Phileweb.com
From around July the URL of the Phileweb audiovisual portal site will change from http//www.ongen.co.jp to https//www.phileweb.com. Of course, access from ongen.co.jp will still be possible, but information will be transmitted to the world via phileweb.com. At the same time, the switch from http to https will greatly boost security. In preparation for the change, Phileweb has been working hard since this spring to enhance its contents, which at present cover more than 30,000 pages
(1) Product database
At present there are 6,400 models stored in the Phileweb database, and the number is being further increased. At a click of the mouse, you can search for products by genre, brand name, and model name. You will be able to see specifications of the product you have searched for, comments by critics, and other information, and you can also jump directly to the maker’s press releases for the product. One top executive of a large discount store was amazed by the site. “It’s wonderful,” he said. “Creating the same kind of thing now would cost several hundred million yen. And even if you tried, you certainly wouldn’t be able to make anything better.” Since information has been input into the Phileweb site ever since it started, the praise is only natural.
The user can immediately get an understanding of, say, what rival products are available, because products can be ranked simply according to price and maker. If you have not done so yet, I strongly recommend you to try it.
(2) Seihin hihyo (Product Criticism) weekly web magazine
In the weekly web magazine Seihin hihyo (Product Criticism), critics test and comment on all new models. This is a wonderful feature of Phileweb and unparalleled elsewhere. From April this page also will move a step forward by targeting brand new products. Critics will comment and report on new products as they appear. Until now these articles were often the same as those carried in other magazines, but from now on new products will be introduced much more quickly. After seeing this page, users and dealers are bound to make a move.
(3) Research and data (R&D)
At present Phileweb carries out various surveys. The strength of the site is that if it is asked to assemble a certain type of people, it can pick out around 1,000 target users and conduct a substantial and timely survey in just a couple of weeks.
In a survey on year-end consumer trends, it analyzed replies from about 300 respondents. This survey was amazing because it delved into such factors as what products the respondents had bought, why they had bought them, what products they had made comparisons with when purchasing, what their reasons were for selecting the product, how much it had cost, where they had made the purchase, what products they planned to buy next, why, what comparisons had been made, and so on.
The results of this survey were intriguing. Makers looking at them would be able to see in an instant why their products had failed – or why they had succeeded – in the year-end sales war. There were quite a lot of cases in which two products fought over a bone, and a third walked away with it.
Phileweb’s research and data (R&D) activities enable it to conduct such surveys, as well as brand strength surveys and so on, and to supply dynamic data in a short time. From receiving a request to producing the data takes less than one month.
Thanks to these vigorous activities, Phileweb has registered 30 million hits, and the number is continuing to rise. Its varied contents and new business are certainly worthy of attention.
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