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Digital Garage Group Launches “FT MediaString,” an AI Orchestration-Based Advertising Business Using Proprietary Fintech Data and Quality Media Data from 33 Leading Media Companies
Reaching latent customers through advertising on high-quality media outlets and advanced data analysis
Digital Garage, Inc. (TSE Prime section: 4819; HQ: Tokyo; Representative Director, President Executive Officer and Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi; “Digital Garage”) announced the launch of “FT MediaString,” an AI orchestration-based advertising business utilizing proprietary fintech data from the Digital Garage Group as well as media data from the Quality Media Consortium,(*1) which comprises 33 leading media companies in Japan.
Digital Garage has promoted an advertising business based around high-quality media value and brand safety through its subsidiary BI.Garage, Inc. (HQ: Tokyo; CEO: Akio Niizawa; “BI.Garage”). In light of AI usage in business shifting from the “introduction” phase to the “establishment” phase, the Group is using AI to orchestrate highly-trusted media context with highly accurate latent interest data, thereby realizing a marketing approach that maximizes the brand value of advertisers.
Prior to the launch of “FT MediaString,” Digital Garage conducted a demonstration of “fintech data × quality media data” by running an AI-powered advertising campaign for “DGFT Invoice Card Payment,” a B2B payment service provided by Digital Garage, on high-quality media outlets, and confirmed the effectiveness of this approach.
The method for advertising distribution in this project utilizes “ONE Insight,” an AI solution provided by SQREEM Technologies Pte. Ltd. (HQ: Singapore; CEO: Rob Gilby; “SQREEM”), and links advanced audience analysis with BI.Garage’s contextual targeting. In a brand lift survey that was conducted for the advertising distribution in this project, Digital Garage confirmed that the campaign contributed to greater trust in the service brand and stronger brand recall through improved understanding of the service.
(*1) About the “Quality Media Consortium”
Run by BI.Garage in collaboration with high-profile media companies in Japan, the Quality Media Consortium was established with the purpose of achieving ever higher content value and advertising value. The Consortium is involved in areas of business that can only be achieved by quality content media entities, such as a collaborative advertising platform business that delivers high-value digital advertising.
https://mediastring.net/qualitymediaconsortium/ (Japanese only)
■ Background
Now that the digital advertising market has entered the post-cookie age, there is a challenge regarding the methodology to employ in order to reliably reach the advertiser’s target demographic while also respecting individuals’ privacy. In addition, many advertisers place emphasis on creating touchpoints with latent customers, and so there is a need to identify the demographics that will have interest in the product and then work to promote recognition and understanding among these demographics.
In light of these challenges, BI.Garage has launched “FT MediaString,” an AI orchestration-based advertising business that takes a distribution method based on an analysis of past article context, and combines this with SQREEM’s cognitive AI “ONE Insight” to achieve even greater accuracy. Going beyond conventional approaches limited to ad inventory and page-level placements, FT MediaString combines fintech data to enable ad delivery based on data-driven latent interests.
■ Comments
Akio Niizawa (CEO, BI.Garage, Inc. / Corporate Officer and CDMO*, Digital Garage, Inc.)
Owing to the rapid increase of AI utilization, we have entered an age where we can realize highly accurate information matching swiftly and securely.
BI.Garage and the Digital Garage Group will spur the development of solutions that can maximize the synergistic effects of high-quality media and AI technologies to cultivate new potential for digital advertising.
In the trial run where we distributed advertisements for “DGFT Invoice Card Payment,” we conducted latent audience analysis using AI to extract a user demographic with a high level of accuracy. We confirmed that by placing advertising in high-quality media outlets aligned with the target audience, we achieved results with an influx of a new category of users.
Going forward, we will further enrich Group synergy and combine many different types of data beyond fintech data, and thereby accelerate efforts to provide an integrated “Variable Data & Media Solution” that supports everything from payment to marketing all in one place.
*CDMO: Chief Data Marketing Officer
■ Details of Test Run
In this test run, we used the process outlined below to optimize advertising distribution and verify the fusion between cognitive AI and context.
1. Latent Audience Analysis Using AI
Using SQREEM’s cognitive AI “ONE Insight,” we analyzed and identified patterns of interest among the target demographic (people with an interest in improving financing, streamlining payments, management strategy, and other topics) that would have a strong affinity with “DGFT Invoice Card Payment” based on a vast quantity of behavioral data on the open web.
2. Extracting Articles with High Affinity
We integrated the results of analysis with “MediaString” and extracted high-quality article content that the target demographic encounters in real-time.
3. Optimized Contextual Distribution
We delivered highly targeted advertising alongside the identified high-affinity articles. We approached users by capturing the “moments” when they were reading articles that they are strongly interested in.
■ Results of Trial Run (Brand Lift Survey)
We were able to confirm positive changes in the following three categories through the brand lift survey:
（1） Deeper understanding: Understanding of the content of the advertisements rose by 18 percentage points
（2） Stronger brand association: the perception that the brand “contributes to improving cash flow” rose by 9 percentage points
（3） Greater trust: Negative responses regarding “a low level of trust” decreased by 10 percentage points
This method of using AI to identify the “moments” when latent customers hold an interest and aiming to approach them in the ideal context showed effective results in realizing a deeper understanding and fostering trust, even with a brand for a B2B offering with a limited target demographic.
<About the AI Orchestration-Based Advertising Business “FT MediaString”>
“MediaString” is an advertising platform provided by BI.Garage that leverages media content from more than 30 leading newspaper publishers and other media companies in Japan. Through contextual targeting based on analysis of article content and context, brand safety measures that help protect clients from brand damage, and proprietary digital advertising powered by the latest technology, the platform enables more effective branding.
Built on the “MediaString” platform, “FT MediaString” is designed for fintech businesses. It uses latent audience analysis generated by the cognitive AI “ONE Insight,” along with BI.Garage’s proprietary audience-targeting AI, to identify in real time high-quality article content that target audiences regularly engage with. By combining this with proprietary fintech data and creative assets, FT MediaString enables precise outreach to latent customers.
https://mediastring.net/services/ (Japanese only)
<About ONE Insight>
ONE Insight is a next-generation audience intelligence platform powered by SQREEM’s cognitive AI. It analyzes digital behavior and uncovers the intent and interests behind that behavior using large volumes of structured and unstructured data across digital environments. This enables rapid responses to diverse research needs and significantly accelerates the analytical process, delivering highly accurate insights across a wide range of areas, from marketing to business strategy.
https://www.sqreem.com
<About “DGFT Invoice Card Payment”>
This service enables users to pay invoices with their credit card even when the payee does not accept card payments. Digital Garage pays the invoice on behalf of the user in the user’s name. Supported cards include JCB, Visa, Mastercard®, and Diners Club.
By switching payments from bank transfer to credit card, users can effectively extend their payment deadline by up to about 60 days. This helps SMEs address temporary cash shortages and cover seasonal procurement costs. Since its launch in October 2022, Digital Garage has continued to improve user convenience by adding functions such as AI-OCR invoice auto-import, invoice management functions compliant with the Electronic Book Storage Act, and API integration for seamless invoice linkage with external systems.
Service Page： https://lp.dginvoice.jp/ (Japanese only)
■ Company Profile
<BI.Garage, Inc.>
Company Name: BI.Garage, Inc.
Head Office: Digital Gate Building, 3-5-7 Ebisu Minami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Representative: Akio Niizawa, President and CEO
Business Activities:
・ Planning, sales, brokerage, and mediation of advertising media on the Internet and other networks
・ Sales of information systems related to Internet and network-based advertising
・ Information processing and information provision services using computer systems and information networks
・ Creation, operation, management, and provision of customer databases, as well as agency services for these businesses
URL: https://bi.garage.co.jp/ (Japanese only)
<Digital Garage, Inc.>
Company Name: Digital Garage, Inc. (TSE Prime: 4819)
Representative: Representative Director, President Executive Officer and Group CEO Kaoru Hayashi
Address: DG Bldg., 3-5-7 Ebisu Minami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Shibuya PARCO DG Bldg., 15-1 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Date founded: August 1995
Business Overview: Digital Garage, Inc. is the leading payment service provider in Japan. With the corporate purpose of “Designing ‘New Context’ for a sustainable society with technology,” Digital Garage operates payment business services for various comprehensive payment platforms in Japan. Digital Garage also runs a marketing business providing one-stop solutions in both the digital and real worlds, as well as a startup investment and development business for approaching promising startups and technologies in Japan and overseas.
https://www.garage.co.jp/en/