ITOCHU : FamilyMart, NTT Docomo and CyberAgent Establish New Company for Advertising Business Utilizing Purchase Data

ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yoshihisa Suzuki, President & COO; hereinafter 'ITOCHU') announced today that it and three other companies, namely FamilyMart Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Takashi Sawada, Representative Director and President; hereinafter 'FamilyMart'), NTT DOCOMO, INC. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Kazuhiro Yoshizawa, President and CEO; hereinafter 'NTT Docomo'), CyberAgent, Inc. (headquartered in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Susumu Fujita, President; hereinafter 'CyberAgent') have reached an agreement on the development of a digital advertising distribution business and advertising agency business utilizing the purchase data of retail operators with the new establishment of Data One Corp. (hereinafter 'Data One').

1. Background to the Establishment of the New Company

Internet advertising expenditures in Japan have recorded double-digit growth for six straight years, totaling 2.1048 trillion yen in 2019. 2019 also marked the first year that spending on internet advertising surpassed spending on television media advertising (source: '2019 Advertising Expenditures in Japan '). Additionally, in a new trend that has emerged in the United States, major retail operators have been launching their own services to deliver digital advertising to customers based on their purchase data in an effort to diversify revenue streams.

2. Business Activities of the New Company and the Each Partner Company's Role

Data One will use the purchase data FamilyMart and other retailers own, and d POINT CLUB member data and its attribute information NTT Docomo owns, to integrate offline data with online data to develop and sell advertising products that enable effect verification from targeted advertising distribution to product purchases on an individual ID basis. Visualizing offline purchasing behavior will ensure that customers are given with information that is best suited to them, and provide various Brands with effective marketing and branding tools.
Data One will also develop and roll out new advertising products utilizing the owned media (apps, etc.) point services and others maintained by FamilyMart and NTT Docomo, maximizing the effects of marketing activities for Brands.

Leveraging its business network in the retail industries, ITOCHU will help Data One build alliances with retailers such as grocery stores and drug stores.
FamilyMart will develop a new advertising business utilizing its nationwide network of around 16,500 stores and its customer base from serving approximately 15 million customers each day. By providing customers with information that is beneficial to them through its stores and its own FamiPay app, FamilyMart will encourage customers to visit its stores, leading to higher revenue for its franchised stores.
NTT Docomo will provide data related to the attributes and preferences of d POINT CLUB members^*1, so that Data One can deliver ads with a high degree of targeting precision. In addition, by engaging in advertising distribution across each of the owned media it operates, NTT Docomo will offer an environment allowing it to provide beneficial information to even more customers. NTT Docomo will also provide brands with its sales promotion solutions by d POINT and CRM solutions to help maximize the advertising business.
CyberAgent will offer its sales network with one of the best track records in the internet advertising industry, expertise in the development of digital advertising distribution and operation platforms, and its achievement of R&D into AI technologies, striving to solve the issues that brands face and maximize the marketing effects.

Through Data One, each company will improve the scope and quality of purchase data in an effort to enhance the uniqueness of their advertising products, not only by using the data from FamilyMart and NTT Docomo, but also by gradually forming alliances with retailers such as grocery stores and drug stores.

• *1In the provision of data, the privacy of customers will be adequately considered, including setting up a feature for customers who do not wish for their data to the shared to revoke permission through the Docomo Personal Data Dashboard.
  

Overview of the New Company

Name	Data One Corp.
Operating Start Date	December 2020 (Planned)
Business Activities	Digital advertising distribution business and advertising agency business utilizing data possessed by retailers
Capital	990 million yen (including capital reserves of 495 million yen)
Investment ratio	IFP Inc.: 55% (a company jointly established by ITOCHU and FamilyMart with 55% and 45% investments, respectively), NTT Docomo: 40%, CyberAgent: 5%

Company Information

◆ ITOCHU Corporation

Headquarters	2-5-1 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Established	December 1, 1949
Representative	Yoshihisa Suzuki, President & COO
Capital	253,448 million yen
Business Activities	Domestic trading, import/export and third‐country trading of various products such as textiles, machinery, metals, energy, chemicals, food, general products, information and finance, as well as business investments in Japan and overseas.

◆ FamilyMart Co., Ltd.

Headquarters	3-1-21 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Established	September 1, 1981
Representative	Takashi Sawada, Representative Director and President
Capital	16,659 million yen
Business Activities	Franchise system-based convenience store business
Number of Stores	24,722 (16,626 in Japan, 8,096 overseas; as of end of July 2020)

◆ NTT DOCOMO, INC.

Headquarters	Sanno Park Tower, 2-11-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Start of Operations	July 1, 1992
Representative	Kazuhiro Yoshizawa, President and CEO
Capital	949,679.5 million yen (as of March 31, 2017)
Business Activities	Telecommunications business, smart life business, other businesses

◆ CyberAgent, Inc.

Headquarters	Abema Towers, Udagawacho 40-1, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Established	March 18, 1998
Representative	Susumu Fujita, President
Capital	7,203 million yen (as of end of September 2019)
Business Activities	Internet advertising business, media business, game business, investment development business