As Global Video Investment Accelerates, Zefr Continues Growth With Exclusive Mitsui Partnership In Japan

In collaboration with Mitsui, Zefr will bring GARM standard brand suitability solutions for video platforms in Japan as investment in video platforms grows in the market.

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Zefr

Apr 28, 2021, 11:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, April 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Zefr, the leading data company for brand suitability in video, today announces a strategic partnership with one of Japan's largest corporations, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui") to expand its video brand suitability solution to Japan. Zefr will work in collaboration with Legoliss Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsui that supports data-driven marketing, as well as a number of agency partners to deliver brand suitable video advertising products for the market. As part of the partnership, Mitsui is making a strategic investment in order to accelerate Zefr's growth in the market.

According to Dentsu, the Japanese video advertising market in 2020 was 386.2 billion yen, an increase of more than 20% from the previous year, while the advertising market broadly shrank due to the coronavirus. With YouTube's global growth in revenue reported at over $20 billion USD in 2020 and experiencing 30%+ growth, the digital video ad market has exploded, yet marketers lack sophisticated solutions to manage their brand suitability in video. Zefr's patented video architecture solves this market need for transparent activation and verification. Zefr is a profitable technology company focused in digital media advertising, with over $100MM in annual revenue.

"Video is exploding in consumption globally, and Japan is an incredibly important market. With Mitsui's expertise in the market, they knew partnering with Zefr was critical to ensure they brought a solution that was accurate in video, as legacy display and text-based solutions are ineffective for video," said Richard Raddon, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Zefr. "This partnership enables us to help advertisers accelerate incremental reach in emerging video channels while ensuring brand suitability in line with industry standards such as GARM, placing Zefr in a strong position for the next stage of its international expansion."

Kiichiro Takanami, GM of Digital Marketing Business Division, Mitsui commented, "A worldwide trend to tighten restrictions on the handling of personal data and third-party cookies, means we need to consider new methods of ad targeting. We're pleased to partner with Zefr, which has the technology to target ads across video without leveraging personal data and provides solutions for the new age. The video advertising market is growing steadily in Japan, with YouTube and Facebook in particular becoming major media, and we believe Zefr is the right data company to achieve effective and brand suitable ad distribution on both platforms."

The partnership comes at a time when Zefr's approach to brand suitability, for video, is gaining momentum across the world. Major blue-chip brands are looking to shift ad spend from television to video, and to accelerate investment in platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. But they need transparent, video-level content control to ensure ad budgets are spent responsibly in brand suitable environments. Zefr's patented "human-in-the-loop" tech process was architected for scaled video platforms and has been applied to key industry issues in video, including activation and verification based on the Global Alliance of Responsible Media (GARM) framework.

Zefr is currently developing brand safety and suitability reporting products with both YouTube and Facebook, with verification for end-to-end brand suitability in video expected to be made available for global brands in Q2 2021.

About Mitsui:
Mitsui & Co., Ltd (8031: JP) is a global trading and investment company with a diversified business portfolio that spans approximately 64 countries in Asia, Europe, North, Central & South America, The Middle East, Africa and Oceania.

Mitsui has over 5,600 employees and deploys talent around the globe to identify, develop, and grow businesses in collaboration with a global network of trusted partners. Mitsui has built a strong and diverse core business portfolio covering the Mineral and Metal Resources, Energy, Machinery and Infrastructure, and Chemicals industries.

Leveraging its strengths, Mitsui has further diversified beyond its core profit pillars to create multifaceted value in new areas, including innovative Energy Solutions, Healthcare & Nutrition and through a strategic focus on high-growth Asian markets. This strategy aims to derive growth opportunities by harnessing some of the world's main mega-trends: sustainability, health & wellness, digitalization and the growing power of the consumer.

Mitsui has a long heritage in Asia, where it has established a diverse and strategic portfolio of businesses and partners that gives it a strong differentiating edge, provides exceptional access for all global partners to the world's fastest growing region and strengthens its international portfolio.

For more information on Mitsui & Co's businesses visit, www.mitsui.com.

About Zefr:
Zefr is the leading data company that enables responsible marketing for brands, agencies and platforms. Zefr's data and media solutions put brands in control of their content adjacency in video, based on brand and industry standards, including the Global Alliance of Responsible Media (GARM) suitability standards. As an official YouTube Measurement Partner and Facebook Marketing Partner, the company leverages patented Human-in-the-Loop technology to offer brands and agencies more precise and transparent brand safety and suitability activation and verification solutions on scaled video platforms. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with offices in New York, Chicago, London, Spain, Dubai and Sweden. For more information, go to: http://zefr.com.