Corporate History
History as a Specialist Since 1990
| [Founding] | |
| 1978 | Future Bluestar president Mick Sakamoto learns his first lessons at International school about computers on an American-made DEC (now HP) PDP-11/04 mini-computer. |
| 1983 | Sakamoto begins to use BBS by using 300bps phone coupler and his own 8 bit computer MZ80B.(Zilog CPU) |
| 1985 | Sakamoto hosts his own community, which he is given responsibility for managing, on Nikkei Mix hosted by Nikkei BP publishing. |
| 1986 | Sakamoto establishes the NIFTY-Serve FM Forum and is appointed SYSOP. |
| 1989 | Sakamoto establishes the NIFTY-Serve trial-version software forum, contributing to the widespread trend of offering trial version software for PCs. |
| [Corporate Establishment | |
| August 1990 | Mick Sakamoto founds Bluestar Corporation as Japan's first firm specializing in PC-based net marketing. Entrusted with corporate community management, the Company takes up partnership marketing, devising a buzz marketing methodology. (Important for tasks such as CS improvement, merchandise development, fan-base formation, consensus building.) |
| 1991 | The Company launches an online mail-order business, accumulating related expertise. |
| 1992 | The Company hosts the NIFTY-Serve Windows Forum. (Later evolves into a 600,000 member community. Largest at that time.) |
| 1996 | The Company helps to encourage widespread use of shareware in Japan. It also launches regular publication of Japan's first email magazine from a corporate sender, on behalf of client NTT DoCoMo, Inc. This milestone becomes a template for mail marketing in the domestic market. |
| 1997 | The Company develops an Internet-based community system (including keyword filter), which it supplies to Tokyo Broadcasting Service, Inc. (TBS). |
| 1998 | Started angel and incubation by our self investment. |
| 1999 | JBOOK book mail-order site established through a joint venture with Bunkyodo Co., Ltd. The Company also conducts detailed design of the distribution system. |
| February 2002 | The Company formally commercializes search engine marketing (SEO). Mail-order firms specializing mainly in catalog-based sales become core customers. |
| 2003 | The Company conducts RFP design for construction of mainframe systems for wholesalers with 3 billion yen in annual sales, as well as system monitoring (diagnosis). |
| 2004 | Launched the web access analysis business. |
| December 2004 | The Company promotes a net marketing and consulting business based on the core concepts of affiliate system and usability. |
| 2005 | The Company turns attention to keyword search advertising (P4P), launching a business for extensive analysis of cost effectiveness; the business gains high marks particularly among mail-order companies. |
| August 2008 | The Company launches "Bluestar Web Marketing Advice," a business specializing in advisory services pertaining to Web-based marketing for small and medium sized enterprises through to large corporations. |
Commitment to Independence
Most of Japan's IT-industry firms have capital ties of some sort with larger corporate groups. Consequently, the advice and consulting services they offer frequently double as vehicles for marketing the products and services of their corporate parent. Bluestar Corporation is 100% owned by our president, enabling us to offer advice from the perspective of our corporate clients.
Commitment to Using No Agents
The fundamental business model in Japan's IT industry is to conduct business through designated agents, much in the same way as the construction industry does. We believe that most clients are unaware that this arrangement prevents agents from offering them advice from a completely neutral standpoint. By contrast, our corporate concept is to operate by using a fair business model, whereby clients pay a fee for the consulting services rendered.
As the old adage suggests, it truly is the case that "you get what you pay for."
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