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Tokyo—January 20, 2026—Hakuhodo Inc., a leading integrated marketing and innovation company headquartered in Tokyo, is pleased to announce the international launch of Virtual Sei-katsu-sha, an AI-powered solution that fuses human insights with generative AI to create a multitude of virtual personas, unlocking genuine sei-katsu-sha* needs, emotions, and behaviors.

Harnessing generative AI to take human-centered marketing to the next level, Virtual Sei-katsu-sha represents the evolution of Hakuhodo’s sei-katsu-sha insight. By combining Hakuhodo’s proprietary sei-katsu-sha research data, client databases, and marketing expertise cultivated across various countries, together with H+ Intelligence’s AI solutions and generative AI technology, Virtual Sei-katsu-sha makes it possible to continuously generate a wide and evolving range of virtual personas aligned with the diverse sei-katsu-sha types that exist across markets, covering 20 countries and more than 30 languages.

These “virtual sei-katsu-sha” reveal authentic opinions, needs, and emotions, free from human biases or situational constraints. Repeated interactions with the virtual sei-katsu-sha unveils deeper insights into perceptions of products and brands, making the solution valuable across marketing, product development, organizational design, ideation, and workshops. The platform also eliminates the limits of time, location, and cost associated with traditional user interviews.

To further unlock creativity, the Virtual Sei-katsu-sha UI/UX is designed to spark imagination, whether through message-based interfaces that draw out emotion or conversational UIs that simulate discussions between multiple personas, maximizing the possibilities of generative AI.

This groundbreaking solution has already been embraced by numerous clients in Japan, where its diverse virtual personas have been leveraged to assess the effectiveness of pre-market campaign strategies and creative concepts. Beyond enabling timely adjustments and refinements, the solution has uncovered deeper insights that informed the development of an activation campaign’s core concept, which was later expanded into a comprehensive B-to-C brand engagement platform.

Building on this success, demand for the Virtual Sei-katsu-sha solution is rapidly growing across Asia, as brands seek more agile and insight-driven ways to navigate increasingly complex consumer landscapes. The solution has already been piloted in multiple Asian markets, where it has demonstrated strong effectiveness in validating strategic directions, testing creative ideas, and identifying nuanced local insights at speed. These successful pilot cases have confirmed the solution’s adaptability across diverse cultural contexts, reinforcing its potential as a scalable regional platform to support smarter decision-making and more resonant brand experiences throughout Asia.

The global rollout of the Virtual Sei-katsu-sha solution will empower clients to harness this innovative resource, enabling more efficient marketing strategies while igniting bold, transformative ideas that drive growth worldwide.

Shohei Kurita, Chief Developer of Virtual Sei-katsu-sha, Creative Director/Technologist, and Executive Manager of Hakuhodo’s CX Creative Division, said:
“By harnessing generative AI to ‘recreate’ real sei-katsu-sha in Virtual Sei-katsu-sha, our goal is not only to deepen and broaden understanding of sei-katsu-sha, but also to unlock new possibilities of imagination that drive innovation and meaningful connections between sei-katsu-sha and brands. One day, I hope to recreate the world’s eight billion people as virtual sei-katsu-sha, enabling a future where everyone can access and understand individual voices.”

Yusuke Miyabe, Managing Director of H+ Thailand, Hakuhodo International Thailand, and Deputy General Manager of Hakuhodo’s Asia DX Strategy Division, said:
“We regard AI not simply as a tool for efficiency, but as a partner in imagination. By evolving our Sei-katsu-sha Insight philosophy through AI, we aim to go beyond solving clients’ business challenges to also address the hidden issues of society and sei-katsu-sha’s everyday lives—creating meaningful change for sei-katsu-sha and communities alike. As 2025 marks the dawn of the AI agent era, we have established a framework to bring Virtual Sei-katsu-sha to the world. With a future where sei-katsu-sha and brands can co-create insight, we will continue to embed sei-katsu-sha insight into every aspect of planning, designing new forms of value, and evolving ourselves as we deliver sei-katsu-sha value design globally.”

Discover more about Virtual Sei-katsu-sha in the video below:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7419187415472435200/

 

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