LY Corporation Hosts "LY Corporation BIZ Conference" – An Advertising Business Strategy Briefing
LY Corporation (hereinafter the "LYC") today hosted "LY Corporation BIZ Conference," the first event for business partners after LYC's integration.
[KEYNOTE]
In the KEYNOTE, Yuki Ikehata, the Company CEO of the Marketing Solution Company, announced his vision for the new marketing domain of LYC. Together with businesses and partners in Japan, LYC aims to provide "WOW" and "! (astonishing surprises)" in users' daily lives under the theme of "W!th".
[SESSION 1]
In SESSION 1, LYC announced the concept of each domain, introducing how products utilized in wide-ranging areas such as advertising, sales promotion, and CRM will be linked and evolve following the integration of LINE and Yahoo! JAPAN.
LYC announced "Connect One" concept, a platform that seamlessly integrates all customer contact points around LINE Official Account
LYC announced the "Connect One" concept*1, a platform that connects LINE Official Account with the various services that LYC provides for businesses, seamlessly integrating all customer contact points while maximizing LTV.
*1 LYC plans to provide various new features in phases starting in 2024. Please note that this concept has not yet been finalized, and actual specifications are subject to change.
As part of the Connect One concept, a concept that transcends the various business platforms of LYC, LINE Official Account will serve as the hub for all of LYC's business services. Service usage information*2 concerning users who have come into contact with the many contact points offered by LYC will be stockpiled and put to use for everything from attracting customers to reservations, purchases, and CRM. Under this concept, advertisers will be able to start taking advantage of the business services offered by LYC just by opening a LINE Official Account. Moreover, this concept will enable advertisers to post basic corporate information while centrally managing advertisements and sales promotional campaigns throughout all of the contact points that LYC provides.
*2 Only information that has been authorized by users can be linked.
After the linkage*3 of LINE and Yahoo! JAPAN’s user accounts, LYC plans to gradually integrate corporate accounts across LINE and Yahoo! JAPAN's business services while linking LINE Official Account with LYC's B2B products. By contributing to improved customer understanding across services, LYC aims to provide a business platform that will keep LYC's corporate clients connected with the massive user base of LYC, which is one of the largest in Japan.
*3 Linkage of LINE and Yahoo! JAPAN accounts is scheduled to be begin in phases from October 4, 2023. LYC will make preparations so that account linkage with PayPay may begin within fiscal 2024.
LYC begins trials of AI Prompt Manager, a reply generation support tool that utilizes generative AI for LINE Official Account chats
LYC will begin trials of AI Prompt Manager from October 18, 2023*1. This is a generative AI-driven tool that proposes replies to inquiries from users to LINE Official Accounts, which LYC provides to companies and stores.
*1 This service will be provided from October 18, 2023, on a preliminary basis to a limited number of businesses that already have LINE Official Accounts and only in Japan.
About AI Prompt Manager
AI Prompt Manager is a tool that takes advantage of generative AI to automatically generate draft replies in response to user inquiries on LINE Chat*2 by referring to data registered in advance by the owner of a LINE Official Account. In the past, owners of accounts had to input the content of a chat reply and respond to user inquiries manually, but now with AI Prompt Manager, each automatically generated draft reply can be sent as is or edited and sent. This will reduce the time and effort required to respond to inquiries.
*2 A chat function embedded in LINE Official Account, which allows one-on-one communication (chats) between the owner of a LINE Official Account and users who have become “Friends” with the account .
AI Prompt Manager uses Open AI’s API to generate sentences*3. The data reference functions used for automatic generation of reply suggestions include a “website crawling reference function” that gleans information from the content of pre-registered links (e.g. Q&A on the client’s website) and a “text file reference function” that allows registration of product information, frequently asked questions, and other information in text format. In addition, the generated content can be adjusted by registering prerequisite information as prompts, such as basic answer rules and character settings.
*3 LYC concluded an agreement with OpenAI in July 2023, and the provision of AI Prompt Manager is based on this agreement.
https://www.z-holdings.co.jp/en/news/press-releases/2023/0727/
*3 By default, OpenAI will not use data submitted or generated to its API to train OpenAI models or improve OpenAI's service offering. Also, the specifications are designed to prevent secondary use and provision of the information to third parties.
[SESSION 2]
In SESSION 2, LYC presented its SDGs targets and social initiatives in various areas such as social infrastructure, transparency in advertising services, and entertainment, outlining LYC's responsibilities as one of Japan's largest platform operators with over 100 million users in total.
LY Corporation Sustainability Project to build a sustainable society together with business partners and users
While interest in sustainability and SDGs is growing throughout society, it cannot be said that sustainability initiatives are catching on sufficiently because users do not know what they should do, and businesses do not know how to communicate their initiatives to users. To overcome this issue, LYC will launch a new LY Corporation Sustainability Project to support businesses in their efforts to promote sustainability activities to a wide range of users and to encourage each user to take actions under their own initiative. LYC will first approach businesses to participate in this project. A dedicated LINE Official Account will serve as the platform for this project, while special advertising plans for companies are also planned by the end of 2023.
LYC will create new points of contact between artists, creators and their fans while reinforcing the provision of earnings opportunities surrounding LINE Official Account
The Japanese entertainment industry is a huge market, already worth over JPY 10 trillion* and expected to expand even more in the future. At the same time, venues for providing content to fans are becoming increasingly diverse, and one challenge for artists and creators is figuring out how to continuously gain recognition and generate resonance with the content they have created.
LYC, which has always provided a wide range of entertainment-related services, will provide a mechanism that enables fans to find content seamlessly and with greater convenience. For artists and creators, LYC will improve the precision of targeted content delivery while strengthening the provision of various revenue-return mechanisms.
*From "2020 Overview of Content Industry in Japan and in the World,” published by the Media and Content Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
More specifically, the following initiatives will be undertaken:
▼Creation of new opportunities for exposure and contact with fans
- LYC plans to utilize Yahoo! JAPAN's media-related services in tandem with LINE Official Account not only to deliver optimal information to individual fans, but also to expand opportunities to deliver content to potential fan groups in the future.
- Linkage between LINE VOOM and LINE Official Account will be further reinforced to support ongoing connections with fans while providing an environment that makes it easier for LINE VOOM short videos to be viewed.
-LYC announced a collaboration with Adobe to support artists and creators to produce creatives.
In collaboration with Adobe, LYC will support the creative activities of users of all skill levels in the business and entertainment arenas. In the future, LINE Creative Lab* plans to provide a creative environment linked with Adobe Express in order to mutually share know-how for creative development, co-create communities, hold contests, and more.
*LINE Creative Lab is LYC's free tool for creating ad creatives.
https://creativelab.line.biz/en
▼Creation of new revenue opportunities and reinforcement of engagement
- Through the use of chat screen ads displayed at the top of the chat room in LINE Official Account, LYC will begin sharing ad revenues with artists and creators.
- LYC plans to additionally update the live distribution functions of LINE VOOM to enable live distribution from LINE Official Account. LYC also plans to gradually roll out gifting features for distributors.
- LYC is planning the preliminary provision of a one-on-one video chat function in LINE Official Account to promote communication with fans and provide new revenue sharing opportunities with artists and creators.
- Through the use of LINE Official Account Membership, subscription services such as fan clubs and membership schemes can be provided with ease. This will strengthen engagement with fans through such measures as exclusive announcements of events and tickets, advance reservations, and notifications regarding merchandise sales.
- LYC is planning the preliminary provision of an online merchandise sales feature which will enable users to complete purchases in under a minute from a LINE Official Account. In this way, LYC aims to create an environment where goods and creative works can be delivered to fans with ease.
[SESSION 3]
In SESSION 3, LYC explained how their sales team proposes products that integrate the strengths of both Yahoo! JAPAN and LINE, along with specific case studies. LYC also presented various initiatives in the local domain for restaurants, beauty salons, and retailers and provided an outline of the LY Corporation Partner Program, which highlights local business partners who specialize in a wide range of fields, from business services to operational support and research.
Certification of the first CX Partners in the LY Corporation Partner Program
LYC certified its first CX Partners under the LY Corporation Partner Program (carried over from the LINE Biz Partner Program), a program that certifies local partners specializing in a wide range of fields, from operations and operational support to research, all involving the various business services provided by LYC.
CX Partner is a program that certifies partners who solve various business issues through the use of LINE's services, including LINE Official Account, an account service for both individual and corporate users; LINE Ads, a programmatic advertising service; LINE MINI App, a platform that enables companies to provide their own services on LINE; and Business Manager*, a data utilization platform that allows companies to integrate and manage data from both inside and outside of LINE.
*Data that can be linked with Business Manager is restricted to information to which users have given consent.
Four companies were certified as the first CX Partners based on a screening conducted in accordance with LYC’s accreditation standards.
CyberAgent, Inc.
Digital Shift, Inc.
Dentsu Digital Inc.
Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Incorporated/D.A.Consortium Inc. (Joint Certification)
Event Outline
Name of Event: LY Corporation BIZ Conference
Date: Monday, October 2, 2023 (13:30-18:00)
Link: https://pages.lycbiz.com/lybizconference/
Unless otherwise specified, English-language documents are prepared solely for the convenience of non-Japanese speakers. If there is any inconsistency between the English-language documents and the Japanese-language documents, the Japanese-language documents shall prevail.
