Digital Garage Introduces a Smartphone Advertisement and Rewards Platform Kiip to Japan

CGM Marketing, Inc (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President & Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi, henceforth CGMM), a subsidiary of Digital Garage, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4819, Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President & Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi, henceforth DG) has made a business collaborative agreement with Kiip, Inc. (Head Office: San Francisco, CEO: Brian Wong, henceforth Kiip) upon a sales representation commercial agreement for Japan. CGM Marketing is also pleased to announce the first brand partner to utilize the Kiip platform in Japan today: LOYALTY MARKETING, INC. (Head Office: Tokyo, CEO:Tusyoshi Hasegawa, henceforth, Loyalty Marketing) is set to begin market testing in Japan in mid-December 2012.

This initiative places Loyalty Marketing coupons from the “Ponta” reward program (with over 5 million members) into Kiip’s platform that enable users to serendipitously earn coupons during “Achievement Moments” in apps to encourage engagement between advertisers and their consumers that are on the go, thus promoting the use of “Ponta” coupons.

By accelerating the recruitment of new advertisers and game app developers to implement Kiip’s technology to foster O2O partnerships, CGMM hopes to jump-start Kiip’s expansion in Japan and Asia.

【About Kiip】
Kiip’s platform allows advertisers to send rewards such as coupons, samples, and premium content to users when they reach their goal (=”Achievement Moment”) in an app by clearing a level on a game, obtaining a high score, or even by finishing a to-do list. This encourages engagement with active app users and promotes high quality marketing. Since users feel a strong sense of accomplishment and elation during these “Achievement Moments,” we can expect better results from the advertisements. Currently there are more than 600 premium apps that utilize Kiip in the US, including well-known games such as “Aerox,” “MegaJump,” “Tree World,” and “UnlockMeFree, ” totaling 35 million users. These apps have experienced global acceleration due to their popularity in Japan, which is the second biggest market in Kiip’s network after the US, with an estimated 20 million sessions per month. Studies shows that apps integrated with Kiip experience increased usage rates and overall time spent on the apps. Early tests in the Japanese market indicate average engagement rates of over 20%.

【Regarding CGM Marketing, Inc.】
CGMM is a subsidiary of Digital Garage, Dentsu Inc., Cyber Communications, and Asatsu-DK, Inc.

【Regarding Loyalty Marketing】
Loyalty Marketing operates the “Ponta” reward program, which surpassed 5 million users as of 11/30/2012. This program enables customers to use one card to accumulate and use points for various partnering businesses. Currently there are 57 participating companies, and customers can redeem points and coupons in approximately 21,200 stores across Japan (as of 12/10/2012).