Macromill Group

Tokyo, February 3, 2020 - Macromill, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Scott Ernst, Representative Executive Officer, Global CEO; hereinafter, “Macromill”) is pleased to announce that it celebrates its 20th anniversary on January 31. Macromill began providing “Online Research”, a new marketing research solution in early 2000, as the internet began to become widespread. Since then, the Company has been striving to be the first to apply the latest technologies available to the marketing research services it provides. The Company takes the opportunity of its 20th anniversary to announce the establishment of the Macromill Consortium (MC) with member companies listed below. The purpose of its establishment is to accelerate Macromill’s evolution into a “Research” × “DATA” company, a goal set in its mid-term business plan announced on August 7, 2019.

1. Purpose of establishment

Our clients see a dramatic increase in the number of consumer touchpoints and diverse data sources based upon the expansion of IT and mobile technologies. Many of Macromill’s clients are attempting to utilize big data, AI and advanced marketing tools to address increasingly complex marketing issues.

At the same time, the protection of personal information and consumer privacy is of paramount importance when handling these data. This has made it difficult for client companies to solve their marketing issues without a trusted partner, partly because of their insufficient knowledge of technology in the digital marketing field and the serious shortage of human resources available to plan and execute digital marketing initiatives.

Macromill consumer research panels combine behavioral data (including purchase, internet advertising, website activity and geographic location data) along with awareness data (including brand recognition and product selection) for online research purposes. Macromill’s strengths are its ability to link diverse data sets with attribute data (including gender, age, and place of residence) for integrated marketing insights. In addition, the Company’s ample consumer research panels allow, in many cases, for the combination of our consumer research panels with user data possessed by our client company which enable marked improvements in marketing effectiveness and precision.

Macromill strives to be a trusted partner for its client companies, working together to address their various marketing issues beyond the framework of marketing research alone. To accomplish this goal, the Company will combine competitive advantages it has cultivated to date along with strengthening the teams that handle integrated data, specialized business analytics and consulting to advance Macromill’s evolution into a “Research” × “DATA” company.

Also critical to achieving our evolution are the establishment of alliances with external companies as a necessary part of this initiative. Thus, Macromill has established the Macromill Consortium (MC) with companies that have unique expertise and strengths, mainly in the data/marketing consulting fields.

MC will provide one-stop support for client companies seeking to solve their increasingly complex marketing issues.

The establishment of the MC enables its member companies to reach Macromill’s more than 4,000 client companies around the world. The MC will also allow for the combination of internal and external resources and technologies, enabling the expansion of new capabilities and solutions, which are necessary for clients’ success in today’s marketing environment.

Through these initiatives, Macromill will accelerate its evolution into a “Research” × “DATA” company.

2. About Macromill Consortium (MC)

Macromill Consortium (MC) will initially focus on the following.

(1) Joint seminars

Macromill and MC member companies will regularly hold joint seminars, mainly for Macromill’s client companies. These seminars will be aimed at showcasing member companies’ capabilities to client companies creating new opportunities for clients, Macromill and MC members.

(2) Collaborations on individual projects with Macromill clients

Macromill and MC member companies will collaborate on individual projects with Macromill’s client companies. Macromill has business relations with more than 4,000 companies globally, allowing MC member companies to reduce the burden on their own sales resource. We believe that the MC will improve Macromill’s capability to handle extremely complex projects while the collaborations will create new sources of revenue and increase orders for various research services.

(3) Temporary transfer of Macromill employees to MC member companies

Macromill will transfer employees temporarily to MC member companies, aiming at facilitating smooth collaboration between Macromill and each member company. This measure is also aimed at improving the transferred employees’ problem-solving skills on the frontline of the data / marketing consulting fields.

Macromill and MC member companies aim to build win-win relationships through the above initiatives. A diagram visualizing the concept of these initiatives as follows.

3. Overview of the member companies (In the order of the year of their foundation)

(1)Bloom & Co., Inc.

Business name:	Bloom & Co., Inc.
Representative(Profile):	Yasuhiro Yano, CEO Mr. Yano worked for P&G, where he led team members from various countries in formulating and implementing marketing strategies in Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and other countries. He later joined DeNA as Head of Marketing Headquarters and Executive Officer, where he was responsible for the mobile game, e-commerce and sports businesses. He also oversaw the marketing activities of the overall company, including the renewal of the corporate brand. He founded Bloom&Co., Inc. in 2015.
Location:	Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Foundation:	April 2015
Main business:	Formulation of strategies aimed for business growth, with a focus on marketing strategies, and consultation on the implementation of these strategies
URL:	https://www.bloom-and-co.com/en/

(2)Marketing Force, Inc.

Business name:	Marketing Force, Inc.
Representative(Profile):	Tasuku Cho, CEO Mr. Cho worked for P&G, and led product and concept research in new product development. After serving as the brand manager in a wide range of categories, he became the business leader of P&G Japan’s cosmetics category, and led transformation of its business model, marketing strategies, and organization structure, enabling the business to grow year on year. He then became executive officer of the company and led P&G Japan’s home electronics category (BRAUN / Oral B). Joined CEO of Marketing Force, Inc. as CEO in 2019.
Location:	Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Foundation:	January 2019
Main business:	Development of methodologies for formulating marketing strategies and development and provision of marketing tools
URL:	https://mktgforce.com/

4．Establishment and schedule

Macromill Consortium (MC) was established on January 31. Moving forward, Macromill will work with MC member companies in launching new initiatives to provide one-stop support for addressing the marketing issues faced by the client companies of Macromill.

Macromill will continue to evaluate additional candidate companies, beyond those listed the above, towards their participation in MC. The Company will make separate announcements as new MC member companies join this initiative.

As mentioned above, Macromill and MC member companies will regularly hold joint seminars, the first seminar will be held on February 14, 2020 jointly with Marketing Force, Inc. For details, see the information about the seminar provided separately (Note: Only available in Japanese).

5．Future prospects

Although the impact of the establishment of MC on Macromill’s business performance may be limited, its impact --- including future development – may be difficult to estimate at present. Macromill will disclose additional information relating to the progress of this initiative in the future.