Discover how Kodansha is pioneering programmatic advertising and curated private marketplaces in Japan, balancing creative integrity, first-party data, and high-quality ad experiences in partnership with Equativ.
Over the past fifteen years, digital marketing in Japan has seen consistent evolution, driven by pioneers who have continually expanded what’s achievable. Their dedication to improving digital advertising for consumers, brands, agencies, and publishers alike is an inspiration to all. This quarterly interview series highlights these innovators and shares best practices that can be adopted to advance the industry in Japan and worldwide.
We recently sat down with Lei Zhang from the Media Platform Department at Kodansha to explore how one of Japan's most established publishers is embracing the programmatic era.
We asked Lei to reflect on her journey from a passion for publishing to pioneering curated private marketplaces and first-party data strategies while balancing creative integrity, commercial growth, and high-quality ad experiences in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
I joined Kodansha in 2020 (at the very start of the pandemic!) I work in the advertising department where I’m responsible for programmatic advertising and monetizing our digital media. I studied Sociology and Media and Communications at university in China and Japan, because my passion has always been content. I love reading, which is why I got into publishing.
Kodansha is one of the largest, longest-established publishing houses in Japan. The digital advertising division is quite new, and you might think our work is very different from the core business of publishing quality content. You could say my heart brought me into publishing, but my head led me to digital advertising within it.
Digital advertising, especially programmatic, plays a role in the future of publishing, so I made a conscious decision to be part of that. Although this might appear a strange direction to take for someone whose passion is reading books!
It might look strange at first, as print and book publishing belong very much to old media and are associated with the more traditional worlds of art and creativity. Whereas advertising is ultimately commercial. Its role is to help to sell things, and this increasingly involves harnessing digital innovation.
But the deeper I get into this field, the more I see that these two worlds actually have a lot in common. Content is all about communicating, and so is advertising. It’s driven by ideas, and it needs to be really effective in how it communicates these ideas to people. Digital advertising reaches a whole lot of people every day, and because of this, it has a responsibility to do so as effectively as possible.
I should explain that at Kodansha we take very seriously our responsibility to our authors and comic creators (we’re world famous for Manga and Anime). The old saying Content is King very much holds true here. We know that without quality content, we wouldn’t have an audience, and without them, there would be no business. If an author objects to a tie-up or promotion being associated with his or her content, we respect that and will veto the commercial deal, and I’ve actually seen this happen! In this way we’re still respecting the integrity of the art and ideas even within a commercial operation. Yet, there’s no escaping the fact that we also need advertising revenue to pay for the content. Both needs need to be met, but without causing conflict.
In the same way the content side protects the creative integrity of authors and comic creators, so the media side needs to ensure the advertising we run in these contexts is also the best it can be. We must deliver high-quality ad experiences that are at home in the environments we offer. That’s really important. For everybody. Our readers don’t want poor-quality, intrusive ads that prevent them from enjoying the content that brought them there.
Balancing all these needs – content, media, and audience - is part of what I do every day. But it also shows how quality is important and could be seen as the link between these seemingly unconnected worlds. This means the digital advertising team can add value in ways that are not departing from Kodansha’s core mission.
Recently, we’ve started to put a lot of emphasis on Private Market Places in our approach to programmatic. We were the first Japanese publisher to fully embrace curation in Japan as a way to promote the value of our inventory and placements to advertisers. This curated approach, which we have established with Equativ, whom we deal with directly, helps us to align quality content and quality ad experiences. (Not to mention defending our CPM, which keeps the media team happy too!)
I believe we were one of the first publishers in Japan to promote first-party data as part of the programmatic deals, which we’re developing with the Maestro by Equativ platform. This is a potential gold mine for advertisers who want their ads not just to appear in the right places and the right way, but to reach the right people in more respectful ways, without using cookies. To us, this is all part of bringing value added to advertisers through curation. It’s the whole package.
Curation is quite new for us as a team, but I think it can help to change the perception of programmatic. Historically, programmatic advertising was associated with volume and not really about quality. But with direct relationships and private marketplaces, that’s changing. This is good for advertisers who are concerned with brand safety and placement. But it’s also better for our audiences, as it can mean fewer ads of a much better quality that feel more at home with our content. By matching quality with quality, we can better align all these interests. That’s how we can find a common ground between these two worlds that might feel separate.
For me, a pioneer has to be a problem-solver. Especially in the world of publishing today. There are a lot of challenges which demand innovation to ensure a business can survive but stay true to its mission.
People still love stories. It’s a basic human need, and those who serve this need have to adapt and be open-minded to remain relevant within the constantly-changing tech landscape.
I believe programmatic and curation can play a big part in this for publishers. I see my main contribution to this as making connections and mediating between the interests we discussed. I can bring my experience in programmatic and data to the creative teams to help them maintain the creative integrity of Kodansha’s publishing within our commercial operations.
Within my department there’s a lot of freedom to innovate and experiment. I feel empowered to try things, such as what we’re building with Equativ. In a small team there is more scope for growth, to innovate and learn, to move fast and try out more things. This is essential for meeting these challenges and creating new paths for the business.
I suppose that is pioneering in its way, but I’ve never seen it that way before you asked!
Stay tuned for the next edition of Pioneered in Japan, coming next quarter, where we share new stories of forward-thinking marketers and industry-shaping work.
Summary
Yasuhisa Isikawa is the Senior Sales Director for Equativ Japan.
The End-to-End Media Platform Powering Attention, Quality and Outcomes
