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The Hakuhodo JV Studio program will create new businesses by combining clients’ assets with Hakuhodo’s business co-creation expertise

Tokyo—August 13, 2021—Hakuhodo Inc., the world’s third largest advertising company, is pleased to announce that it is initiating a full-scale program to co-create new businesses in partnership with client firms. The Hakuhodo JV Studio program will jointly develop new businesses and revenue sources by combining clients’ diverse assets with Hakuhodo’s expertise in business co-creation. The program has been set up by Hakuhodo’s new business development unit, MIRAI Business Division.

Corporate initiatives to develop new businesses are becoming more common by the year. Companies take many different approaches to setting up a new business. But doing the job alone is challenging for any firm, no matter how resourceful it is. More and more companies are therefore choosing to work with a partner.

Hakuhodo has provided business development support to many client firms. Now they approach it with increasing frequency about becoming a business partner. They hope to take advantage of its expertise in sei-katsu-sha insight, its insights into the future, and its ability to get things done.

To address this need, Hakuhodo is turning business co-creation into a full-scale business. It has established a framework for creating new enterprises by harnessing synergies between the client’s assets and its own resources. This effort has been spearheaded by MIRAI Business Division. The new business co-creation program Hakuhodo JV Studio will be launched within the Division today. Under this program, Hakuhodo will join the client firm in exploring business opportunities in the near future by leveraging its expertise in formulating sei-katsu-sha-oriented growth strategies. A joint venture (JV) will be established to execute the business plan, with the client and Hakuhodo sharing the risks in terms of time, money, and human resources. Together they will seek new sources of revenue. Business plans will be implemented by people with skill and experience in launching new enterprises.

How Hakuhodo JV Studio works and the concept behind it
• A one-stop business creation program encompassing the entire process from conceptualization to execution. The conceptualization stage is divided into three phases: the exploration phase, the amplification phase, and the incubation phase. It will typically take about a year to proceed from exploration to incubation. Projects may, depending on their nature, begin at the amplification phase or incubation phase instead.
• Any business formed under the program is to take the form of a joint venture, with each of the partners holding a stake. Hakuhodo will propose various ways of monetizing the enterprise.
• The business should be a completely new one for both companies, not an extension of their existing operations. It should also create new value on the Sei-katsu-sha Interface Market (Note).
• The goal is set up some thirty JVs in three years

Through this initiative, Hakuhodo is taking its commitment to partnership—one of the cornerstones of its philosophy—to a new level. Besides being the client’s marketing partner, it will now assume a valuable new role as their partner in business co-creation.

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