Square Enix 2006 Annual Report Download - page 7

04 05
Annual Report 2006
Our fundamental strategy is to leverage this energy skillfully as
the driving force for a business. I believe the real engine for growth
will be the vitality of communities formed by customers.
At the kernel of a community is a shared worldview, whether
that springs from a common interest in video games, manga or
some other pursuit. Communities are thus defined by such attrib-
utes as a video game’s worldview or a certain taste in design.
Conventional methods of grouping customers—such as by age,
gender or nationality—are hardly useful.
Seen from the customer’s perspective, each person has a multi-
tude of tastes, so each person can belong to several communities
without any incompatibility. The important point is to avoid gener-
alization of communities. Regardless of the community size, we
should be conscious of the fact that each community is unique
and irreplaceable.
However, if we analyze customer lifestyles, we find that there is
some level of uniformity across such marketing parameters as age
group or occupation, and further, that the type of terminals people
use and their media exposure patterns have a close correlation
with lifestyle.
Therefore, it becomes important to prepare a diverse array of
content and service entry points. To enhance a community’s gravi-
tational pull as well as increase profitability, it is necessary to cater
to a wide range of lifestyles. One of the reasons we decided to
bring TAITO into the SQUARE ENIX Group was the addition of
amusement arcades to our existing lineup of customer entry
points, which includes video game consoles, personal computers
(PCs), mobile phones and magazines.