the effect on its home page on the same day that:

(1) When we ask bloggers to write, we make it clear that the writings were “contributed.” (2) We ask the bloggers to write as they want, and we do not instruct them to write in any particular way, and (3) If the bloggers refuse to write anything about the products we ask, no posting is made. The company said it received inquires after the broadcasting if it “forced the coeds to write on their blogs.”

   The company started the “word-of-mouth marketing” business two years ago. Answering inquiries by J-Cast, it said that “not many visitors to the site would click on ordinary banners. We thought that we could increase the advertisement effect of good products we want to introduce tremendously if we introduced simultaneously the opinions of the people who have actually used the products on their blogs.” About 800 bloggers are registered at the company. Most of them are women.

   It also said that the “bloggers who write articles do not do so as their side work to earn money, but they are more interested in having their part in the sales promotion (of the products by introducing or selling them to the visitors to their blogs).”

   In the meantime, the manuscript fees paid to the bloggers are reportedly skyrocketing. According to Knowledge Park, the fees paid for every time the postings are renewed are now eight times as high as two years ago. “The demand for word-of-mouth marketing is growing so strong. We think the demand will rise even further in the future,” the company added.

   House Foods Corp. is making the use of the word-of-word marketing. Since this method of advertising was introduced, the sales of the company are said to have gone up four folds.

   “We also use other advertising media, such as television commercials. So we are now studying how effective the use of the word-of-mouth advertising method was in increasing the sales,” the company said. “We simply offered our products to the bloggers asking to try them. So if the bloggers harshly criticized our products, it would be possible that our effort would have brought a negative effect. So far, however, we have enjoyed more favourable judgements on our products than unfavourable ones,” the company added. The use of the word-of-mouth advertising method was a “gamble” for this company.